Khalil Rountree reveals unpleasant surprise ahead of face to Jamahal Hill at UFC Baku

Khalil rountree overcame Jamahal hill in the main fight of UFC Baku. Photo: Reproduction/X/UFC

Despite achieving victory over Jamahal hill, Khalil rountree was not in its best condition. The 'Sons of Poatan' faced each other in the main fight of the UFC Baku, last Saturday (21), and the 'War Horse' got the victory by unanimous decision of the judges after five rounds. On Monday (23), the winner revealed that he fought injured.

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“I would say it was halfway through training camp, when I was training jiu-jitsu, that I first felt some discomfort in my knee. Just training with bigger guys and doing four sessions a day, plus running, jiu-jitsu and pads, was when I started to feel the discomfort. It only got worse from there, until one day I woke up and was having a lot of trouble walking and even standing up. So I took it for a check-up and ended up having a torn meniscus,” said Rountree Jr. video published on your YouTube channel. 

“When I found out about the injury, I think it was only about three weeks before the fight. So it was obviously stressful, but I had incredible, positive support to keep going and not let it affect my mind, and to do whatever I could to overcome it, and take on challenges and things like that as motivation. Use the obstacle as motivation,” said the light heavyweight (up to 93kg).

Khalil Rountree climbs the rankings and 'steals' Hill's position

With the victory in the main fight of the UFC Baku, Khalil rountree moved up a few steps in the division of Alex Poatán. The American reached fourth place in the light heavyweight rankings, previously occupied by his opponent. Jamahal hill fell two steps and went to sixth place, previously occupied by Aleksandar rakic who went to seventh place. The first on the list is former champion Poatan. The current champion is Magomed Ankalayev, who took the belt after beating the Brazilian by decision in UFC 313, in March.

How does the UFC ranking work?

The UFC's official rankings are updated weekly and prepared by a panel of specialized journalists. They vote based on criteria such as recent performance, quality of opponents and relevance of fights. Each category has its own ranking, in addition to a “pound-for-pound” list of the organization's best fighters, regardless of division. Significant changes, such as important victories, losses and even retirements — such as that of Jon Jones — can directly impact athletes’ positions.