7/13/26

Khalil Rountree and Magomed Ankalaev were scheduled to fight in what was a contender bout on July 25th, for sure going to be an amazing fight between two of the best light heavyweights on the roster. Unfortunately, Khalil Rountree has suffered an undisclosed injury that has caused him to withdraw from the fight. Now stepping up on short notice is #10-ranked light heavyweight Bogdan Guskov, who had a fight scheduled with a former champion, Jan Blachowicz, just a week later. The Blachowicz fight is off, and Guskov could now shoot himself to title contention. With the current state of the weight class and the champion being out for close to a year, this is the perfect opportunity for Guskov to cause a ripple in the title contention race.

Ankalaev was already in line for the title shot as he was a former champion with only two losses to his name. A win over Rountree almost guaranteed a shot at the belt, but he now has a new opponent to look forward to. Guskov is 18-3-1 in his career and is on a five-fight unbeaten streak, where he and Jan Blochowicz went to a majority draw. Guskov has been climbing the ranks ever since he stepped foot in the UFC, and he believes that he is the next champion. He now has the perfect opportunity to test his skills against one of the very best in the world and prove that he also belongs at the top.