Khalil Rountree didn’t get his hand raised in his title bout with Alex Pereira at last weekend’s UFC 307 — but the light heavyweight contender is determined to use the experience of the fight to propel his career back towards title contention.
Rountree was awarded the first two rounds on the judges’ scorecards in the main event fight in Salt Lake City before two-division champ Pereira mounted a comeback in the third and claimed a finish of his exhausted opponent in the fourth. Speaking afterwards, Rountree praised Pereira for gaining the finish but added that the bout was a considerable learning experience for him.
And appearing on the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by former UFC champion Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, Rountree revealed that he also received some tactical advice from Conor McGregor after the fight which he says he intends to put into practice in future fights.
“A couple of days after the fight I got some messages from Conor and it was really cool to get some messages from him,” Rountree said, as noted by Bloody Elbow.
“One thing he pointed out was that I could’ve put more pressure,” he added. “If I would’ve been a little more relentless with my pressure and not backed off so much and retook the centre of the cage, I think I would’ve been able to apply a little more damage to him.
“If I were to go back and replay this fight, I would probably just be a little bit more aggressive, like smart aggressive.”
Rountree’s return to the cage remain unclear following a number of facial lacerations he sustained in the contest but it stands to reason that running back a previously scheduled showdown with former 205-pound champion Jamahal Hill may be a good option for all parties.