Despite leaving Salt Lake City under the disappointing cloud of defeat, Khalil Rountree Jr can hold his head high after demonstrating what it truly means to ‘Go out on your shield’.
Yet despite taking a brutal amount of damage against Alex Pereira, ‘The War Horse’ is already plotting his next cavalry charge into battle; and he knows exactly who he’d like to make his UFC return against.
Khalil Rountree wants to return in Q1 2025 following knockout loss to Alex Pereira
In the immediate aftermath of his vicious fourth-round loss at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, Khalil Rountree Jr vowed to return ‘even better’ as he acknowledged how “I didn’t win the title, but I grew last night.
“Alex Pereira, thanks for helping me see that I’m ready to take on the world. You showed amazing skill, you brought out a version of me that I needed to experience. You’re the champ for a reason, much respect. But I now know what I am capable of.”
Now, in conversation with veteran reporter Kevin Iole, Rountree has revealed that after taking some time for his various wounds to heal, he’d like to return sometime in the first quarter of the New Year.
“I’m very excited to come back and fight again but, it’ll probably be around Q1 next year.
“I really want to, I know that people got to see me fight but you know, this really showed me two things; it showed me that I’m prepared to fight at that level, but it also showed me that there’s a lot to learn and a lot [of room] to grow.”
‘The War Horse’ might have exited the Delta Center without the UFC light heavyweight title in tow but thanks to the nature of the performance, he also left with a significantly larger fanbase.
“I want to come back and be very skillful and strategic, and make sure I make the right decisions,” he explained, confirming that he’s also just signed a new contract with the promotion.
“I’m here for a long time, I just signed a new contract prior to this fight so I’ve got a lot more fights left and I’m in no rush you know, I will be back I think about Q1 [2025] when all this stuff heals up.”
Khalil Rountree calls for his comeback fight to be against former UFC champion
Prior to the title fight against Pereira being booked for UFC 307, Rountree was originally meant to face former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill back in June of this year.
Whilst that bout was scrapped due to Rountree’s accidental consumption of a banned substance, ‘The War Horse’ hopes to be given the opportunity to ride into battle against ‘Sweet Dreams’ once again.
“Yeah absolutely, I think it’s almost inevitable right? I think he’s ranked number 3, so I think [fighting] anyone up there in the Top 5 is inevitable – so let’s see what happens.
“I think pretty shortly I’ll be talking to the [UFC] matchmakers and the bosses and see what they think but yeah, I’m here for it all.”
Rountree is set to celebrate his 35th birthday in a few months’ time and whilst the clock is ticking on his UFC career, the fan-favorite veteran is already looking forward to getting back into title contention.
“I’m not done, I am going to continue, and I believe that I’ll have another chance at fighting for a belt whether it’s [against] Alex or someone else – if someone is able to take it from him… But yeah, I think that fight [against Hill] can definitely still happen.”
Ironically, Hill also suffered a rather brutal KO defeat at the hands of Pereira this past weekend, not in the octagon, but at the post-fight press conference.
After Hill was filmed giving an exaggerated yawn to the fourth-round knockout, Pereira would send the media room into raucous laughter as he joked, “Yeah, maybe he just woke up from UFC 300.”
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