Khalil Rountree Jr.'s leg kicks have always been his key to success, and he continues to show why he is a legit contender in the light heavyweight division with a major, dominant victory over former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC Baku.
After a very quiet opening round that saw plenty of leg kicks from each man, Rountree started to open up more in the second round. Rountree continued with the leg kicks, one of his specialties, and he notably damaged up one of Hill's legs before starting to target the other. Hill's movement was seemingly compromised by the middle of this second.
The third round had the familiar slow pace, but Rountree continued to pound away with the leg kicks. But Rountree scored the biggest moment of the night with a left hand that briefly sat Hill down. He followed that up that doing it again in the round's dying seconds, this time with a big right hand.
Rountree continued his cerebral approach in the fourth, slowly chopping away at Hill outside of a body shot that stumbled Hill back. The fight's pace went the same for the fifth round, as Rountree swept two judges' scorecards in a clear, one-sided decision.
Khalil Rountree Jr. Scores One-Sided Decision Over Jamahal Hill
Rountree Jr. has now won six of his last seven. This was his first fight since coming up short in a light heavyweight title fight against Alex Pereira at UFC 307.
Hill has now lost three straight since vacating the UFC light heavyweight title due to injury. This skid has also included a title fight loss against Pereira at UFC 300 and a loss to Jiri Prochazka at UFC 311 in January.