Alex Pereira reveals he almost pulled out of UFC 307 with an injury; one of many issues he reportedly suffered in training camp

‘And Still’ – UFC light heavyweight champion Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira put on a show-stopping performance last night out in Salt Lake City, Utah, as he finished veteran Khalil Rountree Jr with a brutal fourth-round knockout.

Yet in the aftermath of his third successful title defense of 2024, Alex Pereira would reveal how training camp for UFC 307 was actually one of the worst he’s experienced in the promotion, having suffered a series of major issues that almost resulted in him pulling out entirely.

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLCAlex Pereira reveals why he almost pulled out of UFC 307 title fightGiven how Alex Pereira was able to battle through insanely powerful shots from Khalil Rountree Jr before delivering a vicious fourth-round knockout to successfully retain his LHW title, you might assume that ‘Poatan’ had an equally successful training camp.

Well, it turns out that that is far from the case; with Pereira revealing in his post-fight interviews that he had suffered several severe injuries, contracted a rather draining illness, and even had issues with his passport – all in the build-up to UFC 307.

“The fight was really tough but only my team knows how tough this camp was, I went through a lot of stuff that no one really knows about,” Pereira admitted at the post-fight press conference.

“I was in Brazil about a month ago, I had some problems with my visa and was going over to the consulate every single day trying to see if my passport was ready to be picked up… Finally made it back to the US, spent about a week in Connecticut and been here for three weeks, in that meantime I was on antibiotics, I had a fever, a bad throat and a lot of things happened.

“When I was in Brazil, I hurt my rib; it was an injury that I had about a year ago and that came back, so that was something that I was dealing with… And when I came here, my throat was still bad; went to the doctor and was put on another round of antibiotics, I even recorded a video at the time that I might show, but I went through a lot.”

Damage to his rib, sickness, and visa issues aside, Pereira was also still suffering from the toe injury that he sustained back in his previous title clash with Jamahal Hill.

“Also, the ligament in my toe that was hurt for UFC 300, that came back so there was a lot of things that I went through… It was a tough fight, but it was a tough lead-up to the fight and [that’s why] I am actually really proud of myself in this moment.”

EXPLAINED: Conor McGregor declares he won’t watch Pereira’s next fight just seconds after winning $1.2million betSpeaking later to Full Send MMA, Pereira and coach Plinio Cruz acknowledged that the situation was so bad that they considered withdrawing from UFC 307 even when the event was just a few weeks away.

“I think due to the stress and everything that was going on, I got sick, my throat was bad, and I was on heavy antibiotics… I came to America and told my manager, ‘Bro I am in bad shape’.

“There was a lot of little issues, the UFC had everything documented so we have proof, and we got to the point where we’re going to go over there and do this camp, but we didn’t know if we were going to keep this fight going or not – even until the last day [of training].”

As aptly pointed out by coach Cruz, there aren’t many UFC fighters, let alone champions of the world, who’d be willing to stick it out and fight through such adversity.

Now that Pereira has likely secured himself as the 2024 Fighter of the Year, the popular Brazilian is looking forward to some well-deserved time away to rest and recover.

UFC 307: Dana White reacts to Alex Pereira’s stoppage win, praises Rountree for being ‘another level of tough’

“I think I earned and deserve some rest after this,” he told Megan Olivi via ESPN MMA.

“I’m not gonna say what, but my team knows that this was one of the hardest camps for me to do due to things happening throughout the camp, little things here and there.”

“So now I think I want to rest my body, we’ve got some trips to go [on], we’re going to Mexico, Malta and Korea – then I want to take some time in Bali after that just to relax and see what’s next.”

If anyone deserves some time away to enjoy the fruits of their labor, it’s Alex Pereira – rest up champ, and we’ll see you in the New Year.

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