Khalil Rountree Jr breaks silence after UFC Kansas City fight with Jamahal Hill is cancelled
Yesterday at 04:18 AM
Khalil Rountree Jr has reacted to his UFC Kansas City main event being called off.
The light heavyweight contender hasn’t fought since suffering a fourth-round TKO loss against Alex Pereira when they clashed for 205lb gold at UFC 307 in October.
A comeback fight against ex-champion Jamahal Hill was supposed to take place in Missouri on April 26.
However, UFC boss Dana White recently announced Khalil Rountree Jr.’s main event matchup has been replaced by Ian Garry vs Carlos Prates, who was supposed to fight Geoff Neal before an injury derailed their UFC 314 clash.
Khalil Rountree Jr. addresses Jamahal Hill fight cancellation
Rumors about Hill being injured swirled on the internet several days before White’s announcement.
On Tuesday, Rountree confirmed that an issue with his opponent led to their fight being scrapped.
It is currently unclear what injury Hill is dealing with, but the hope is that the 205lb duo will clash soon.
"So, I just got off the phone with the UFC, and it appears that Jamahal Hill is injured, not able to fight in Kansas City on the 26th of April," Rountree said on his YouTube channel.
"So, it looks like I'm out of a fight, and it's going to be postponed. I don't know when, but it looks like that's the case so far.
"I have no idea what the issue is. All I know is that UFC told me that he had to pull out due to an injury.
“Usually, they don't give too many details as to what the injury is or whatever, but they did tell me that it was an injury and that he needed more time to recover from this injury, which is why they're going to postpone the fight.
“Hopefully, we stay matched up, just at a later date.”
Magomed Ankalaev vs Alex Pereira 2?
Since beating Rountree, Alex Pereira has lost his light heavyweight belt to Magomed Ankalaev.
The Brazilian fan favorite was outpointed over five rounds in the main event of UFC 313 last month.
White seemingly signed off on an immediate rematch during a post-fight press conference.
Ever since, the 205lb rivals have been locked in negotiations for a summer showdown.
The latest update came from Ankalaev, who claimed to have agreed to an August rematch.
However, he questioned if Pereira would be ready and willing to go again in a few months time.
“I have a feeling you don't want the rematch after I agreed to August,” Ankalaev tweeted.
Fans will just have to wait for an official update before the light heavyweight title picture becomes clear.
