Light Heavyweights
Khalil Rountree (7-2) vs. Johnny Walker (14-3)ODDS: Rountree (-265), Walker (+225)
Rountree may never turn the corner, but it has been fun watching him try. Upon his entry to the UFC through “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016, Rountree topped a lot of prospect lists, owing to his brutally powerful kickboxing game. In short order, those skills turned out to not mean much when opponents put him on his back, as Rountree spent most of his first two UFC fights looking lost on the ground. He finally seemed to put things together in 2017 and earned a few brutal knockouts, but he ended the year on a down note against Michal Oleksiejczuk, whose durability led to Rountree wearing himself out and continuing to show his flaws as a fighter. Naturally, Rountree rebounded from that poor performance with a knockout of kickboxing legend Gokhan Saki, so who knows where his career goes from here. One would think his fun style and the big Saki win would get him a bigger fight, especially in a division yearning for new talent, but instead, Rountree faces a debuting Brazilian in Walker.
Walker, who followed the reverse Darren Till path and trains in England, graduated from Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series in Brazil. He has shown some charisma, and he is the kind of fighter you would expect the UFC president to sign: a massive light heavyweight with a penchant for quick knockouts or, in the case of the fight that netted his contract, absolute wars. There is definitely something there, and the nature of the light heavyweight division gives Walker a good chance at sticking, even if he is firmly in the category of a bunch of UFC newcomers who are mostly just high-upside fliers.
This should be fun while it lasts, which also should not be long. Walker has the size advantage, but I worry that might mean there is just more of him for Rountree to hit. Rountree should be the quicker, harder-hitting athlete, and as this devolves into a brawl, the American figures to have all the advantages. It is not a lock that Rountree wins -- power striking matches are always a bit of a coin flip, and there is a chance for some intense weirdness should either guy try to take advantage of the other’s terrible wrestling defense -- but on paper, this is obviously his fight to lose. The pick is Rountree via first-round knockout.
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