On the eve of the most important fight of his career, Khalil rountree recalled a remarkable episode from the beginning of his MMA career. The American, who is fighting for the light heavyweight belt (up to 93 kg) in UFC 307, today (5), was questioned by Daniel Cormier about a sparring session they had together more than ten years ago, in which Rountree revealed he was completely dominated. The chat took place on DC's YouTube channel.
The training took place at the gym Wanderlei Silva, in Las Vegas, and both were new to MMA. 'DC', who was about to fight in the now-defunct Strikeforce after representing the US in the Olympics, ended up getting the better of Poatan's next opponent using his wrestling.
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“I was like 127 pounds, and you were around the same weight. You were transitioning, about to fight in Strikeforce. You went to Wanderlei’s gym to train. I was throwing some punches, I hit you with some stuff, and you grabbed me and knocked me to the ground. And you were on top of me the whole time. I think we went two rounds. After that, I was super emotional,” Khalil said.
Since he was much heavier than he is now, Rountree wasn't used to getting knocked down, and after the sparring session, he felt frustrated. So his boxing coach informed the UFC light heavyweight fighter about Cormier's wrestling credentials, which made him feel much better about the sparring session.
“I was devastated because I was like, ‘Holy crap, I’ve never been knocked down like that in my life.’ My boxing coach came over and wrote your name on a piece of paper and put it on my shirt and told me to go home and watch it on YouTube. I typed your name in and I was like, ‘Okay, that’s why!’ You knocked me down, man… I hadn’t even had an amateur fight yet,” the fighter added.
Khalil's good phase
Rountree, who now challenges Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight belt at UFC 307, is experiencing a great moment in his career. The fighter is ranked eighth in the division and has accumulated five consecutive victories, four of which were by technical knockout.
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