Skip to main content

Khalil Rountree defends split decision win, says he won't fight until he's in the UFC video game

LAS VEGAS – Regardless of any opinions, Khalil Rountree is happy with his performance against Dustin Jacoby at UFC Fight Night 213.

Rountree (11-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) scored a tightly contested split decision win over Jacoby at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The judges only unanimously agreed on Round 3 in Rountree’s favor, but had opposing views on Rounds 1 and 2.

But Rountree thinks he did enough to get the victory. For him, securing Round 3 was a win in itself.

“For me personally and what I gave, internally, knowing that I had to come out in the third round and give better effort than the second, I did my very best to just push a little harder,” Rountree told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 213 post-fight press conference. “Not necessarily than him, but push myself a little bit harder, and so whether the judges gave me that or not, it was a victory for me.

“I was swinging big. I’m OK with it because enough landed for me to get that decision. But that’s definitely not the best version of me. I’m ready to get back and sharpen some stuff because I don’t like how big I was swinging. When I think of the best version of myself, it’s a lot different than that. It’s a little more sharp, a little more bouncing, moving around, stuff like that. Overall, I’m OK.”

Rountree expects to take Jacoby’s spot in the light heavyweight rankings, but said he won’t disclose what’s next until he’s been added as a character in the “EA Sports: UFC 4” video game.

“Don’t call me,” Rountree said. “Dana White, Hunter (Campbell), Mick (Maynard) – don’t call me until I’m in the game. Don’t ask me who I want to fight next or when I want to fight next. Put me in the game. Call them. Make a call. Tell EA Sports, ‘Dude, this guy has been in the UFC seven years. Get him in the game.’ That’s all I ask, and then we can start talking about what’s next and who’s next.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 213.



from MMA Junkie https://ift.tt/yCHzDub
via IFTTT

Popular posts from this blog

Burmese fighter: Joshua Van details pioneering journey to plant Myanmar's flag on UFC turf

Joshua Van remembers asking his mother why they had to live in Houston. Why couldn’t they just go back home where things were familiar? He was 12 years old at the time, and Van wanted to go back to where he lived the first decade of his life, in Myanmar. Life wasn’t easy for an undersized pre-teen who spoke little English and was picked on during school for both of those attributes. Looking back, the math adds up that he’d become the first Burmese fighter to compete in the UFC. “I was a small kid,” Van recently told MMA Junkie. “From where I come from, you get picked on. It’s kind of like I fight everyday, and I got to the point where I enjoyed fighting. I watched clips on street fights and how to win street fights. I tried it in my next fight and things like that. That’s what got me into my career.” Van grew up one of five siblings in Myanmar, a country ridden with military and political conflict . When things increasingly worsened, Van’s parents decided to move to Malaysia. Van...

Video: Oli Thompson lands devastating first-round knockout punch on Aleksei Oleinik in Russia

Aleksei Oleinik returned to action for the first time since his UFC exit, but things did not go in his favor. In the main event of REN TV Fight Club at Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow, Russia, Oleinik (60-17-1 MMA) faced fellow UFC veteran Oli Thompson in a heavyweight bout. The result was a violent finish that left Oleinik staring up at the lights. Thompson (21-16 MMA) unleashed a crushing right hand that sent Oleinik crashing to the canvas with 35 seconds remaining in the opening round. Check out video of the finish below (via Twitter ): Oli Thompson destroys Alexey Oleynik with a massive right hand in the first round pic.twitter.com/AdWy25dQxR — caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 26, 2023 Thompson, 43, returned to the win column for the first time since 2020, snapping a four-fight losing skid. His last victory was also a first-round stoppage; a 23-second knockout of Szymon Bajor at Fight Exclusive Night 28 on June 13, 2020. Oleinik, 45, competed in his final UFC bout in Octo...

Logan Paul, KSI to fight (separately) as part of Misfits Boxing 'The Prime Card'

Logan Paul and KSI will top an upcoming Misfits Boxing card entitled “The Prime Card,” they announced Friday on social media . The event takes place Oct. 14 at AO Arena in Manchester, England and streams on DAZN pay-per-view. Opponents for the two influencers-turned-boxers have not yet been announced. It is unclear if the bouts will be professional or exhibition. Paul, 28, has not competed in a professional boxing match since he fought and lost to  KSI in November 2019. The bout was a rematch of an August 2018 amateur fight which ended in a draw. In June 2021, Paul competed in an exhibition bout against Floyd Mayweather and went all eight rounds in a non-scored bout. While he’s been relatively inactive in boxing, Paul has thrilled fans with his athleticism in intermittent appearances in pro wrestling bouts for WWE. KSI, 30, has competed four times since the pro bout against Paul. All four of those matches were exhibitions. KSI won three of them inside the distance, while a f...