How Khalil Rountree Jr Earned The Opportunity For UFC Gold

The War Horse made his UFC debut at the Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, but would lose by unanimous decision to Andrew Sanchez. Despite his loss, Rountree Jr would still be contracted to the UFC.

The Los Angeles-born mixed martial artist would suffer his second loss in the MMA promotion after being submitted by Tyson Pedro at UFC Melbourne.

The knockout artist finally earned his first win in the organisation after Daniel Jolly by first-round knockout in just 52 seconds at UFC Houston, before earning his second consecutive KO win at UFC Glasgow, defeating Paul Craig in the first round in enemy territory.

Rountree Jr would fight in his first PPV event at UFC 219 against Michal Oleksiejczuk, losing by unanimous decision. However, the bout was overturned to a no contest Oleksiejczuk had tested positive for an anti-estrogenic substance.

The Southpaw fighter would earn his third first-round knockout win in the UFC after defeating Gokhan Saki at UFC 226, increasing his unbeaten streak to four.

His fortunate run would come to an end when Rountree Jr faced Johnny Walker in the UFC's first visit to Argentina, suffering his first knockout loss of his MMA career which came in the first round.

Redemption would happen at UFC 236 for The War Horse when he earned a convincing and dominant victory over Eryk Anders.

Rountree began to have a downfall in his next two fights, losing by first-round TKO to Ion Cutelaba at UFC Copenhagen, before earning an unanimous decision loss to Marcin Prachnio at UFC 257.

The incredible rise of the Light Heavyweight contender began to happen when he claimed a redeeming win at UFC Vegas 36, defeating Modestas Bukauskas by second-round TKO.

By 2022, Rountree earned a second-round TKO win over Karl Robertson at UFC Vegas 50, before triumphing over Dustin Jacoby at UFC Vegas 63 by split decision.

The War Horse earned two more knockout wins in 2023, first beating Chris Daukaus by first-round TKO at UFC Vegas 78, before a third-round TKO win over former title challenger, Anthony Smith, at UFC Vegas 83.

Rountree was meant to face former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, Jamahal Hill, in the Co-Main Event of UFC 303, but the #8 contender was forced to withdraw from the event after taking a banned substance.