Alex Pereira came out on top in his latest title defense, but his journey to UFC 307 could have been cut short on a number of occasions.
Following his thrilling main event win over Khalil Rountree Jr. on Saturday in Salt Lake City, the reigning light heavyweight champion revealed to reporters his preparation for the fight was laden with maladies and misfortune.
“The fight was really tough, but only my team really knows how tough this camp was,” Pereira said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “I went through a lot of stuff that nobody really knows about. I was Brazil over a month ago, I had some problems with my visa, I was going over to the consulate every single day trying to see if my passport was ready to be picked up. Finally made it back to the U.S., spent about a week in Connecticut, been here for three weeks, in that meantime I was on antibiotics. I had …