Khalil Rountree calls out Magomed Ankalaev for trash talk: 'It's a f*cking toxic way of f*cking being' |

25/07/2025 18:00 -

Khalil Rountree wants Magomed Ankalaev to keep his name out of his mouth.

The light heavyweight division is set for a shakeup at UFC 320 on Oct. 4, when Ankalaev defends his 205-pound championship in a rematch with Alex Pereira, and Rountree meets fellow contender Jiri Prochazka on the undercard. Depending how those two bouts play out, Rountree could find himself in another title opportunity soon.

Should it be Ankalaev he challenges for the belt, there's plenty of bad blood between the two, even with Rountree previously deflecting questions about the light heavyweight king. In a recent interview on the The Joe Rogan Experience, Rountree was pressed for his opinion on Ankalaev and he didn't hold back.

"He just talks shit, and I hate people that talk shit," Rountree said. "I just don't like it. I don't like people who talk shit for no reason. If I didn't say anything to you, if I've never f*cking mentioned your name, then why are you talking shit to me or about me or disrespecting me?"

Ankalaev took to social media to mock Rountree for his workmanlike win over Jamahal Hill in the main event of UFC Baku this past June. The comments were part of a recent trend for Ankalaev, who has frequently taken public jabs at his divisional rivals.

Rountree believes Ankalaev is making up for an in-cage style that is yet to capture the imagination of the fans and he has a simple solution for Ankalaev to fix that.

"Fight better," Rountree said. "I hate [the trash talk]. I f*cking hate it. It really bugs me. I just hate it because it's f*cking unnecessary, and even as an adult, I had to deal with this shit my whole life and it's a f*cking toxic way of f*cking being and it's passing along through social media and kids are f*cking getting beat up for it and we're f*cking grown men on a large platform where people are looking up to us for many different things and they envision us as these f*cking gladiators and this is what you're choosing to do.

"We have a responsibility. I feel like as athletes, as champion number f*cking one, as champion, you have a responsibility. You have a belt around your waist and all these eyes and microphone and that's what you're going to choose to say is talk shit and degrade my name and I'm not even above you. I'm not even challenging you for a fight and you want to mention me? That, to me, is just like, dude, spend your time wisely. So in a way it's motivation for me because I'm like, I just won't do that. I think that there's so many different things that can be done when you have that belt. That belt is an honor to have that. There's a responsibility that comes with that, there's things that you can do with that. It's not just about you. Realize the responsibility you have when you carry that title."

The budding rivalry between Rountree and Ankalaev could go nowhere if Ankalaev fails to defend his title against Pereira. That's not a problem for Rountree, who actually has a plan for the remainder of his UFC deal, which he estimates has has six or seven fights left on it.

Rountree lost a thriller to then-champion Pereira at UFC 307, so he'd like to rematch Pereira, become champion, and then close out his career on his own terms.

"Here's an ideal situation," Rountree said. "Win over Jiri in October. Alex beats Ankalaev. Rematch for the belt against Alex sometime in the first half of next year. Beat Alex in the rematch. Get the belt. I'm the champion all summer. Then somewhere in between summer and fall, there's a child that comes into play. My wife's not pregnant yet, but it would be nice. … This is my vision, but there are goals in between.

"Goal: Beat Jiri. Goal: Get another shot at the title. Vision: Start my family. Finish my fight contract. Be done with fighting. Live in Asia."