EXCLUSIVE | Khalil Rountree believes fight with Eryk Anders will be ‘fight of the night’

At UFC 236, Khalil Rountree will take on Eryk Anders who is moving back up to light heavyweight. In the eyes of many observers, this fight looks like surefire entertainment.

Rountree is no different. He believes this fight could very well be the Fight of the Night.

“To be honest, I see it being like just a really good tradeoff. Like ups and downs, it is just entertaining,” Rountree said to BJPENN.com. “Really an all-out entertaining matchup. Just an exciting fight, like a chess match almost, like really try to figure each other out to get the finish. I can definitely see it being a three-round war where it could be fight of the night for sure.

“I think just the type of fighter Eryk is. He is really tough and smart,” he added. “He just seems like a hard guy to put away so I just think that is a style is really interesting. I think it is a fight the fans want to see, and a fight that I think a lot of people will speak about. It is going to be really well for the both of us.” 

Not only will the fight be an exciting one, it will also be on the main card. Being on yet another pay-per-view main card is something Rountree is looking forward to

“You know what, I have been on a few actually,” Rountree said. “I have been lucky enough to have a few main card fights. It gets a lot of people to see me fight. It’s a big deal, people are paying for it. It just really helps us with some more exposure. It is definitely great. I love having these opportunities.”

Although he has the opportunity, Rountree knows he must leave Atlanta with a win. He is coming off of a brutal knockout loss to Johnny Walker back in November. But, Rountree knows how much better he has gotten since that fight. The reason for this improvement is he spent months in Thailand.

“That is a place where there is high-level guys coming through there at all times,” he explained. “They came in packs and those guys have a reputation for bringing it at Tiger. Glory Kickboxing world championships, judo world championships. Just all types of people come there because it is world famous. Everybody wants to see what it is about, that is what lead me there. It just helped me improve. I was able to be pushed in many different areas.”

Final preparations are underway for fight night. But, if all goes according to plan Rountree will win the fight and a bonus, as well.

“If it stays striking then let’s make some money. Let’s get some bonuses then. Either way, it is just an exciting fight,” he concluded.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 4/12/2019.