Khalil Rountree Savages Champ Magomed Ankalaev After Criticism on UFC Baku Main Event

Magomed Ankalaev shares scathing four-word take to Khalil Rountree Jr’s UFC Baku headliner, gets a staunch and snap reply for it.

Khalil Rountree Savages Champ Magomed Ankalaev After Criticism on UFC Baku Main Event

Khalil Rountree retorts Magomed Ankalaev's critic of UFC on ABC 8 decision win (Source: X)

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In the eyes of many, the UFC on ABC 8 Live Fight Night lineup left a lot to be desired by MMA enthusiasts. A sloth afternoon crowd had to wait until the eighth fight for a finish. The UFC Baku main event fight between light heavyweights Khalil Rountree and Jamahal Hill also went the distance. Divisional champ Magomed Ankalaev didn’t like what he saw.

Newly minted 205-pound champ Magomed Ankalaev logged a dominant win over Alex Pereira and snagged gold. While he has touted himself as better and that he’d dominantly win another rematch, this fight week, he has been slicing up UFC Baku predictions as well. Not for lack of effort, Khalil Rountree stunned in a striking masterclass and three knockdowns. ‘Big Ank’ dumbed it down in a scathing four-word assessment.

I am falling asleep.

Magomed Ankalaev via X (@AnkalaevM)

Rountree, a Muay Thai practitioner, connected clean and was ahead on significant strikes stat from mid-R1. He mauled with slicers and body shots; in the lead-up, ‘War Horse’ had said he’d think like a champ, reeling from his round-four TKO loss to Pereira. Hence, there was some inactivity, with him circling back from Hill during the closing seconds of each round, given he was up on scorecards.

Some in the fight community online felt he could have done more. Video footage from Ushatayka’s IG account had the Baku crowd leaving after the Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Bahamondes co-main feature. Nevertheless, coming off a TKO loss, this was a dominant performance and set his skills ceiling. Hence, Khalil Rountree retorted and had this to say about the champ poking him on it:

It’s expected…That guy talks more about me than I talk about him. He says so much. It’s like, ‘Bro, you’re the champion. Why are you talking about me? Get away. Go enjoy being the champion. Quit talking about me on Twitter.’ Gosh. No more Ankalaev questions today.

Khalil Rountree during UFC on ABC 8 post-fight backstage fighter interviews

No.7-ranked 205-pounder Rountree is to see a surge in rankings soon after Baku. Post-fight, he did use his mic time to mention that he is willing to put in the effort against anyone who sets him on a path to gold.

If UFC Execs come calling for a Magomed Ankalaev fight next, he’d be ready for it, and the rivalry would have a more prominent face. A new king, Ankalaev, has been squabbling with all in the division’s top order. As for his Baku win, Ankalaev wasn’t the only one to pitch in.

MMA Pro Twitter reacts to Khalil Rountree winning at UFC on ABC 8 main event in Baku

Khalil Rountree, now with sturdy stats of 15-6 MMA and 11-6 UFC, put a former prodigal champ on his resume at Baku. He is now 6-1 in his last few outings and was a stiff test in a brutal run for former champ Pereira at UFC 307.

MMA twitter and UFC peers react to Khalil Rountree
MMA Twitter and UFC peers react to Khalil Rountree (Source: X)

See below for the top reactions on X (formerly Twitter) to Rountree Jr.’s victory and headlining act, besting a champ at UFC on ABC 8.

UFC LHW Dominick Reyes and Jiri Prochazka, both of whom had a resurgence recently, could end up being Rountree’s next opponent up the contention ladder. Reyes even went the Magomed Ankalaev way, only slightly, to start a spark. As such, it’s only one way up for War Horse.

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