'Terrible for the sport': MMA community reacts to Khalil Rountree's title shot vs. Alex Pereira at UFC 307
The MMA community was stunned by the announcement [autotag]Khalil Rountree[/autotag] will fight [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] at UFC 307, and some are not happy with it.
UFC CEO Dana White dropped a news bomb Friday when he revealed Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC), who recently failed a drug test – but claims it was accidental and without malice – will challenge Pereira (11-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) for the light heavyweight title in the Oct. 5 headliner at Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Check out some reactions to the news below.
UFC
The #UFC307 main event is official! 🏆
Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (@AlexPereiraUFC) will defend his title against Khalil Rountree Jr. (@KhalilRountree) in Salt Lake City on October 5!
More info ➡️: https://t.co/kscPCA2UiEhttps://t.co/kscPCA2UiE— UFC News (@UFCNews) August 16, 2024
Dana White
MMA Junkie
SALT LAKE CITY HAS A MAIN EVENT! 🏔️
Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. gets top billing at #UFC307 🗿👊
More: https://t.co/W7w8yEVwuE pic.twitter.com/nlRjaAqb8X— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) August 16, 2024
Caposa
The promotional ducking of Ankalaev is crazy. It's the bad style matchups that build your legacy in this "sport." Booking the actual #1 contender 2 weeks later making him unavailable Oct 5th wasn't some coincidence.
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) August 16, 2024
Jamahal Hill
Can’t believe what I just saw announced!!! So a guy pulls out of a contender fight because of failed drug test for a banned substances and gets rewarded with a title shot?!! This is terrible for the sport and makes the rankings completely pointless!!!
— Jamahal Hill (@JamahalH) August 16, 2024
Spinnin Backfist
gotta feel for Ankalaev not getting a title shot at this point.
having Khalil pull out of the Hill fight and get rewarded with a title shot, while he has to face Rakic is kinda crazy. pic.twitter.com/fE5tzu3v8R— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) August 16, 2024
Megan Anderson
Ngl this booking came out of left field lol was surprised when they booked Ankalaev for UFC 308 against Rakic and thought the winner would fight Alex...
Khalil has some serious power, though, so we'll see how well he does against a striker like Alex https://t.co/SV9cNGlzFz— Megan Anderson (@MeganAnderson) August 16, 2024
Stephen Thompson
Excited to get this one announced 🔥 So much love to everyone for your support 🫶🏼Time to get locked in 🤜🏼🫷🏼 #UFC307 pic.twitter.com/CWIGmR0aaD
— Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (@WonderboyMMA) August 16, 2024
Brendan Schaub
Love it. Khalil has won his last 5 in a row. People will cry for Magomed Ankalaev. Both deserve a shot. This fight is a lot more fun. Take my money. https://t.co/gaZFbT1xOh
— Brendan Schaub (@BrendanSchaub) August 16, 2024
Nolan King
That has to be one of the more surprising title fights in recent memory. It's legitimately guaranteed violence, so that's a plus. At the same time, Magomed Ankalaev should've been next, imo #UFC307
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) August 16, 2024
ESPN
Fighters react to the Pereira-Rountree title fight announcement for #UFC307 👀 pic.twitter.com/yYZRyzfWoQ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) August 16, 2024
Kevin Iole
Spoke to @JeffNovitzkyUFC who gave me the explanation for why Rountree is eligible to fight at #UFC307. Story has been updated with the details. https://t.co/BncrGYixH0
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) August 16, 2024
ACD MMA
#UFC307 pic.twitter.com/AtT5n1NEyp
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) August 16, 2024
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: 'Terrible for the sport': MMA community reacts to Khalil Rountree's title shot vs. Alex Pereira at UFC 307
