Khalil Rountree couldn’t see out of one eye at a certain point against Alex Pereira.
Rountree (13-6 MMA, 9-6 UFC) was badly battered in a Round 4 TKO loss to light heavyweight champion Pereira at UFC 307 in October.
Rountree’s face was a mess, and he suffered a deviated septum which needed a painful procedure. He recently revealed that his vision was also severely compromised during the fight from the damage he took.
“In the moment, I didn’t feel it,” Rountree said on the “JAXXON Podcast.” “For instance, in the fight where this cut happened, I got hit, and boom. I knew I had gotten hit hard because I started to see my vision kind of blur a little bit. But the second one that landed, the one that actually split my eye, in that moment I went blind. But f*ck it: I’m going to keep going.
“I didn’t see anything after that – I saw just light. I didn’t see shadows, I didn’t see anything. It was like if someone put a frosted film. So I can’t see. I’m f*cking blind. But whatever – I’m not going to give up. But the sensation, I didn’t feel anything. The adrenaline was too high, but I realized it was there. My eye was f*cked up, but I’ll deal with it later.”
Rountree stood toe-to-toe with Pereira and found success early by winning Rounds 1 and 2 on all three judges’ scorecards, but “Poatan” was able to break him down eventually for a late finish.
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This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Khalil Rountree discusses moment he ‘went blind’ in Alex Pereira loss at UFC 307
