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Rountree reportedly plans to move up to heavyweight to take on Hardy.
If Khalil Rountree was serious about having his next fight double as his last one, it’ll be at heavyweight.
The hard-hitting Rountree is slated to take on Greg Hardy at UFC 252 on August 15th in Las Vegas, Nevada, per Combate. The night’s main card airs live on pay-per-view from the APEX Facility.
Rountree (8-4, 1 NC) has fought much of his career at light heavyweight, but he did compete at middleweight early in his career, and now he’s making another division switch. The Ultimate Fighter season 23 runner-up has had a hard time with consistency throughout his UFC career, sporting a .500 record of 4-4 (1 NC) with a notable knockout win over former kickboxing star Gokhan Saki. He’s coming off a TKO loss to Ion Cutelaba, and just a few months later he indicated that he would retire after his next bout. Rountree was supposed to face Sam Alvey in March before the COVID-19 pandemic shut that down.
Hardy (6-2, 1 NC) bounced back from his short notice loss to Alexander Volkov by dispatching Yorgan de Castro at UFC 249 in May, in what was his first appearance on a pay-per-view main card. The former NFL defensive end, whose domestic violence past sparked outrage and controversy over the UFC signing him in the first place, has appeared exclusively on main cards through his six fights with the promotion, including co-main events against Allen Crowder and Dmitry Smolyakov, neither of whom is with the UFC anymore. His best win is likely his 45-second TKO of Juan Adams, who’s also no longer under UFC contract.
UFC 252’s main event is a heavyweight championship trilogy between Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier.