Gokhan Saki has been rebooked to fight Khalil Rountree Jr at UFC 226 in July.
It’s take two for both Gokhan Saki and Khalil Rountree Jr.
Originally scheduled to fight at UFC 219, the two light heavyweights have been re-booked for UFC 226 on July 7th in Las Vegas, Nevada. UFC officials announced the matchup last Friday. The night’s main card airs live on PPV, with prelims split between FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.
Saki (1-1) made his UFC debut last September, winning by vicious KO vs. Luis Henrique da Silva. He is best known as a highly accomplished kickboxer, having won the Glory LHW belt in 2014 via injury TKO vs. Tyrone Spong, but inactivity led to him being stripped of the title. The 34-year-old later decided to make the full-time switch to MMA, and the UFC signed him in 2017.
Rountree (6-2, 1 NC) was runner-up on season 23 of The Ultimate Fighter, losing by decision to Andrew Sanchez in the final. A submission loss to Tyson Pedro soon followed, but then the 28-year-old prospect rattled off two straight knockout wins over Daniel Jolly and Paul Craig. When Saki was unable to fight at UFC 219 due to injury, Rountree took on Michal Oleksiejczuk, losing by decision, but it was overturned to a no contest after Oleksiejczuk failed a drug test.
UFC 226 is headlined by a champion vs. champion superfight between light heavyweight titleholder Daniel Cormier, who is moving up to heavyweight to try and wrest the heavyweight crown away from Stipe Miocic.