Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree are ready to make history as the first UFC fighters to headline an event in Azerbaijan.
At Friday’s official weigh-ins for UFC Baku, Hill and Rountree successfully made weight, tipping the scales at 206 pounds (making use of the one-pound allowance for a non-title light heavyweight bout. Both fighters are coming off of losses and looking to stay in the thick of the title picture with a win on Saturday.
Hill, a former UFC champion, is on the first losing streak of his career having suffered back-to-back knockout losses to Jiri Prochazka and Alex Pereira. Currently No. 7 at light heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, Hill can move one step closer to regaining the title he never lost in the cage if he can get past Rountree.
The No. 8-ranked Rountree also aims to stay near the front of the contender line. Rountree rode a five-fight win streak to a championship challenge against Alex Pereira at UFC 307, where he took “Poatan” to the limit before succumbing to strikes late in the fourth round.
Co-main event lightweights Rafael Fiziev (155.5) and Ignacio Bahamondes (155.5) also successfully made weight. Fiziev fights to stop a career-worst three-fight skid, while Bahamondes hopes a win over the No. 11-ranked Fiziev moves him into the top 15 of the rankings.
All 24 fighters competing Saturday at Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan successfully made weight.
See UFC Baku official weigh-in results below.
Main Card (ABC, ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET)
Jamahal Hill (206) vs. Khalil Rountree (206)
Rafael Fiziev (155.5) vs. Ignacio Bahamondes (155.5)
Curtis Blaydes (258) vs. Rizvan Kuniev (264.5)
Tofiq Musayev (163) vs. Myktybek Orolbai (165) — 165-pound catchweight bout
Nazim Sadykhov (155) vs. Nikolas Motta (155.5)
Muhammad Naimov (146) vs. Bogdan Grad (146)
Preliminaries (ESPN, ESPN+ at 12 p.m. ET)
Seokhyun Ko (169.5) vs. Oban Elliott (170.5)
Ismail Naurdiev (186) vs. Jun Yong Park (186)
Daria Zhelezniakova (136) vs. Melissa Mullins (136)
Irina Alekseeva (135.5) vs. Klaudia Sygula (135)
Tagir Ulanbekov (126) vs. Azat Maksum (126)
Hamdy Abdelwahab (264.5) vs. Mohammed Usman (244.5)
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