The UFC is set to make its debut in Azerbaijan as two top Light Heavyweights will clash in the main event of their card in Baku.
The main event pits two top Light Heavyweights in Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr, against one another on top of an impressive fight card.
Hill vs. Rountree Jr was supposed to take place in Kansas City in April, but was scrapped due to an injury suffered by Hill in the build-up.
The two top-10 ranked fighters will be looking to pick up momentum for a potential title fight with Magomed Ankalaev in the future, although only one can pick up the win and rise up the rankings at UFC Baku.
What time is UFC Baku?
UFC Baku will take place at the Baku Crystal Palace in Baku, Azerbaijan on Saturday, June 21.
The event is expected to start with the preliminaries at 12:00 PM (ET), 9:00 AM (PT), and 5:00 PM (BST).
Following on from that, the main card gets underway at 3:00 PM (ET), 12:00 PM (PT), and 8:00 PM (BST).
There are not expected to be any early preliminary fights on the UFC Baku card.
How to watch and stream UFC Baku?
In the US, the UFC Baku prelims will be available to watch on ESPN+ from 12:00 PM (ET) and 9:00 AM (PT)
Meanwhile, the main card will be broadcast through ABC for free on cable or streaming, as well as on ESPN+.
Over in the UK, fans will be able to watch the UFC Baku prelims through the UFC Fight Pass from 11:00 PM (BST) before switching over to TNT Sports for coverage of the main card from 01:00 AM (BST).
UFC Baku – who’s fighting?
Main card
Light Heavyweight: Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.
Lightweight: Rafael Fiziev vs. Ignacio Bahamondes
Lightweight: Tofiq Musayev vs. Myktybek Orolbai
Heavyweight: Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev
Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta
Featherweight: Muhammad Naimov vs. Bogdan Grad
Prelims
Flyweight: Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Azat Maksum
Middleweight: Ismail Naurdiev vs. Park Jun-yong
Women’s Bantamweight: Melissa Mullins vs. Daria Zheleznyakova
Heavyweight: Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Mohammed Usman
Welterweight: Ko Seok-hyun vs. Oban Elliott
Women’s Bantamweight: Irina Alekseeva vs. Klaudia Syguła
Jamahal Hill had an awkward run-in with Khalil Rountree Jr before UFC Baku clash
Hill and Rountree almost got into a full-on fistfight at the UFC Performance Institute as tension flared before their UFC Baku fight.
During a recent interview with The Schmo, Hill shared a tense moment between himself and Rountree at the UFC PI ahead of their upcoming five-round fight.
“The only time that we did have an interaction, it was weird,” Hill explained. “So I was in the [UFC PI], walked into the locker room, and I’ll say ‘What’s up’ to anybody.
“And I walked into the locker room and he’s like, ‘Man, you really don’t like me do you?’…and I was like what? And he was like ‘You really don’t like me, do you?’
“I was like ‘I don’t even know you, we haven’t even had a conversation’.
“It’s almost like he’s gotta build me up as this villain or this person that he hates, which is fine with me, but whenever you start putting the energy off the UFC staff and s— like that like we can’t be around each other, or something’s going to happen, you’re not going to do s—. So what’s the point of that? It’s weird to me.”
Hill will fight Rountree Jr at UFC Baku on June 21.
