Rountree Dominates Hill To Secure UFC Baku Win

Although Hill got back up from the canvas, he was on unsteady legs. Rountree moved intelligently, using that left hand to cut Hill near the eye. Rountree stepped it up again, landing a massive right hook that dropped him. Rountree was ahead on the scorecards as he tried to find the KO. The knockout never came, but his dominance allowed an easy decision on the cards. Rountree will now put himself in a position to target a title shot against the current champion, Magomed Ankalaev. 

“I told you from the beginning, I didn’t come in here underestimating Jamahal. The plan was to be smart. I made some mistakes in the Alex fight. This one, I get to make different decisions. I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do and if I’m winning the round, I can secure that and be a smart, professional championship level fighter. That’s how champions think, in my opinion. I want to be a champion. Whatever’s next. There’s things that need to be done. Whatever gets me closer to fighting for the belt again,” Rountree said 

Full Card

Light Heavyweight: Khalil Rountree Jr. beat Jamahal Hill by unanimous decision (49-46, 50-45, 50-45).

Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev beat Ignacio Bahamondes by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards).

Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes beat Rizvan Kuniev by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Catchweight (165 lbs): Myktybek Orolbai submitted Tofiq Musayev with a kimura at 4:35 of round 1.

Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov beat Nikolas Motta by TKO (punches) at 4:17 of round 2.

Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov beat Bogdan Grad by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards).

Prelims

Welterweight: Seokhyun Ko beat Oban Elliott by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards).

Middleweight: JunYong Park beat Ismail Naurdiev by unanimous decision (29-26, 29-26, 29-25).

Women’s Bantamweight: Daria Zhelezniakova beat Melissa Mullins by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Women’s Bantamweight: Klaudia Sygula beat Irina Alekseeva by unanimous decision (30-27 on all cards).

Flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov beat Azat Maksum by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27).

Heavyweight: Mohammed Usman beat Hamdy Abdelwahab by unanimous decision (29-28 on all cards).