Khalil Rountree was not one hundred pc in opposition to Jamahal Hill.
This previous Saturday, Rountree confronted off with Hill in the principle occasion of UFC Baku, profitable a dominant unanimous choice over the previous gentle heavyweight champion. It was an essential win for Rountree, who rebounded from his failed title problem in opposition to Alex Pereira final yr, and his efficiency was all of the extra spectacular as a result of he entered the struggle sporting a severe knee harm.
“I’d say about midway via coaching camp, once I was coaching jiu-jitsu, is the primary time I felt some discomfort in my knee,” Rountree defined on his YouTube channel. “Simply from coaching with greater guys and doing 4 periods a day, on high of operating, and jiu-jitsu, and pads, that’s once I first began feeling the discomfort. It solely grew from there till at some point I awakened and it was actually exhausting for me to stroll and even stand. So I acquired it checked out and ended up having a torn meniscus.
“As soon as I came upon what the harm was, I believe it was solely about three weeks away from the precise struggle day. So it was clearly annoying, however I had superb, optimistic assist to maintain going and never let it have an effect on my psychological, and to do no matter I might to push via it, and to take challenges and issues like this as motivation. Use the impediment as motivation.”
The harm didn’t hamper Rountree’s efficiency, as “The Warfare Horse” dominated Hill along with his superior motion and hanging, chewing Hill’s legs up with kicks and dropping the previous champion within the third spherical. Whereas it’s by no means good to have an harm heading right into a struggle, Rountree says this one no less than got here with a silver lining.
“Initially, I used to be devastated, and I wasn’t actually in a position to practice how I wished to,” Rountree mentioned. “But it surely was sort of a blessing in disguise, as a result of tonight I got here into the cage actually recent, as a result of I haven’t been in a position to spar in three weeks. There hasn’t actually been numerous contact, as a result of the final three weeks has simply been restoration, on high of getting sick throughout struggle week.”
Rountree additionally credit the followers for his means to beat the hindrance. This was the UFC’s first journey to Azerbaijan, and Rountree says the love and assist from these in attendance helped gas his massive win on Saturday.
“The positives about having a lot fan assist was that it’s good to really feel appreciated for what we do,” Rountree mentioned. “Combating, and committing your life to preventing, will not be a straightforward job. So to see the reactions of individuals simply genuinely appreciating that and genuinely excited to see us, it’s fairly motivational. That actually helped hold me in a optimistic mindset this week, simply figuring out there have been people who had been greater than excited to have us go to their nation and watch us carry out and do what we love. So, I’d say for the primary time, I actually was in a position to attract power from the followers and use it as motivation to remain targeted and do my job.”
