Khalil Rountree continues to level up in the light heavyweight division in what was a largely one-sided performance against Anthony Smith that ended in a third-round TKO win.
This was a very important fight for Rountree (13-5 MMA, 9-5 UFC) in the overall scope of his career. He had never won more than four consecutive fights in the entirety of his MMA run, which is pretty amazing. Now that statistic is no more, because his fifth straight victory at 205 pounds was the most meaningful yet.
Rountree is filling out his skillset to the point that it can truly hang with the current crop of fighters in this division. His striking power is on par with anyone, and his technique on the feet is up there, too. His ground game is still very much in question, but he’s developed a takedown defense system that is effective for him. If he can keep polishing that part, it might be all he needs to make a legit title run.
Rountree called out Alex Pereira after the fight, and he’s not going to get that now, but it shows where his mindset and ambition are at. He’s a different guy than the inconsistent one we saw earlier in his career, and it’s going to be interesting what he can do against someone a tier up from Smith (37-19 MMA, 12-9 UFC), who took this fight on short notice and rightfully has some questions about his career after going 1-3 in his past four bouts.
This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie