Khalil Rountree reached The Ultimate Fighter 23's final but lost to Andrew Sanchez who controlled him for the majority of the fight. He then lost to Tyson Pedro via submission and needed to urgently rack up some wins to secure his place in the promotion.
From having such a rocky start in the UFC to challenging Alex Pereira for light heavyweight gold, Rountree has naturally come a long way. He's riding a five-fight win streak including four knockouts and many believe his bout against "Poatan" will be fireworks as well.
John Wood recently shared an inspiring story of him convincing Rountree to not retire at the outset of his career...
Khalil Rountree Might've Never Challenged Alex Pereira At UFC 307 If His Coach Didn't Stop Him From Retiring
Wood appeared on Daniel Cormier's official YouTube channel recently to talk about one of his oldest students finally fighting for a UFC title. The coach remembered "The War Horse" wanted to retire from MMA after his third or fourth fight.
I think, it was you know, third or fourth fight, he was talking to me about wanting to retire and going to construction. He's like, yeah, I think I got this good construction job it's gonna pay money. I said whoa, whoa, bro, no no no, I was like, just give me a year. Give me a year and I promise you do whatever I'll support you after that. just give me a hard year. And you know, through that process, The Ultimate Fighter came.
The Syndicate MMA head coach naturally asked Rountree to hold his horses and train with him seriously for at least a year. It is safe to say that the American fighter made the right choice as he would enter The Ultimate Fighter 23 and reach the finals.
Although Wood was initially upset by the decision, he claims that Rountree matured while training in Thailand and learned how to digest the hype and responsibility he received as a talented and exciting prospect.
We had some ups, had some downs and then you know, he moved to Thailand after the Gokhan Saki fight. And kind of, you know, found himself as a person, as a man. You know, I think he was gone for a couple of years and ended up hitting me back up," Wood continued. "It's been nothing but great since he's been back and we've had nothing but success. He's really matured as a fighter.
The coach admitted to having the same excitement regardless of which of his fighters is fighting. However, the UFC 307 main event might be one of his most memorable moments because he's helped Rountree and stuck by him from the very beginning.