UFC STAR Khalil Rountree Jr was left with gruesome cuts on his face after his world title fight with Alex Pereira.
The American entered the Octagon against the light-heavyweight champion Pereira at UFC 307 on Saturday night.
However, he was not able to overcome the Brazilian, who emerged victorious with a fourth-round TKO.
Rountree, 34, gave a strong showing of himself, even managing to down Pereira in the second round after landing a short right hook.
But it was not enough for him to overcome the kickboxing icon, with round four proving decisive.
Pereira had dished out plenty of punishment to his challenger, leaving Rountree’s face in a bloody pulp.
Rountree’s right eye was left in a swollen state after torrents of abuse from “Poatana”, while his chest had blood painted it.
A huge knee in the middle of the round set up the finale, as Pereira then worked the body before delivering the coup de grace with a huge right uppercut.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath, he said: “My thoughts coming into this fight was just to be grateful really.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time and I was really excited to come in here and I really embraced the moment…
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“I don’t think I was surprised [by him] at all. I thought I was going to be able to hit him a lot more.
“But he did a really good job at evading the punches and counterstriking.
“I’ll never forget this moment Salt Like City. You guys have been so f***ing awesome.
“I love you guys, I swear to God, I’ll be back one day.”
Ahead of the fight, Rountree spoke exclusively to SunSport about how he transformed his life from being 21 stone and a regular smoker to the cusp of being a UFC champion.
