Conor McGregor’s reaction to Alex Pereira’s big win on Saturday night was an emotional rollercoaster in a quickly-deleted video.
The Irishman was a keen viewer for UFC 307 as Pereira broke records with his fourth round KO win over Khalil Rountree Jr. He had committed $1million to the fight ending by knockout, and had to wait until the championship rounds to cash out his $200,000 prize.
And after initially expressing delight at the result and the quality of Pereira’s latest finish, McGregor was left frustrated when he refused to push for a move up to heavyweight. The Brazilian has already won gold at 185lb and 205lb, and would have the chance to go for an unprecedented third belt.
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Alex Pereira’s KO win over Khalil Rountree Jr wins Conor McGregor $1.2million
With just minutes to go until the first bell in the UFC 307 main event, Conor McGregor released a series of tweets demanding to be given odds on Alex Pereira vs Khalil Rountree Jr ending in a knockout from either man.
His feeling was that any sort of light kicks would be indicative of who would lose, and was ultimately proven right as Pereira overcame an early onslaught to land a vicious knockout. He was eventually given 1/5 odds, meaning that he would earn $200,000 from a $1million wager.
“Quick, what’s the odds on a KO either way here?” He wrote. “I will put a million US down on it. There is a KO happening here. I will not be surprised if Rountree secures an insane KO win here. I will also not be surprised if Periera jumping knees him unconscious.
“Whoever starts throwing little flicky kicks in this, the first person to throw a little flicky kick in this, is losing. I guarantee it.”
When he finally got odds, he tweeted: “I AM PUTTING A MILLION U.S DOWN ON A KO TAKING PLACE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER HERE IN THIS MAIN EVENT. Odds are 1/5. A million wins back $200k. Let’s see…”
Conor McGregor rages over Alex Pereira’s refusal to move up after UFC 307 win
The Irishman was clearly delighted by what he saw, and was keen to know what Alex Pereira would say in his post-fight interview. He was left disappointed, however, when the champion didn’t immediately opt to move up to heavyweight to chase Jon Jones or Tom Aspinall.
“Great fight,” McGregor told fans in a quickly-deleted video on his X account after the bout, in which he repeated Pereira’s ‘Chama’ catchphrase and noted that there was a lack of Brazilian fans in the building. “Absolutely tremendous bout. Telephone boxes he smacks with, 100 per cent.
“Absolute bangs of telephone boxes, they’re lean backs, yeah? No feet, the feet aren’t going back there, no stepping back, it’s not as if it’s a lean back. Boom, you’re still right in front of him, boom. Rountree is as tough.
“A lot of weapons, a lot of them and he could have let them go a bit earlier as well, the inside low kick, the outside low. That was a tremendous bout, yeah? Incredible.”
But it all went downhill in the next part of the video, when Pereira refused to call out anyone in the division above. After roaring that the Brazilian should “Call for heavyweight now,” he raged at the prospect of moving back down to middleweight to face Dricus Du Plessis.
“Ah leave it out, if he says drop down to middleweight, don’t lie to yourself that was a heavy cut,” he ranted. “You already done it, [now] heavyweight.” And when Pereira didn’t give the answer he wanted, McGregor finished the video by declaring: “I’m not watching your next one!”
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