TUF champ: Khalil Rountree Jr. beats Jiri Prochazka with Hank Hill Mentality

Khalil Rountree Jr. has a massive fight coming up with a former UFC light heavyweight champion and a combatant who previously beat him has weighed in on this fight. Andrew Sanchez touched upon this fight ahead of his own clash against former PFL champ Impa Kasanganay inside the PFL smart cage on August 21st.

One of the bigger wins that Sanchez notched in his UFC tenure came against Rountree Jr. victory that saw the former become the TUF 23 champion. When offering up his thoughts on the Jiri Prochazka versus Rountree Jr. fight coming up at UFC 320 on October 4th, Sanchez said,

“I mean, Khalil is nasty, man. You see, he’s knocking everyone out now. I don’t know who, Jamahal Hill, he just put out. Jiri’s good. He’s tricky, he’s funky, but I think Khalil has better fundamentals. I don’t imagine; I mean, Jiri might try and take him down, but I trained with him [Rountree Jr.] not too long ago, actually.”

“A couple years ago when I fought in PFL, I went back to Syndicate [MMA], and we trained. He’s [Rountree Jr.’s] not easy to take down now. So I do have my money on Khalil. He’s just so athletic, explosive, and like good fundamentals. I think better fundamentals than Jiri. That’s what it comes down to, fundamentals. Like you know, like Hank Hill says. King of the Hill, man.”

Khalil Rountree Jr. and the story of his Andrew Sanchez fight

Khalil Rountree Jr. suffered his first official MMA loss to Sanchez on July 8th, 2016. While ‘The War Horse’ had lost during the shooting of The Ultimate Fighter season 23 to Cory Hendricks via first round rear naked chokes, TUF bouts are categorically exhibitions. This means any losses on TUF do not go on one’s professional ledger.

The unanimous decision victory from Andrew Sanchez was an impressive one in the co-main event of the TUF 23 season finale at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas that saw Sanchez claim the light heavyweight tournament title.