Khalil Rountree gave a good account of himself in the main event of UFC 307 despite being a sizable underdog.
Many expected that Alex Pereira would defend his lightweight title in Salt Lake City but the feeling was that the fight would be entertaining for however long it lasted.
In the end, the challenger made it competitive in the first three rounds but started to slow down and when he did, an incredible display of toughness kept him in there as “Poatan” looked to close the show.
Just days after the biggest fight of his career, Rountree returned to his home base of Syndicate MMA where his coach, John Wood, used his fighter as a role model for others to follow.
“As a coach guys, there’s not much more, obviously the best thing is always to go out and get a win and that’s what we’re always looking to do and have that success but all I ask for you guys, one way or the other, is go out and fight your a** off. Go out on your shield like this man did the other night. Shock the world, proved to a lot of people that he deserves to be there, proved to himself, proved to all of us what we already knew, that he’s one of the best in the world so congratulations.”
Khalil Rountree Tells His Teammates That UFC 307 Setback Had Motivated Him And Should Do The Same For Them
Rountree then gave his own speech where he reflected on the fight and his performance against one of the biggest stars in the sport.
His interviews on fight week both before and after the contest featured a lot of talk about self belief and gratitude.
This was still the case in the words he said days after UFC 307, telling his teammates that he wanted to thank them for their support and share the positives that he was able to take away from the defeat.
“I’ve gone out there and like represented Syndicate. I think that like not only was I the underdog but it just shows like I’ve been training out of this place for so long and we don’t need all this crazy s***, we don’t need all these guys from all around the world. We just need us, we got enough people here on the mats to make sure that we can go and fight for a title and show who we are so yeah. I just wanted to swing by, I saw everybody’s support in the IG group so I thought let me just go say what’s up to everybody.
“But yeah, hell of a fight. Dude was big. Dude was big, I tried to use whatever tools I can but it motivated me. I think like just to know that I went in there and put up the fight that I had but I’m not done. We’re not done here, I know Syndicate we’re gonna keep going so yeah, appreciate you guys.”
