Pereira: Hand 'still hurts' from UFC 307 finish over Rountree
Alex Pereira is still feeling the effects of his latest victory.
The UFC light heavyweight champion said Saturday that his hand still hurts from pummeling Khalil Rountree Jr. en route to a fourth-round TKO at UFC 307 in early October.
"That fourth round, I was throwing jabs and hurting my hand," Pereira said on the Brazilian podcast "Podpah," as translated by MMA Fighting's Guilherme Cruz. "I swear. I was thinking, 'My hand must be broken.'
"It still hurts. Not all the time, no, but if I squeeze here, it hurts."
Pereira rallied to finish Rountree with a violent sequence of punches after dropping the first two rounds in Salt Lake City. "Poatan" retained the 205-pound belt for the third time in 2024 with the victory, putting him in the running for Fighter of the Year.
Pereira said he hurt his hand after catching Rountree on the forehead.
"I saw that the jabs were working and thought, 'I have to hurt him,'" Pereira said. "But then I hit him right there in the (forehead), one of the hardest parts (of the body), and it kept hurting."
Pereira knocked out former champions Jamahal Hill and Jiri Prochazka in April and June, respectively, before facing Rountree. The 37-year-old has won five in a row since moving up to 205 pounds last year.
Pereira has yet to schedule his next fight, though UFC CEO Dana White said last month that Magomed Ankalaev is next in line for a title shot.