Chris Daukaus drops down to light heavyweight, meets Khalil Rountree at UFC 289
Chris Daukaus will seek new life at 205 pounds.
After spending his entire professional MMA career as a heavyweight, Daukaus (12-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC) makes his light heavyweight debut against Khalil Rountree (11-5 MMA, 7-5 UFC) at UFC 289 on June 10 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, per promotion officials.
Daukaus, 33, will look to snap a three-fight losing skid after suffering knockout losses to Derrick Lewis, Curtis Blaydes, and Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Prior to that, the 33-year-old Philadelphia native was on a five-fight winning streak, which all came by knockout.
Rountree, 33, is enjoying arguably his best octagon run. The “Ultimate Fighter 23” finalist has won his past three in a row – scoring back-to-back Round 2 TKO’s of Modestas Bukauskas and Karl Roberson, followed by a split decision over Dustin Jacoby this past October.
The latest UFC 289 lineup now includes:
Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Peña – for women’s bantamweight title
Charles Oliveira vs. Beneil Dariush
Michel Pereira vs. Stephen Thompson
Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Miranda Maverick
Eryk Anders vs. Marc-Andre Barriault
Diana Belbita vs. Maria Oliveira
Blake Bilder vs. Kyle Nelson
David Dvorak vs. Matt Schnell
Dan Ige vs. Nate Landwehr
Lucas Almeida vs. Hakeem Dawodu
Aori Qileng vs. Aiemann Zahabi
Chris Daukaus vs. Khalil Rountree
Chris Curtis vs. Nassourdine Imavov
Adam Fugitt vs. Mike Malott
Chris Daukaus vs. Khalil Rountree
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 289.