Ever since Alex Pereira defeated Khalil Rountree at UFC 307, Jamahal Hill has repeatedly said he’s on a different level than Rountree. On Saturday, Hill gets the chance to prove it, and Rountree can prove him wrong.
Rountree and the former champ Hill headline Saturday’s UFC Baku event, which airs on ABC in the U.S. Rountree competes for the first time since his wild fight with Pereira, while Hill is coming off back-to-back stoppage losses to Pereira at UFC 300, and, at UFC 311 in January, Jiri Prochazka.
Ahead of the fight, Rountree was asked about Hill’s levels comments.
“I mean, if I recall correctly, he said the same thing about Alex, and he said the same thing about Jiri and it just didn’t match,” Rountree told MMA Fighting. “What was said just didn’t match. I just try not to pay too much attention to it. I think that, for me, the priority is making sure that I’m at my best when that cage closes and the ref looks over and asks me if I’m ready, and I will say with conviction, ‘Yes.’ And everything else after that is the way that it’s supposed to be.
“So, yeah, I think if I were to think about it, yeah, I think he truly does believe that he is more skilled. But like I said, I’ve heard it before, and I’m prepared for the for the best version of Jamahal Hill.”
Hopefully the third time’s the charm for Rountree vs. Hill as the two previous bookings fell apart. They were originally scheduled to compete at UFC 303 before Rountree was temporarily suspended for a banned substance. After Rountree fought for the title, and Hill’s loss to Prochazka, they were slotted in to headline UFC Kansas City in April — this time, Hill was forced to withdraw due to injury.
While the light heavyweight division is currently in a strange place, Rountree felt waiting for Hill was the best call.
“It only made sense because this is the fight that I was already preparing for,” Rountree said. “There’s a lot that goes into preparing for a fight, especially when you have an opponent locked in, and I think that a win over Jamahal Hill just kind of solidifies that I belong, that I still belong up here.
“There wasn’t too too much thought in it. It was just like, ‘Hey, let’s keep things as they are, I don’t mind waiting a little bit more, we’ve already prepared for this guy, so let’s just give it a little bit more time and everything will work out.’”
Magomed Ankalaev now holds the UFC light heavyweight title, but has yet to have his first official title defense booked. The UFC could certainly do a rematch between Anakalaev and Pereira, but should that not be a viable option, the winner of this fight could certainly slide into another chance to fight for the title.
“Yeah, I think so, but I try not to pay attention to a lot of the riffraff and what’s going on in the division,” Rountree said. “I’ve got a fight to focus on in front of me, and once this one’s done, then I get to kind of think about what’s next and who I’ll be gunning for.”
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