The light heavyweight division is heating up thanks to Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr. The pair is looking to face each other in an international Fight Night event in Baku for the first time.
Both fighters have lost to the former light heavyweight champ Alex Pereira and are looking to get back to winning ways. To make matters more interesting, there is a lot more on the line here.
The winner of this fight is likely to find themselves in contention for a title shot after the Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev saga is done with.
With such an explosive fight coming up, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo discussed it on the latest episode of their Pound4Pound podcast. ‘Marty’ broke down the fight, talking about how he thinks Rountree Jr. had more weapons to use against Hill.
However, the power factor comes into play when you talk about ‘Sweet Dreams’.
Former UFC double champ, Cejudo then added to his take, saying, “Your analysis was very honest, coz you’re right. Khalil Rountree has more tools. But, just remember Kamaru, that small little glove, in MMA when Jamahal Hill puts that on, it only takes one shot.”
He continued, “Because it is MMA, and that straight does hurt from Jamahal Hill, I mean, it only takes one shot.”
However, it should be noted that Rountree famously survived many a power hits from Pereira when he faced him last year in a brave attempt at capturing the 205 lbs title.
In fact, the Brazilian had to start targeting his body with liver shots because he wasn’t able to knock him out. And now, Rountree is making sure that even that part of his game is untouchable.
Rountree Jr. makes major upgrade
The former title contender was devastated after his loss to Pereira. He put up a great fight and showed tremendous heart. But at the end of the day, he essentially ran out of gas as Pereira never lost his cool and simply pieced him up to pick up a TKO win.
‘Poatan’s’ game plan changed mid-fight, as he started targeting Rountree’s body with kicks and liver shots. And that’s the exact same shot he finished him with as well. So now, to make sure that doesn’t happen again, the former title contender has been working hard on his body work.
Footage of him doing some body conditioning ahead of the fight was doing the rounds on social media. With no pads or any kind of protection, Rountree Jr. was seen exchanging vicious body blows with his sparring partner, from elbows to kicks, anything his opponents could throw at him.
Khalil Rountree Jr doing some brutal body conditioning ahead of his fight with Jamahal Hill
@SyndicateMMA pic.twitter.com/x5ZMzOh9vY
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) April 17, 2025
He’s looking indestructible with this new training, he does not want to have any chinks in his armor when he fights Jamahal Hill in Baku. Hill, on the other hand, is on a 2-fight losing streak. However, when asked if that will be of any consequence when he faces Rountree Jr., the former light heavyweight champion dismissed it by calling it stupid.
