Khalil Rountree Jr.’s coach vows to make “The Boogeyman” Alex Pereira wrestle at UFC 307: “If a takedown happens, it ain’t coming from our side”

Khalil Rountree Jr. coach recently discussed his pupil’s title matchup
with Alex Pereira at UFC 307. He laughed off the idea that the American
challenger would try to take the Brazilian down, but if it did happen,
Pereira would be the one to pull the trigger.
Many assumed that Magomed Ankalaev was next in line for the UFC
gold after he and Pereira traded barbs on social media. However, the
promotion went on to book ‘Poatan’ against Rountree Jr., who is six
positions behind Ankalaev in the middleweight rankings.
In a recent interview with Daniel Cormier on his YouTube channel,
Rountree Jr.’s coach John Wood discussed their strategy for the Pereira
fight. Wood disclosed that even though they had been practicing
takedown defenses, the 37-year-old would resort to wrestling first
amongst the two. He said:

‘We’re fighting the boogeyman, he’s [Pereira] the scariest dude out in MMA right now and he’s gonna hold that title for the next couple weeks before there’s new scariest dude in MMA.”

Wood added:

”You’re not gonna find a tape of a takedown of Khalil shooting takedowns…we do MMA, we don’t just train to go and expect this or this that, we’re always defending takedowns, shooting out own takedowns, we’re doing everything everyday but I do stand and say that if a takedown happens, it ain’t coming from our side, it’s coming from that side.”

Even though Pereira is among the most lethal strikers in MMA history,
Rountree Jr. has no intention of testing the reigning champion’s ground
game. The No.8-ranked light heavyweight contender disclosed to
Michael Bisping last month that he will not be aiming for takedowns in
their title fight next month.
Pereira successfully defended his middleweight title for the second
time, defeating Jiri Prochazka via knockout at UFC 303. Meanwhile,
Rountree Jr. is coming off a third-round TKO win over Anthony Smith at
UFC Vegas 83.