What’s the money on the kalil fight? I’ll take a piece if odds are great.
Great question , i feel the same way
SIX YEARS AGO, analysts Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz were seated at the commentary table for the opening fight of the UFC 226 main card in Las Vegas. The light heavyweight bout featured Gokhan Saki, a former world kickboxing champion the promotion was keen on, against Khalil Rountree Jr., a relatively unknown 28-year-old with a 2-2 record inside the Octagon.
With Saki and Rountree circling each other, Rogan and Cruz shared their honest thoughts on the matchup as the fight began.
“Staying in the pocket against a guy like Gokhan Saki and turning this into a kickboxing fight is very dangerous,” Rogan said about Rountree. “His best bet is to get these exchanges going and set up a takedown.”
“I agree with you, Joe,” Cruz added. “And I think that really it’s just a matter of time. That’s the problem when you do straight standup …”
Cruz never got to finish that thought. Rountree interrupted with a devastating left hand to Saki’s chin, which put him down for good (and ended up being his final MMA fight). The result was shocking. Saki, known in some circles as the “Turkish Tyson” due to his punching power, was considered one of the most dangerous strikers on the planet. He had 59 career knockouts in kickboxing, and it took Rountree a mere 96 seconds to render him unconscious.
“Khalil Rountree Jr. shutting everybody up,” Rogan said, “including us.”
In Rogan and Cruz’s defense, no one expected Rountree to stand toe-to-toe with a world kickboxing champion. No one except for Rountree himself. And possibly Saki. A few months before that fight on July 7, 2018, Rountree and Saki had run into each other at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas and made a gentleman’s agreement on any future fight between them.
No takedowns.
“We actually shook hands and agreed there would be no takedowns,” Rountree told ESPN. “That fight was originally booked in 2017, but he [Saki] got injured and it was canceled. When I saw him at the PI, I told him, ‘As soon as you’ve recovered, I want that fight again.’ And he said, ‘OK, but we have to stand and bang.’ And I made the agreement right there. I said, ‘If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do.’”
Khalil Rountree Jr. will challenge Alex Pereira for the UFC light heavyweight championship on Saturday. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
Rountree (13-5, 1 NC) has made a similar promise for his upcoming light heavyweight title fight against Alex Pereira (11-2) at UFC 307 on Saturday in Salt Lake City. There’s been no formal shake of hands between them, but Rountree and his coach, John Wood from Syndicate MMA, have welcomed the challenge of a kickboxing match with Pereira, a multiple-weight champion in both kickboxing and MMA. The two fighters combined have one takedown attempt (Pereira in 2022) across 24 UFC fights. Wood has even gone as far as to predict Pereira will look to wrestle them.
I think he’s the one who breaks game first and shoots on Khalil," Wood said. “We ain’t shooting over here. I can tell you that.”
On the surface, that might sound like your typical prefight bluster. There’s no way Rountree intends to willingly stand with Pereira for the entire fight. Or at least, there’s no way he should want to stand with Pereira for the entire fight.
But then, that’s what was said about the Saki fight six years ago. No one knew the story behind Rountree or the confidence in his stand-up back then. Ahead of UFC 307, perhaps it’s a good time to hear it now.
