Sean Strickland approached Khalil Rountree Jr. in person at UFC PI to apologize for previous comments: "I'm a dumba*s"

Khalil Rountree Jr. recently opened up about his last interaction with Sean Strickland and revealed that the former UFC middleweight champion apologized for some previous comments.

Rountree Jr. is set to face Alex Pereira in a light heavyweight title fight at UFC 307 this weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah. Given Rountree Jr.'s reputation as a striker, Pereira invited Strickland to be a part of his training camp and help him prepare for his upcoming title defense. Intriguingly, 'Tarzan' has some history with Rountree Jr. and has brutally lambasted 'The War Horse' on social media in the past.

From accusing Rountree Jr. of being in a cult to implying that he may be a "special needs" individual, Strickland has been quite harsh with his criticism of the 34-year-old fighter. Strickland also recently called Rountree Jr. a "liberal c*ck beta male" during an interview and slammed him for being too soft.

Nevertheless, it appears Strickland didn't want any bad blood with 'The War Horse' and apologized for his comments. During a UFC 307 media day interview, Rountree Jr. was asked about Strickland's statements, to which he replied:

"Honestly, the last interaction that I had with Sean Strickland was at the UFC P.I [Performance Institute]... Out of the blue, Sean Strickland comes up to me. He approached me, and he just said, ‘Khalil, I apologize, I’m a dumba*s. I actually kind of like you. I think you’re liberal, but overall, I like you, or I respect you,’ something along those lines. Almost squashing whatever beef."

Check out Khalil Rountree's comments below:

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Sean Strickland shares prediction for Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307

While Sean Strickland may have buried the hatchet with Khalil Rountree Jr. in their last interaction, he's still picking Alex Pereira to emerge victorious in the UFC 307 main event. He recently shared his prediction for the upcoming light heavyweight title fight and speculated that Pereira would dominate his opponent.

During a recent interview with MMA reporter Helen Yee, Strickland lauded his former rival's power and said Rountree Jr. didn't have the necessary "tools" to beat the hard-hitting Brazilian:

"I just can’t see Khalil pulling it off. I think I may have watched him fight Anthony Smith. I just can’t see it happening. I don’t think he has the tools in the toolbox to beat Alex. He’s not knocking him out. He’s not outstriking him. He’s not outwrestling him. I think Alex is going to make easy work of this fight."

Catch Sean Strickland's comments below (8:09):