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.