According to John Wood, Khalil Rountree came pretty close to calling it quits before his career could really pick up momentum.
“I think, it was you know, third or fourth fight, he was talking to me about wanting to retire and going to construction,” the Syndicate MMA coach recently said on Daniel Cormier’s YouTube channel. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, I think I got this good construction job. It’s gonna pay money.’ I said ‘Whoa, whoa, bro, no no no.’ I was like, ‘Just give me a year. Give me a year and I promise you do whatever I’ll support you after that. Just give me a hard year.’ And you know, through that process, ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ came.”
It was still a bumpy road for Rountree after appearing on Season 23 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as he had inconsistent results for the first five years of his UFC tenure. That led to him considering retirement again in late 2019 before eventually having a change of heart and extending his contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion.
UFC 307: Pereira vs. Rountree Jr. Saturday at 10 ET on ESPN+. Order Now!
“The War Horse” has peaked since September 2021, winning five consecutive fights — four via KO or TKO — to earn a shot at light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in the UFC 307 main event at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5. Over the years, Rountree expanded his horizons and moved to Thailand to train, but he eventually found his way back to Wood.
“We had some ups, had some downs and then you know, he moved to Thailand after the Gokhan Saki fight [at UFC 226],” Wood said. “And kind of, you know, found himself as a person, as a man. You know, I think he was gone for a couple of years and ended up hitting me back up. It’s been nothing but great since he’s been back and we’ve had nothing but success. He’s really matured as a fighter.”
