Close-up photo of Khalil Rountree Jr.'s battered face after UFC 307 war elicits unusually respectful reaction from Tyson Fury

Heavyweight boxing star Tyson Fury praised Khalil Rountree Jr. 'The Gypsy King' took to his Instagram story with a close-up picture of Rountree Jr.'s face. Fury captioned the picture with a message of camaraderie.

As he said, the fight game is no actual game. It is a serious business in which fighters risk their health and even lives. Given that Rountree Jr. takes part in the most challenging of combat sports, it is only sensible that Fury felt it necessary to highlight the UFC 307 main eventer's toughness.

A screenshot of his Instagram story was shared on X/Twitter by boxing journalist Michael Benson.

"We don't play in the fight game."

(NSFW Warning)

Rountree Jr's facial injuries, which reportedly led to him being rushed to the hospital for a CT scan, were the result of a drastic momentum shift in his fight with Alex Pereira. Halfway through round three of their light heavyweight title bout, the challenger began to tire, likely due to the demands of high elevation.

At that point, Pereira turned up the heat and began drowning Rountree Jr. as the latter's speed diminished from exhaustion. Pereira closed out round three by landing combinations and brutal knees in the clinch. Round four featured more of this as the fight became increasingly one-sided.

Ultimately, 'Poatan's' trademark striking skills were on full display as he completely broke Rountree Jr. down, rocking him numerous times with a varied assault before dropping him with two hard hooks to the body and a crushing uppercut to the chin. The assault was enough for referee Marc Goddard to wave the fight off.

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Khalil Rountree Jr. gave a good account of himself at UFC 307

Despite losing what ultimately turned out to be a lopsided beating, Khalil Rountree Jr. made the fight with Alex Pereira as competitive as possible for the first two rounds. Round one was close, and Rountree Jr. may very well have won it due to his activity levels. Round two, however, was clearly his.

Check out Khalil Rountree Jr.'s head kick in round two:

It was competitive, up until Rountree Jr. caught Pereira standing on one leg mid-high kick with a counter, dropping the champion. However, 'Poatan' recovered with near-supernatural quickness and never seemed to be in true danger. Thereafter, Rountree Jr. tired and Pereira took over the fight.