UFC FIGHT NIGHT: ANKALAEV vs ROUNTREE JR. tickets go on sale at 12 pm GST on Wednesday, June 3 via Ticketmaster.ae. Early access to tickets will be available from 11 am GST on Tuesday, June 2, for those who registered their interest.
Ankalaev (21-2-1, fighting out of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia) returns to the Octagon for the first time since losing the light heavyweight title to Alex Pereira at UFC 320 last October, a result that ended a seven-year unbeaten run inside the Octagon. Before that setback, the 33-year-old had defeated Pereira to claim the belt at UFC 313, after wins over Anthony Smith, Johnny Walker and Aleksandar Rakic on his road to the title. Currently ranked No. 1, Ankalaev is targeting a decisive win on his return to set up another shot at the belt.
Rountree Jr. (15-7, 1NC, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada) enters as the underdog with the chance to spoil Ankalaev’s return. The 36-year-old former title challenger made headlines last June in Baku, defeating former light heavyweight champion Jamahal Hill by unanimous decision in his second straight main event, and a win against Ankalaev would likely put him back in title contention.
In the co-main event, No.2 ranked UFC bantamweight Umar Nurmagomedov (20-1, fighting out of Kizilyurt, Dagestan, Russia) and No.8 ranked David Martinez (14-1, fighting out of Mexico City, Mexico) square off in a pivotal divisional matchup. Nurmagomedov bounced back from his title loss to Merab Dvalishvili with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Mario Bautista in October 2025 and Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC 324 in January, while Martinez has gone 3-0, demonstrating he can deliver a fast finish and battle for three hard rounds to earn victories over established opponents.
Additional bouts on the card include:
- Heavyweights Gokhan Saricam (12-2, fighting out of Istanbul, Turkey) and Louie Sutherland (11-5, fighting out of London, England) face off with both fighters coming off their first UFC wins.
- Magomed Tuchalov (6-0, fighting out of Dubai, UAE by way of Makhachkala, Dagestan, Russia) makes his UFC debut against Brendson Ribeiro (17-10, 1 NC, fighting out of Curitiba, Brazil) in a light heavyweight bout.
- No. 10 ranked flyweight Steve Erceg (14-4, fighting out of Perth, Western Australia) takes on Uzbekistan’s Ramazan Temirov (19-3, fighting out of Karshi, Uzbekistan).
- Ranked heavyweights collide as No. 8 Rizvan Kuniev (14-3-1, fighting out of Makhachkala, Russia) meets No. 10 Tyrell Fortune (18-3, fighting out of Tempe, Arizona).
- Uran Satybaldiev (10-1, fighting out of Osh, Kyrgyzstan) faces UFC veteran Dustin Jacoby (22-9-1, fighting out of Denver, Colorado) in a light heavyweight matchup.
- No. 13 ranked heavyweight Valter Walker (15-1, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) takes on Thomas Petersen (11-4, fighting out of Webster, Minnesota) in a heavyweight bout.
- Ismael Bonfim (20-6, fighting out of Brasília, Brazil) meets Axel Sola (11-1-1, fighting out of Nice, France) in a lightweight contest.
- Welterweight Islam Dulatov (12-1, fighting out of Düsseldorf, Germany) takes on Wellington Turman (18-8, fighting out of Danbury, Connecticut).