A pair of light heavyweights will most likely be fighting for their spot in the UFC come September.
Sherdog first reported the news that Khalil Rountree will be fighting Modestas Bukauskas on September 4 at UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till. A source close to the situation later confirmed the fight to Cageside Press. Bukauskas would also confirm the booking on his Instagram Story.
Rountree (8-5-1) is on a two-fight skid since his absolute domination of Eryk Anders in 2019 at UFC 236. “The War Horse” would lose to Ion Cuțelaba via TKO in the first round five months after his Anders win. He would take the whole year of 2020 off as he was stuck in Thailand and contemplating retirement. In January, Rountree got back to action at UFC 257 but would lose a very close decision to Marcin Prachnio.
Bukauskas (11-4) would burst onto the scene with a TKO win over Andreas Michailidis last year on ‘Fight Island.’ In his second fight, he would get finished in two minutes by top 15 fighter Jimmy Crute during the promotion’s second trip to ‘Fight Island.’ Like his opponent, Roundtree, his most recent loss was a very close decision to Michał Oleksiejczuk
Both fighters have their backs against the wall and desperately need a win, or else they might find themselves outside of the UFC.
No location, venue, or broadcast details have yet to be announced by the promotion for UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till, although the UFC is trying to take the fight to London.
So far, the September fight card looks like this:
- Darren Till vs. Derek Brunson
- Lerone Murphy vs. Charles Jourdain
- Khalil Rountree vs. Modestas Bukauskas
- Uros Medic vs. Jalin Turner
