Coach Recalls Talking Khalil Rountree Out of Retirement Early in MMA Career

According to John Wood, Khalil
Rountree came pretty close to calling it quits before his
career could really pick up momentum.

“I think, it was you know, third or fourth fight, he was talking to
me about wanting to retire and going to construction,” the
Syndicate MMA coach recently said on Daniel
Cormier’s YouTube channel. “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.”

It was still a bumpy road for Rountree after appearing on Season 23
of “The Ultimate Fighter,” as he had inconsistent results for the
first five years of his UFC tenure. That led to him considering
retirement again in late 2019 before eventually having a change of
heart and extending his contract with the Las Vegas-based
promotion.

“The War Horse” has peaked since September 2021, winning five
consecutive fights — four via KO or TKO — to earn a shot at light
heavyweight champion Alex
Pereira in the UFC 307
main event at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Oct. 5. Over
the years, Rountree expanded his horizons and moved to Thailand to
train, but he eventually found his way back to Wood.

“We had some ups, had some downs and then you know, he moved to
Thailand after the Gokhan Saki
fight [at UFC 226],” Wood said. “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. 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.”