Khalil Rountree hopes Magomed Ankalaev will take his name out of his mouth.
The light heavyweight division will begin shake-ups at UFC 320 on October 4th. Ankaraev defends the 205 pound championship in a rematch with Alex Pereira, and Lone Tree meets fellow candidate Jiripro Shacca on the undercard. Depending on how these two matches work, Rountree was able to quickly find himself on another title opportunity.
If it’s Ankaraev that he is trying for the belt, then there’s a lot of bad blood between the two, even if Rountree had previously deflected questions about the light heavyweight king. In a recent interview Joe Rogan’s experienceRountree was asked for his opinion on Ankalaev and he was uncontrollable.
“He just talks shit, and I hate people who speak shit,” Rountree said. “I don’t like it. I don’t like people who speak shit for no reason. If I don’t say anything to you, why are you talking shit about me or me, or are you disrespecting me?”
Ankalaev went to social media to chuckle Rountree to win Jamahal Hill this June at the main event of UFC Baku. The comments were part of Ankarayev’s recent trends that are frequently published in rivals in his division.
Rountree thinks Ankalaev has made up for an in-cage style that has not yet captured the fan’s imagination, and Ankalaev has an easy solution to fix it.
“Fight better,” Lone Tree said. “I hate (the garbage story). I hate it. It really bothers me. It was unnecessary and even as an adult, I had to deal with the existence of f*cking because I had to deal with my lifetime with this shit. They imagine us as these F*cking gladiators, and this is what you’re choosing to do.
“We have a responsibility. I feel like I’m a champion, like an athlete, a champion number. You have a belt around your hips and all these eyes and the microphone. It’s going to choose what you say. I’m not the only one who can do that when you have that belt.
The budding rivalry between Rountree and Ankaraev would not go anywhere if Ankaraev did not defend his title against Pereira. That’s not a problem for Rountree, who is actually planning the rest of his UFC deal.
Rountree lost the thriller to then-champion Pereira at UFC 307, so he wants to rematch Pereira, become a champion and round out his career on his own terms.
“This is the ideal situation,” Lone Tree said. “We’ll win Jiri in October. Alex will beat Ankaraev. We’ll be playing a belt rematch with Alex in the first half of next year. We’ll be defeating Alex in the rematch. We’ll get the belt.
“Goal: beat jiri. Goal: get another shot in the title. Vision: Start my family. Finish my fight contract.