UFC Baku fight picks & predictions for Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Check out predictions for every fight at UFC Baku.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The UFC makes its first trip to Azerbaijan this weekend for UFC Baku, and MMA KO’s Drew Beaupré is here to provide predictions for all 12 fights on the card.

The event is headlined by a pivotal light heavyweight matchup between the division’s former champion Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree Jr., who is returning to action for the first time since his failed title bid against then-champion Alex Pereira at UFC 307 in October.

The night’s co-main event is also an important lightweight tilt between top-ranked contenders Rafael Fiziev and Ignacio Bahamondes, which will see Bahamondes try to extend his finishing streak against the #11-ranked Fiziev.

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Ignacio Bahamondes (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Jalin Turner (not pictured) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

UFC Baku Main Card Predictions

Jamahal Hill vs. Khalil Rountree Jr.

Alex Pereira (red gloves) fights Khalil Rountree Jr. (blue gloves) in a light heavyweight title bout during UFC 307 at Delta Center. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Both of these men are coming off losses where they sustained a considerable amount of damage, and with Rountree having taken quite a bit of time to recover I favor “The War Horse” to get things done in what will presumably be a striking-heavy fight.

(Pick: Rountree Jr.)

Rafael Fizeiv vs. Ignacio Bahamondes

Justin Gaethje (red gloves) fights Rafael Fiziev (blue gloves) during UFC 313 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Fiziev took advantage of a short-notice opportunity to step in and rematch Justin Gaethje at UFC 313 but came up short, and even though Bahamondes is on a tear a slight step back in competition like this should be a good opportunity for “Ataman” to snap his current three-fight skid.

(Pick: Fiziev)

Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev

Rizvan Kuniev during his fight with Renan Ferreira at 2023 PFL 2. | (Cooper Neill/PFL)

This is the third event that this fight has been booked for, and it’s still a wild matchup for Blaydes to have accepted given that he’s coming off an interim heavyweight title fight. “Razor” is certainly the more credentialed fighter, but this fight just has a strange feel to it.

(Pick: Kuniev)

Myktykbek Orolbai vs. Tofiq Musayaev

Elves Brener (red gloves) fights Myktybek Orolbai (blue gloves) during UFC 301 at Rio Arena. | Jason Silva-Imagn Images

This is still an excellent matchup that unfortunately isn’t going to attract the attention of many casual fans, and with Musayev coming into the night off a major layoff I have to pick Orolbai to spoil the Azerbaijani fighter’s UFC debut.

(Pick: Orolbai)

Nazim Sadykhov vs. Nikolas Motta

Nazim Sadykhov (red gloves) fights Viacheslav Borshchev (blue gloves) during UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden. | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

Motta is the kind of fighter that’s more than capable of playing spoiler here, but the Brazilian also leaves himself a bit too open on the feet and is facing a dangerous finisher in Sadykhov.

(Pick: Sadykhov)

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Muhammad Naimov vs. Bogdan Grad

Muhammad Naimov during his fight with Nathaniel Wood. | (MMA Junkie)

The main card opener is another well-matched fight between two talented featherweights. Grad impressed by stopping Lucas Alexander in his UFC debut, but Naimov has already squared off with a higher level of competition in the Octagon.

(Pick: Naimov)

UFC Baku Preliminary Card Predictions

Ko Seok Hyeon vs. Oban Elliott

Oban Elliott (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Bassil Hafez (red gloves) in a welterweight bout during UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Ko could make an immediate impact in his promotional debut if he were to upset Elliott, but “The Welsh Gangster” is riding a massive wave of momentum that I expect will keep rolling at UFC Baku.

(Pick: Elliott)

Ismail Naurdiev vs. Jun Yong Park

Jun Yong Park (red gloves) and Anthony Hernandez (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre. | David McIntyre-Imagn Images

Park’s last two UFC outings were certainly a step back from the four-fight win streak he previously put together, but this matchup with Naurdiev should allow “The Iron Turtle” to score his second win in a row and start working towards another middleweight win streak.

(Pick: Park)

Darya Zheleznyakova vs. Melissa Mullins

Melissa Mullins during her fight with Klaudia Sygula. | (MMA Junkie)

Zheleznyakova and Mullins square off again after theu previously met at ARES FC 9 in 2022, and I expect that “No Mess” will get the better of things once again and improve to 2-0 over her Russian rival.

(Pick: Mullins)

Irina Alekseeva vs. Klaudia Sygula

Irina Alekseeva of Kazakstan punches Melissa Mullins in a bantamweight fight during a UFC Fight Night event. | (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Both of these women come into UFC Baku after suffering losses to the aforementioned Mullins. Sygula will be motivated to try and earn her first Octagon victory, but I think that Alekseeva will be the one that returns to the win column.

(Pick: Alekseeva)

Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Azat Maksum

Tagir Ulanbekov (red gloves) celebrates after defeating Clayton Carpenter (not pictured) during UFC 311 at Intuit Dome. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

It’s ridiculous that a bout this good is buried on the prelims, and while I expect that Maksum will make things more competitive than the pre-event odds indicate this should be Ulanbekov’s fight to lose

(Pick: Ulanbekov)

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Mohammed Usman vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab

Mohammed Usman during his fight with Mick Parkin. | (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

This was a bold choice for the UFC Baku curtain jerker given that it could play out as a slow-paced wrestling match, and I’m going to slightly lean with Usman to get his hand raised based on the fact that he has significantly more MMA experience.

(Pick: Usman)

MMA KO will be providing comprehensive coverage for UFC Baku all throughout fight week, and be sure to check back on our homepage tomorrow for live results and highlights on fight night.

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