Coach pulled Khalil Rountree Jr. from UFC Abu Dhabi bout
Khalil Rountree Jr.'s coach John Wood made the call to pull his fighter from UFC Abu Dhabi, ending what would have been a career-defining opportunity against top contender Magomed Ankalaev.
Wood told Home of Fight that Rountree wanted to push through an undisclosed injury but the coach stepped in. The fighter had planned to bite down and go, Wood said, but the injury reached a point where Rountree could barely train. "Going into that as bad as it was? Everybody fights injured, but there's injuries and things that are like, 'If I don't get this done in a round or two rounds, I'm in trouble.' It's just not smart," Wood explained, per MMA Mania.
Why Wood stepped in to protect title opportunity
The Syndicate MMA coach told Rountree the matchup carried too much weight to risk. "You're fighting the number one contender. You might as well be fighting almost for a title at that point in time," Wood said. The decision marked the first withdrawal of Rountree's career and the first time Wood had to tell a fighter the fight was off.
Wood referenced past injuries to other Syndicate fighters, including Merab Dvalishvili's December loss to Petr Yan while fighting on a damaged knee. That defeat appears to have shaped Wood's approach. "I promised myself a while ago through some circumstances of watching guys fight in these situations that I've got to make sure that voice is heard," he said.
Ankalaev went on to defeat short-notice replacement Bogdan Guskov in a five-round decision. Rountree is expected to avoid surgery and return once the injury heals.
Original reporting:
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