Throwback Rountree vs. Anthony Smith

Rountree is a bit small for LHW. He has a lot of firepower and speed along with good reach. He has very little head movement but he does use a small pull counter. He does his best work when someone throws lazily at him and he counters with heavy strikes. I don't think you can play that counter game with Alex. Alex also needs one to end the fight.

Rountree tends to lean forward in his stance so the majority of his weight is in his front foot. He is very susceptible to leg kicks. He is also open to the head because of that lean. Alex might not be able to find the calf kick in this fight because of the southpaw stance. It's probably going to be a punching heavy fight. Rountree likes the clinch but the leverage game doesn't favor him. I don't know how good Alex is in the clinch.
 
Roundtree can finish Alex. Alex can be hit (typically no very square), he's aging, speed will eventually go, etc. -- don't sell this man short.
 
Alex is better than Rountree in every area of the standup game. And we know Rountree will not wrestle. I have no confidence in any current LHW against Poatan in a standup battle.
Look, I'm not saying it's going to happen. I wouldn't bet a dime on it happening. I'm just saying that Roundtree's path to victory involves him catching Alex with one of his power punches or kicks. Or, and I think this is the most unique part of Roundtree's style, if he somehow ends up standing above a grounded Pereira and starts smashing him with kicks. Roundtree's kicks to a grounded opponent is something most other fighters don't do. But Roundtree's weaknesses are his durability and gas tank. He's a gas cannon. And the easiest way to beat him is to tire him out to slow him down and beat him up. Which is exactly what Alex did to Bruno Silva with his clinch work. So if I'm coaching Alex, I would have him pressure him against the cage, clinch and have him carry your weight, and land some knees to the body early.

And again, clinching isn't something Pereira never does. He lost his last kickboxing match after getting a point deduction for excessive clinching.
 
I mean I know that Anthony smith had some pretty annoying moments but he literally just came out and said that he had to retire because he has aids. At what point do we just leave the guy alone?
 
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