Light heavyweight contender Khalil Rountree Jr.`s preparation for his recent fight against Jamahal Hill did not go as planned. Following his title fight loss to Alex Pereira last October, Rountree Jr. successfully returned to the win column with a dominant decision victory over former champion Jamahal Hill in the main event at UFC Baku.
Reflecting on the significant win, Rountree shared that his journey to the fight was anything but smooth. He revealed he suffered a serious injury during training camp that significantly impacted his ability to spar.
Khalil Rountree Jr. reveals torn meniscus injury three weeks before Jamahal Hill fight
Speaking candidly on his YouTube channel, Rountree disclosed that he sustained a torn meniscus just three weeks before his five-round clash with Hill.
“I’d say about halfway through training camp I think when I was training jiu-jitsu is the first time I felt some discomfort in my knee,” Rountree explained.
“Just from training with bigger guys and just doing four sessions per day on top of like running and jiu-jitsu and pads. That’s when I first started feeling the discomfort.
“It only just kinda grew from there until one day I woke up and it was just really hard for me to walk and even stand,” Rountree added.
Discussing the impact of the injury, Rountree stated, “It was obviously stressful.”
“But I had just amazing positive support to just keep going and to not let it affect my mental and to do whatever I could to just push through it and to take challenges and to take things like this as just kind of motivation. Like use the obstacle as motivation.
“So, initially I was devastated and I wasn’t really able to train how I wanted to. But it was kind of a blessing in disguise because tonight I came into the cage really fresh because I haven’t been able to spar in three weeks.
“There hasn’t really been a lot of contact because the last three weeks have just been recovery on top of getting sick during fight week,” Rountree concluded.
Khalil Rountree Jr. potentially one win away from another UFC title shot
Leading up to the bout with Jamahal Hill, Khalil Rountree Jr. had expressed the belief that an impressive performance could potentially position him for another shot at the UFC light heavyweight title.
However, UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Magomed Ankalaev later offered a dismissive take on Rountree`s performance, stating he was `falling asleep` during the fight.
Despite the champion`s reaction, with an expected entry into the top 5 rankings this week, Rountree is likely positioned just one victory away from competing for the title once more. Potential future opponents include the #2 ranked contender Jiri Prochazka and the #3 ranked Carlos Ulberg, who also secured a main event win at UFC Baku.
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