The framework is quickly underway for the
Ultimate Fighting Championship to make a splash in the
half-Asian, half-European nation of Azerbaijan.

According to the promotion on UFC on Friday, the main and co-main
events are on the books for
UFC Baku, which is set to go down on June 21 in Baku,
Azerbaijan. In this nation bordered on the east by the Caspian Sea,
fight fans will be treated to a rescheduled main attraction of
Jamahal
Hill (12-3, 1 NC) vs. Khalil
Rountree (13-6, 1 NC). The co-headlining spot will go to the
returning Kyoji
Horiguchi (34-5, 1 NC) against Tagir
Ulanbekov (16-2) in a pivotal flyweight affair. Combat will
take place at the Baku Crystal Hall, and it is not currently clear
whether this will be a Fight Night offering or one that plays out
on the ESPN or ABC networks.

In addition to the newly announced pairings—Ariel Helwani first
broke the news that Horiguchi was coming back and that Ulanbekov
was likely to be his opponent—the organization confirmed that the
heavyweight pairing of Curtis
Blaydes (18-5, 1 NC) vs. Rizvan
Kuniev (13-2-1) has been rebooked for this fight card.
Additionally, Darya
Zheleznyakova (9-2) vs. Melissa
Mullins (7-1) at 135 pounds is on the preliminary lineup.

Hill will be looking to return to the win column after a pair of
knockout losses to Alex
Pereira for the light heavyweight strap and Jiri
Prochazka in a potential title eliminator. The graduate of
Dana White’s Contender Series—who became the
first fighter to come up through that system and win a UFC
belt—worked his way up the ladder the last couple years courtesy of
knockouts over Jimmy
Crute, Johnny
Walker and Thiago
Santos. The subsequent decision victory against Glover
Teixeira earned Hill the gold strap, one he willingly vacated
after suffering an injury.

Former title challenger Rountree is coming off of that championship
excursion against Pereira in October 2024. Suffering a knockout at
the hands of the Brazilian in Round 4, Rountree found his
five-fight win streak snapped violently. As he rose up through the
ranks, “The War Horse” knocked out names like Anthony
Smith and Chris
Daukaus as he found some stability in his weight class. That
five-fight win streak measured as the longest of his career.

After leaving the UFC on a three-fight win streak in 2016,
Horiguchi returned to Japan, where he largely dominated the
Rizin Fighting Federation scene. During his
time with Rizin, Horiguchi sustained a single defeat—avenged in the
rematch—to Kai
Asakura, while amassing 15 victories. He also dabbled in the
Bellator MMA ranks, becoming one of a select
few fighters to claim belts simultaneously across two major
organizations, Rizin and Bellator.

Ulanbekov returned from over a year off in January, where he
captured a decision over Clayton
Carpenter to push his win streak to three. After six walks to
the Octagon, the Dagestan native has only fallen short once in a
battle against grizzled vet Tim Elliott.
On the winning side of his ledger, Ulanbekov celebrates an early
win over Asu
Almabayev, while beating names like Cody Durden
and Bruno Silva
in the UFC thus far.

IMAK ADMIN

By IMAK ADMIN

Internationaler Kampfkunst und Kampfsport Kleinanzeiger