While many questioned his merits as a title challenger, Rountree Jr. simply went out to prove he belonged, and did, winning the first two rounds on all three scorecards and sitting the menacing Brazilian down before “Poatan” found his range and the tides shifted. But in the moment, the 35-year-old challenger showed he could hang with the division’s elite, a point he drove home when he dominated former champ Jamahal Hill in their oft-delayed grudge match earlier this summer in Baku, Azerbaijan.
“It has everything to do with where I’m at because it’s like, ‘I’ve got the UFC here, got a great gym, great coaches here’ and it feels like I’m on a mission,” continued Rountree Jr., getting deep on how his hometown has shaped this run. “I’m on a mission to get myself out of this place, legitimately, and leave a mark, leave here happy. Everything that I need to get to the championship is here at home, so I owe it all to being here.
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“I don’t know how I could do it living in New York or anywhere else,” he added. “It’s definitely created a foundation for me to have successful training.”
It’s a far cry from where he was prior to his homecoming, when he had packed his things and moved to Thailand, content living a Spartan lifestyle, training Muay Thai, and remaining in the Southeast Asian combat sports hotbed for the rest of his days.
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