UFC Kansas City: Hill vs. Rountree Fight Set
Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr. were booked to headline the Kansas City card on April 26, 2025, in a five-round light heavyweight bout at T-Mobile Center. The promotion announced the matchup as both fighters looked to rebound from title-level setbacks. Hill withdrew with a leg injury, and Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates moved into the main event. Hill and Rountree later met in Baku, where Rountree won a unanimous decision.
The Kansas City card took a new shape
Hill entered the planned bout after a third-round TKO loss to Jiří Procházka in January 2025. He had also been knocked out by Alex Pereira at the April 2024 event, ending his run as light heavyweight champion; Pereira won by first-round knockout. Rountree’s most recent outing was a challenge for Pereira’s title at the October 2024 event, where Pereira stopped him in the fourth round; the official event results record the finish. The matchup brought two forceful strikers together, but the change in the main event altered the Kansas City card.
The promotion announced Hill’s withdrawal and Garry–Prates as the new headliner in early April. Garry and Prates fought five rounds, with Garry taking a unanimous decision by scores of 48–47, 48–47 and 49–46. The Kansas City scorecards also record Zhang Mingyang’s first-round TKO of Anthony Smith at 4:03. The replacement main event gave the card a different five-round contest at the top.
Hill and Rountree meet in Baku
Hill and Rountree were rescheduled for June 21, 2025, at Baku Crystal Hall in Azerbaijan. Their fight headlined the promotion’s first event in Baku. The move kept the matchup on course after the Kansas City withdrawal and gave both light heavyweights another five-round opportunity to move toward title contention.
Rountree won by unanimous decision after five rounds. The official scorecards were 49–46, 50–45 and 50–45. He used measured pressure and accurate combinations to control key stretches, while Hill struggled to turn forward movement into consistent offense. The event report records Rountree’s return to the win column after his title challenge and Hill’s third straight defeat.
The matchup’s place in the division
The Baku result gave Rountree a high-profile win and kept him among the division’s leading contenders. Hill, a former champion, faced a difficult stretch after losses to Pereira, Procházka and Rountree. The Kansas City booking had placed both men in the same five-round main event, while the later result in Azerbaijan established a clear outcome between them.
Rountree’s next major test came against Procházka on October 4, 2025. The event recap lists Procházka as the winner. That defeat followed Rountree’s Baku victory and interrupted his push toward another title opportunity. As of October 17, 2026, Hill had announced his move to heavyweight and identified Josh Hokit as a preferred opponent, while targeting a late-2026 or early-2027 return, according to MMA Fighting.
Sources: Official matchup announcement; Official withdrawal and replacement headliner; Kansas City scorecards; Baku event results; Baku scorecards; October event results.
