Khalil Rountree dismisses narrative following UFC 320 loss to Jiri Prochazka

Khalil Rountree is dismissive of one narrative following his UFC 320 defeat.

Rountree entered T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with hopes of moving back into the light heavyweight title race. He appeared to be on his way to achieving that goal with a strong opening round against Jiri Prochazka. While Prochazka had a better showing in round two, Rountree remained ahead until disaster struck in the third round.

Prochazka brought relentless pressure to Rountree, who didn’t have an answer for the barrage of strikes before he was knocked out. During an appearance on the “JAXXON” podcast, Rountree said the narrative that he purposely avoided taking Prochazka to the ground isn’t accurate (via MMAJunkie).

“No, that’s a very bad narrative,” Rountree Jr. said. “I refused, with a ‘D’ to use it against Alex. Yes, it was for the belt and everything, but I promised from the moment that I even called for that fight that it would be for the fans. So, that fight, I had an agreement, ‘Look, we’re gonna go toe-to-toe.’ I didn’t say for the rest of my career, I’m never shooting a takedown. That is something that has just been totally taken out of context. The reason why it didn’t happen this fight is because that just wasn’t my natural instinct in that moment, because everything was good until it wasn’t.”

Rountree reminded fans just how dangerous the light heavyweight division is, and one accurate shot can change the course of a high-level fight.

“A lot of times, going against a guy in the light heavyweight division, we weigh-in at 205, we come in the next day between 220 and 230. So, we’re coming in 20 pounds heavier, no matter what. We’re rehydrated up, we’re fueled up. We’ve been training like monsters for months to fight each other. We’re the best in the world too, let’s just put it right there. You’ve got No. 2 vs. No. 4 – baddest men on the planet. All it takes is one left hook to the temple to get your body to start – equilibrium thrown off, you know, whatever happens that you can’t control. You can do your best to control.”

Despite the loss Rountree remains undeterred as far as his goal of becoming a UFC champion is concerned. Time will tell if the seasoned veteran can put it all together to bounce back and make a strong push for the light heavyweight title.