Jamahal Hill takes on Khalil Rountree Jr. in the main event of the first UFC Fight Night in Azerbaijan on June 21 at Baku Crystal Hall. The pair square off in the scheduled five-round contest at light heavyweight.
Former 205-pound champion Hill (12-3, 1 NC) is coming off two defeats. The 33-year-old Chicago native was stopped by Jiri Prochazka in the third round in January and KO’d by Alex Pereira in the first round last April in his bid to reclaim the title.
Rountree Jr. (13-6, 1 NC) also looks to get back in the win column. In his attempt to become champion last October, LA’s 35-year-old suffered a defeat via fourth-round TKO against Pereira, which snapped his five-fight winning streak.
“Azerbaijan and the city of Baku have an incredible history of hosting massive global sporting events,” said Dana White, UFC President and CEO. “We have so many great athletes from in and around this country that it was a natural next destination for us. I’m excited to have our debut event there on June 21.”
Also confirmed for the UFC Baku fight card is a flyweight bout between Kyoji Horiguchi (34-5) of Japan and Tagir Ulanbekov (16-2). Curtis Blaydes (18-5) of Chicago and Rizvan Kuniev (13-2-1) battle it out at heavyweight.
Morocco-based Ismail Naurdiev (24-7) and Junyong Park (18-6) of South Korea clash at middleweight. Another matchup at heavyweight pits New York-based Hamdy Abdelwahab (6-0) of Egypt against Mohammed Usman (10-4) of Arlington, Texas.
A pair of bantamweight bouts features Irina Alekseeva (5-2) up against Klaudia Sygula (6-2) of Poland, and Daria Zhelezniakova (9-2) versus Melissa Mullins (7-1) of England.
UFC Baku tickets go on sale at 10:00 AM AZT on Friday, April 25 via iTicket, as per the promotion’s announcement on Friday. Additionally, UFC Fight Club provides early access to tickets at 10:00 AM AZT on Wednesday, April 23, whilst fans who registered their interest early in this event gain access at 10:00 am AZT on Thursday, April 24.
The current UFC Baku lineup is as follows:
- Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
- Kyoji Horiguchi vs. Tagir Ulanbekov
- Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
- Jun Yong Park vs. Ismail Naurdiev
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman
- Irina Alekseeva vs. Klaudia Sygula
- Daria Zhelezniakova vs. Melissa Mullins