Contender Series alum Azamat Murzakanov, who
is now 3-0 in the UFC and ranked No. 12 at LHW, will face No. 11
Khalil Rountree on Dec. 2 per sources. Rountree on a four-fight win
streak.— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN)
September 22, 2023
Even without a location on the books, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is building up
its first December card in a big way.
On Friday, two high-stakes matchups at 135 and 205 pounds were
announced by various outlets. Courtesy of
MMA Fighting, and confirmed by
other outlets, Rob Font (20-7)
will be welcoming former flyweight king Deiveson
Figueiredo (21-3-1) up to 135 pounds on Dec. 2. The untitled
UFC
Fight Night event on that date does not have a headliner or a
specific location yet, although rumored venues include the Target
Center in Minneapolis and the 3Arena in Dublin.
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While still a top-10 name in the talent-rich bantamweight division,
Boston-based Font has fallen on hard times as of late, having
dropped three of his last four. In late 2021, Jose Aldo
snapped Font’s four-fight win streak that included victories over
Cody
Garbrandt and Sergio
Pettis. A subsequent outing against Marlon Vera
did not go Font’s way in his lone trip to the cage in 2022. This
year Font did bounce back from those defeats by sparking Adrian
Yanez in under three rounds, but a five-round headliner in
August saw Font fall short against Cory
Sandhagen.
Like his foe, Figueiredo only celebrates one win over the last
couple years. “Daico” completed the first immediate tetralogy in
UFC history when he battled Brandon
Moreno four consecutive times from 2020 to 2023. When the dust
settled, Figueiredo had lost two of the four outings, along with
their 2020 draw, to end it in Moreno’s favor. Along the way, the
35-year-old – who repeatedly stated that his weight cut to
flyweight had been more challenging as he aged – suffered his only
two stoppage losses. This fight against Font will be the
Brazilian’s first at bantamweight.
Additionally, the UFC’s broadcast partner of ESPN
broke the news that a big light heavyweight scrap would be on deck
for this Fight Night event. Both on the outside of the UFC’s
205-pound top 10 looking in, Khalil
Rountree (12-5) will square off against Azamat
Murzakanov (13-0) on the same billing.
Rountree has currently tied the longest win streak of his career by
winning his last four bouts. About two years ago, Rountree righted
the ship by stopping Modestas
Bukauskas with a vicious leg kick. The 2022 campaign for “The
War Horse” went swimmingly, as a body kick knockout of Karl
Roberson started the year off strong, and he concluded it by
claiming a split decision over top-ranked Dustin
Jacoby. This past August, Rountree put away former heavyweight
Chris
Daukaus in under three minutes, and knockouts account for
two-thirds of Rountree’s career victories.
Unbeaten as a professional, Murzakanov claimed his place on the
roster in 2021 by wrecking Matheus
Scheffel in exactly three minutes on Dana White’s Contender Series. Since then, the
Russian dispatched Tafon
Nchukwi and Devin Clark
in 2022 via third-round knockouts. In April, Murzakanov faced the
aforementioned Jacoby, only to claim a unanimous verdict over the
ex-kickboxer. “The Professional” sports a finish rate of 77% as a
professional.