UFC: Gokhan Saki vs Khalil Rountree Jr. rebooked for UFC 226

Kickboxing maniac Gokhan Saki (1-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) vs Khalil Rountree Jr. (6-2 (1) MMA, 2-2 (1) UFC) rebooked for UFC 226 on July 7, 2018.

Saki and Rountree were expected to meet at UFC 219 in December 2017. But on November 28, Saki was removed from the card after sustaining a knee injury. The exciting bout however is rematerialized for the already stacked UFC 226 card.(via Twitter):

Let's try this again!@GokhanTheRebel takes on @War_Khalil in LHW action at #UFC226 in Las Vegas! pic.twitter.com/24l8Er9ITM
— UFC (@ufc) April 13, 2018

Saki made his UFC debut back in September at UFC Fight Night 117 in Saitama, Japan. Eventhough dealing with adversity, Saki managed to make quick work of his opponent Henrique Da Silva to put other light heavyweights on notice, roaring ‘This is my house!’ in his post-fight interview.

Saki was the former GLORY Light heavyweight champion. Saki has an incredible kickboxing record of 83-12-1. He has faced Kickboxing legends namely former Showtime and Glory champion in Tyrone Spong,current Glory Heavyweights champion Rico Verhoeven,Former K-1 and Showtime heavyweight champion Badr Hari,Melvin Manhoef,etc. He was also the 2006 K-1 Grand Prix runner up and 2008 and 2010 Drand Prix second runner up.

Rountree on the other hand has been successful in stabilising his UFC journey after a rough start. Rountree competed as a fighter on the Ultimate fighter season 23 and paved his way to the UFC through the show. However, he faced two setbacks against Andrew Sanchez and Tyson Pedro which snapped his undefeated record. He then finished Daniel Jolly and Paul Craig with consecutive first round KO’s to get back on track.

Rountree then faced promotional newcomer Michał Oleksiejczuk at UFC 219 who replaced Saki on short notice. Originally a unanimous decision win for Oleksiejczuk, the bout was overturned after he was tested positive for clomiphene.

UFC 226 will feature a super-fight between Light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and Heavyweight champion Stipe Miocic for the UFC Heavyweights championship of the world.