Insider Reveals Alex Pereira Almost Withdrew From UFC 307

Cormier reveals the UFC had a contingency plan for UFC 307.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The UFC 307 main event was almost cancelled, according to broadcast commentator Daniel Cormier.

UFC 307 was littered with controversy, with four dicey split decisions and some 'atrocious' refereeing. The light heavyweight title fight between Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree Jr. made up for it all with four rounds of nail-biting action, culminating in one of the slickest TKOs of the year.

This almost didn't happen, according to Cormier, who told all during his October 7 appearance on Good Guy / Bad Guy:

"I was talking to his [Pereira's] manager and his coach after the fight, and they said, they told the UFC, 'We're gonna go to Salt Lake. We're gonna try to train, but we may pull out.' ... The UFC said to him, 'That would suck, but let us know how it goes, because we have two title fights and we'll elevate one if that's what we need to do.'"

Why Pereira Almost Pulled Out

During his post-fight scrum, Pereira revealed a litany of issues plagued his fight camp.

"I was in Brazil about over a month ago, I had some problems with my Visa. ... Finally, I made it back to the US. ... In the meantime, I was on antibiotics, I had a fever, I had a bad throat... Also going back, when I was in Brazil I hurt my rib. It was an injury I had about a year ago and it came back. ... Also the ligament in my toe that was hurting for UFC 300, that came back."

Pereira remains one of the most active champions in UFC history and should be a good candidate for fighter of the year. Fans should expect 'Poatan' back in action in five to six months time.

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