Khalil Rountree is ready for war in his fight against Jiri Prochazka at UFC 320 with the potential that both athletes could end up being carried out of the cage.
A noted striker with a ton of power, Rountree has scored numerous devastating knockouts during his career and the same could be said for Prochazka. The biggest difference in the fight could come down to defense where Prochazka’s creative and unorthodox attacks often times leave him exposed, which is largely how he suffered a pair of high-profile losses to Alex Pereira in UFC title fights.
Rountree’s head coach John Wood appreciates that Prochazka is always willing to take chances to win the fight, but he expects that game plan to backfire spectacularly on Saturday night.
“It’s a double-edged sword when you fight like that,” Wood told MMA Fighting. “You’re going to win a lot of fights because of that style, but you’re also going to lose fights because of that style. I think this is a phenomenal matchup for us. I think it’s going to be a great fight.
“As a fan, it’s great, but as a coach, I love it. You’ve got a crazy weird guy with that crazy weird stuff and it does open you up, and I think it really does play into our benefit.”
Because Prochazka’s offensive output is so potent, Wood acknowledges that Rountree might have to walk through the fire to get the result he wants in the fight.
Matching up two well-known finishers should result in a highlight-reel ending but if Prochazka and Rountree actually make it all three rounds, Wood expects the fighters could be forever changed as a result.
“I think it’s going to be violent, bloody,” Wood said. “Nothing in my bones tells me it’s going three rounds. There’s no thought process, no world where I go ‘I think it’s going to go to a decision.’ If it does, they’re going to be very damaged. There’s going to be eyeballs falling out, ears falling off, type of fight.”
While Rountree’s coach is obviously hoping for the best and prepared for the worst, he knows his fighter has done everything possible to get ready for this showdown against Prochazka.
Ahead of his most recent fight and win over former UFC light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill in June, Wood revealed that Rountree was actually dealing with a significant knee injury that hindered him during his training camp.
This time around, Rountree was completely healthy, and Wood expects that’s going to show in his performance in the fight with Prochazka.
“Khalil was very injured for that fight,” Wood said about the win against Hill. “Four weeks of no sparring. Four weeks, he fully tore his meniscus before that. We weren’t doing anything but standing in place and trying to let the knee heal so we could perform. I believe you could have seen an even more vicious version of Khalil in that fight then we had. I’m very proud of him.
“This camp, it really is the best Khalil I’ve seen. It really is. We’ve had some ups and downs in camps and last camp wasn’t great but camp for Pereira was good. This one, he’s leaving no stones unturned, he’s doing the work and I can truly stand behind that and say he’s actually competing like a mixed martial artist now. He knows he’s at the top, and we’re just making sure he’s covering all his bases. I really think you’re going to see the best Khalil Rountree out there.”
With Magomed Ankalaev defending his light heavyweight title against Alex Pereira in the main event on the same card, Wood knows that Rountree is in a great position to vault himself back into the championship picture with a win.
While nothing is guaranteed and Carlos Ulberg just scored a vicious knockout of his own over Dominick Reyes in Parth, Wood expects an impressive win for Rountree on Saturday should secure him the next title shot.
“The hype behind Jiri and Khalil and the wins, I think that’s where everything is primed right now,” Wood said. “I can’t see, especially the way this fight is going to be won, that person isn’t going to fight for the title. I truly believe that person is going to be Khalil.”
As far as who walks out with the title at UFC 320, Wood believes that Pereira can definitely get his revenge and beat Ankalaev but that’s far from a sure thing.
“I do see a path to victory for Pereira,” Wood said. “The man has dynamite in his hands. That’s always going to give you a path to victory. I don’t know and I said this totally respectfully, when he was leading up to that fight I saw Pereira at a lot of events. I saw him all over the world. I saw him everywhere. I think the night before he was at LFA. He was at Karate Combat. He was here, he was there and for periods of time. So I would always question, maybe that method works for him and that’s how they do things so I’m not one to judge that. Maybe questioning how serious he took that fight and he had been fighting a lot. That burnout, that turnover of fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. Sometimes when you’re just so dominant, you kind of [get complacent]. So I question how involved he was for that fight. How hard of a camp he had. How healthy he was. So if we get a fully healthy, committed Pereira, that is a scary dude.
“I think there’s clearly a path. Now Ankalaev obviously let’s say that was the best Pereira and you’re going to get the best Ankalaev, then I think we’re going to see something very similar to that [first] fight. But I think he’s going to throw a little more caution to the win and let those hands go and we’ll see what happens.”
Subscribe to my channel
