Ahead of UFC 307, Khalil Rountree reveals how he was dominated by Daniel Cormier in training

Khalil Rountree (pictured) faces Alex Poatan at UFC 307. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

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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) at UFC 307 today (5), was asked by Daniel Cormier about a sparring session they had together more than ten years ago, in which Rountree revealed that he was completely dominated. The chat took place on DC's YouTube channel.

The training session took place at Wanderlei Silva 's gym in Las Vegas, and both were MMA newcomers. 'DC', who was about to fight in the defunct Strikeforce after representing the USA at the Olympics, ended up getting the better of Poatan using his wrestling skills.

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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 is now challenging Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title at UFC 307 , is having a great moment in his career. The fighter is ranked eighth in the division and has accumulated five consecutive victories, four of them by technical knockout.

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