Khalil Rountree Jr earned a lot of respect for the way he fought against light-heavyweight champion Alex Pereira at UFC 307 on Saturday night, and he’s since revealed that he even heard from Conor McGregor a few days after the event.
“A couple of days after the fight I got some messages from Conor and it was really cool to get some messages from him,” Rountree Jr. told Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo on their podcast.
“One thing he pointed out was that I could’ve put more pressure.
“If I would’ve been a little more relentless with my pressure and not backed off so much and retook the center of the cage, I think I would’ve been able to apply a little more damage to him.
“If I were to go back and replay this fight, I would probably just be a little bit more aggressive, like smart aggressive.”
The 34-year-old Rountree had been on a five-fight winning streak prior to his TKO loss to Pereira, but even in defeat it seems like his stock rose on Saturday night, and he’s now a more recognisable and marketable fighter than before.
Rountree will be looking to take some time to heal up first before he thinks about returning to the Octagon though after having to undergo nose surgery to straighten his septum following the fight.
“Septoplasty is the worst surgery on the planet,” Rountree said on social media after the operation. “Pure pain.”
