Monday Morning Hangover: What’s next for Khalil Rountree after brutal TKO loss at UFC 307?

UFC 307 went down this past weekend (Sat., Oct. 5, 2024) inside Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Kevin Holland, who suffered a brutal rib injury during his fight against Roman Dolidze, which ultimately resulted in a technical knockout defeat (video here).

And Stephen Thompson, who suffered his fourth loss in last five fights after getting knocked out by Joaquin Buckley on the under card (see it again here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Khalil Rountree.

Coming into his first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) world title fight, “War Horse” was riding high on confidence seeing as how he had won five straight fights, four via (technical) knockout. Furthermore, no one expected him to get the title fight after he called for it almost one year ago. Nevertheless, Rountree came in confident and motivated to shock the world.

Ultimately, he came up short.

But, it wasn’t for a lack of incredible effort because Rountree had tremendous success against Pereira early on, even dropping him in round two. But, after “Poatan” started to find his range in rounds three and four, it was all downhill from there. That’s because the champ used his laser-like striking to tag his foe at will. After awhile, Rountree’s face started to show the damage delivered from one of the hardest hitters in the history of the game.

Ungodly.

Nevertheless, once it got to the fourth frame, Rountree was running on fumes. That prompted Pereira to put his foot on the gas and start unloading one brutal shot after another. In the end, big body blows is what did Rountree in, who had just about as much punishment as his body could absorb.

After the loss, Rountree offered up an encouraging statement to his fans.

“I didn’t win the title, but I grew last night,” he wrote on Instagram. “Alex Pereira, thanks for helping me see that I’m ready to take on the world. You showed amazing skill, you brought out a version of me that I needed to experience. You’re the champ for a reason, much respect. But, I now know what I am capable of.

“I will take time to heal from this, I’ll be back even better, it’s inevitable,” Rountree concluded. “I’m grateful. Never give up on yourself, always fight hard, uplift your communities and find ways to make the most out of life.”

In defeat, Rountree’s stock only grew amongst the company, his colleagues and fight fans around the world for sticking to his word and going toe-to-toe with one of the most dangerous strikers in the game.

He showed a ton of will, talent and heart.

It will probably be awhile before Rountree returns because of the amount of damage he took, but when he does, perhaps a fight against the loser of the upcoming fight between Magomed Ankalaev vs. Aleksandar Rakic makes sense for the simple fact that the winner will likely get Pereira.

If that doesn’t work, perhaps a showdown against Jiri Prochazka — who last came up short against “Poatan” — would be another good option.

For complete UFC 307 results, coverage and highlights, click HERE.