Anthony Smith put his number eight ranking on the line on two weeks’ notice against Khalil Rountree Jr in a clash of ranked light-heavyweights for UFC Vegas 83‘s co-main event.
Smith has made a career out of turning back rising contenders, but Khalil’s explosive brand of violence has made opponents wilt in a way that Smith has done in the past, making this an interesting matchup. As eleventh-ranked Rountree looked for his fifth straight win in a row, Smith looked to get a second in a row to kickstart one last veteran run for the belt. Only one could win, and when the dust settled it was the new blood which got the job done over the old guard of the division.
Smith pressed forward to start the fight while Rountree circled on the outside. They both traded with their power hands – Rountree with his left and Smith, his right – but could not land clean. Khalil clinched up for a while and attempted an elbow on the break, but his bigger success came after that when he ripped the first big combo of the fight to the head and body of Smith. Rountree poked a forward-moving Smith’s nose to a deep red and drew blood, mostly with his sharp jab. He landed one massive, thudding body kick which drew a reaction from everyone in the building. The round ended after a huge one-two from Rountree sent Smith retreating across the octagon before the horn.
Khalil landed another body kick to start the second round, after which Anthony Smith attempted a takedown. Rountree stuffed the shot easily and gained the outside position in the clinch, but it was Smith who landed the elbow on the break this time. He then stormed forward but perhaps got overzealous because Rountree landed a massive right hand that rocked Smith. Anthony shot a desperation takedown which was stuffed. He then got back up, still wobbly, but recovered as Khalil took a while to throw hands again. When he did, he consistently out-landed Anthony Smith; his shots had more pop as well. Although he stayed on the back foot for the rest of the second, he stayed ahead and banked a second round on the scorecards.
The final round had a similar complexion to the first two to start: Smith stalked forward while Rountree got the better of most striking exchanges. This time, however, Rountree put a stamp on his work with a massive right uppercut-left hook combination that made Anthony Smith dance and fall down in a turtle position. Khalil stood over him, fist raised but with no intention of dropping the hammer, until Mark Smith saw that Anthony was not going to fight back and stopped the fight.
The biggest win of Khalil Rountree’s career came tonight at the UFC Apex. With that, he moved into third place for most knockouts in UFC light-heavyweight history with seven in just nine wins. Now he ties himself for the longest winning streak in the division and catapults himself into the top ten of a division which has plenty of opportunity for a new contender to take a shot at the crown.
He put his name in the hat for a title shot by calling out Alex Pereira, saying that the fans really want to see a fight between the two of them. He showed ‘Poatan’ respect with a Portuguese statement to the camera, but he is right that the fans would love a violent matchup between these two striking specialists, especially if Rountree can beat someone in the top of the division’s rankings.
