Khalil Rountree Jr. tells Joe Rogan how Dustin Poirier's swansong gave him renewed hope for MMA: “Tides are changing” 

Khalil Rountree Jr. recently spoke to Joe Rogan and discussed how impressed he was by Dustin Poirier’s retirement fight earlier this month. Rountree Jr. said fans are now appreciating fighters' legacies, regardless of their MMA records.

Poirier challenged Max Holloway for the BMF belt in the main event of UFC 318 in front of his home crowd at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. 'The Diamond' delivered a strong performance but ultimately suffered a unanimous decision defeat, after which he laid down his gloves inside the octagon to mark his retirement.

It was a wholesome moment for Poirier, whose legacy was admired by many MMA personalities, including Rountree Jr., who recently appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast and offered his thoughts. 'The War Horse' noted that everyone showered Poirier with praise, despite him ending his career on a loss.

''I was very happy...I like what the UFC is doing now with like the exits, you know...Like Dustin [Poirier] got a sick exit for me...Not only did I feel like they both put on a really good fight. I just thought like what a cool way to to be able to just do that much work and then like be appreciated for it. Like win or lose. Maybe the tides are changing a little bit.''

Rountree Jr. continued:

''I felt like for a long time and still to this day, it's still pretty like heavy but to lose in MMA was almost kind of like the end of the world to the fans...sometimes like someone can be on a tear and then they lose and then like you can just see the direction of the of the support like completely shift...but Dustin's exit and all that stuff guaranteed he did a lot in the company and...to see that kind of gave me hope.''

Check out Khalil Rountree Jr.'s comments below (38:52):

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Khalil Rountree Jr. is set to make his UFC return against a former champion

Khalil Rountree Jr. received the opportunity to compete for the light heavyweight gold against Alex Pereira at UFC 307 last year after an impressive five-fight win streak. He displayed his resilience but eventually suffered a fourth-round knockout defeat.

Rountree Jr. recovered and faced Jamahal Hill, defeating him via unanimous decision at UFC Baku last month. The American is now scheduled to face former champion Jiri Prochazka at UFC 320 on Oct. 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.