Isaac Tiomkin
Alex “Poatan” Pereira faces off against Khalil “War Horse” Ibn Rountree Jr. ahead of their fight.
It is said that violence and beauty are intrinsically linked. Some like to see birds fight. Others tune into “Animal Planet” simply to watch tigers maul each other in primally fierce competition. Yet, indisputably, people like to watch their own fight, man on man, woman on woman. It is why wrestling was introduced into the Olympic games in Athens, 2,700 years ago. It is why Muhammad Ali faced off against Joe Frazier 50 years ago. It is why, just a few weeks ago, Alex “Poatan” Pereira and Khalil Ibn Rountree Jr. stepped into the Octagon together for UFC 307, looked upon by millions of mixed martial arts (MMA) fans, their cheers pounding against the warrior spirits of the fighters, fueling them, pushing them to deliver a show. It is safe to say that the fight was everything but a disappointment. However, neither Pereira nor Rountree simply woke up and decided to be fighters. It took crushing circumstances, burdens most demanding of the soul, to test them, and push them into pursuing the art of combat.
Rountree’s life had barely begun when he lost his father. When Rountree was just two years old, his dad, a Boyz II Men road manager, was shot and killed at a concert in Chicago. Although he never knew his father, Rountree could only imagine what he would have meant to him. He grew up in Las Vegas, a city notorious for gambling and drugs. Bullying throughout his childhood and adolescence only crushed him further, leading to unhealthy eating, drinking, and smoking habits. By just 19 years old, Rountree had reached 305 pounds. Fate, however, offered him a fleeting path to greatness through a heart attack scare which prompted him to pursue martial arts, both to work on his fitness and to engrain discipline within his life. Rountree’s path to resounding success within the UFC has been more than arduous, yet through this journey and the deliberate honing of his malicious techniques, he is able to effortlessly macerate his opponents in the ring. He is the challenger.
Pereira started training even later than Rountree, at 21 years old. Before that, he was a bricklayer, dropping out of middle school in order to support his struggling family in the favelas of Brazil. He picked up nasty drinking habits from his co-workers, sometimes bedridden due to his alcohol addiction. However, Pereira was offered the same golden hand of fate as he began to train in kickboxing. His nickname “Poatan” means stone hands in Tupi, an indigenous language of Brazil. It was truly earned as he became world champion in GLORY kickboxing, granting him access to the UFC middleweight championship. There, he fought a brutal fight against champion Israel Adesanya, eventually taking the belt in the fifth round. His trademark catchphrase “chama,” or “let’s go,” has swept over the fighting world, becoming a staple in fighters’ vocabularies, just as a basketball player would yell “Kobe” before a shot. He is the champion.
The challenger walks into the arena, accompanied by a chilling western song. He has confidence in the hands that have shredded his opponents in the past. To him, this is a showdown. The champion walks into the arena, bolstered by the tribal jungle music played throughout the stadium. As he gets to the Octagon, he releases a spiritual arrow and lets out a chilling, guttural scream. To him, this is a hunt.
The bell rang and the fighters touched gloves. Immediately, Rountree pounced upon Pereira, making contact with a multitude of vicious combinations thrown at Pereira’s head. Pereira, however, remained far more passive and technical, landing precisely timed kicks, overhands, and hooks that cut up Rountree’s face. The first few rounds were in Rountree’s favor, yet from a physical standpoint, Pereira seemed to dominate. As the hunter, he killed with strategy, tiring out his prey. In the third round, he began to counter. Relentless kicks to the legs, a few kicks to the head, and Poatan’s signature left hook left Rountree staggering almost instantly, while Pereira seemed to effortlessly dodge Rountree’s well-timed counterpunches; Pereira had entered the flow state, his body exuding an aura of an unstoppable, yet controlled savagery. In the fourth round, Pereira crushed Rountree’s abdomen and liver with a series of body shots, sending the challenger crashing down into the canvas. The champion remained.
No one wanted either fighter to lose. Rountree had told his story to millions of UFC fans across the globe, winning over their hearts with his heroic journey to the pinnacle of the fighting world. Pereira too, had captured the hearts of UFC fans everywhere with his hilarious antics, catchphrases, and captivating fighting style. Unfortunately, there was a winner and his name was Alex Pereira. Fortunately, Khalil Ibn Rountree Jr. is not a quitter. He will do anything in his power to get back to the challenger spot, and next time, it might just go his way.
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