Khalil Rountree Jr. expressed gratitude and resilience after losing to Alex Pereira in a bloody, hard-fought UFC 307 main event, appreciating his journey and vowing to return to fight in Salt Lake City again.
Khalil Rountree Jr. didn’t snag the win at UFC 307, but he sure didn’t overlook the winding journey that got him there. In the main event at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, Rountree faced off against light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira. By Round 4, he was down, succumbing to strikes. Yet, despite being drenched in blood, Rountree gave Pereira a real challenge in striking. Post-fight, he shared with Joe Rogan that his spirits weren’t crushed by the defeat.
“My thought coming into this fight was just to be grateful, really,” Rountree revealed in his post-fight chat. “I’ve been doing all this for a long time and everybody heard my story, but I was just really excited to come in here, and I really just embraced the moment all the way up until this moment.” His words carried a sense of calm acceptance.
“No, I don’t think I was surprised [by Pereira’s striking] at all,” Rountree added. “I thought that I was going to be able to hit him a lot more, but he did a really good job at evading the punches and counter-striking.” Before finishing his thought, Rountree had to clear his nose with a bloody stream of snot—quite the visceral punctuation mark for one of 2024’s most brutal battles.
Rountree’s journey from Ultimate Fighter finalist to UFC title contender spanned eight years. Despite the loss, he expressed nothing but love for the Salt Lake City crowd and promised to compete in Utah again someday. The connection with fans seemed unshakeable.
“I’ll never forget this training camp my whole life,” Rountree stated passionately. “You guys have been so f*cking awesome. I would love to come back anytime, train at altitude, fight here again; I love you guys. I swear to God I’ll be back one day.” His words were raw and heartfelt, echoing through the arena like a promise sealed in blood and sweat.