Michal Oleksiejczuk will make his UFC debut, as he takes on Khalil Rountree at UFC 219 on Saturday, December 30 in Las Vegas. Oleksiejczuk is 12-2 and on a nine-fight winning streak and he will be replacing the injured Gokhan Saki. Rountree is 6-2 in his career and he is coming off a win against Paul Craig in July. This fight is one of four on the preliminary card at UFC 219 on FS1, leading up to a five-fight main card on pay-per-view, featuring Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm. Let’s look at Rountree vs. Oleksiejczuk.
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Khalil Rountree (7-2, 2-2 UFC)
Rountree won the first four fights of his career in RFA but his first two UFC bouts didn’t go well, as he lost to Andrew Sanchez in July of 2016 and he was submitted by Tyson Pedro in November of 2016. Rountree did bounce back to knock out Daniel Jolly in February of 2017 and he knocked out Paul Craig in July.
It is all about striking for Rountree who is known for his power. He has five knockout wins in his career, including knockouts in his last two bouts. Rountree has not shown much on the mat, so he will look to keep this fight standing. Rountree has five first round finishes in his career.
Michal Oleksiejczuk (12-2, UFC debut)
Oleksiejczuk will be fighting outside of his home country of Poland for the first time. He has shown a lot of power but the opponents he has faced have been weak. It is hard to know just how good Oleksiejczuk is considering he has been fighting in the Thunderstrike Fight League.
What we do know about Oleksiejczuk is that he is a good striker with solid power. He hasn’t shown much on the mat but he hasn’t needed to. He has eight wins by knockout and one by submission. He has five first round finishes. The concern with Oleksiejczuk is that his power may be better suited to middleweight than to light heavyweight. Oleksiejczuk doesn’t have the one punch power that Rountree has. What Oleksiejczuk does have is great technical skill, as he is a precision striker and a very good counter striker.
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This is an interesting matchup between two very good strikers. Rountree definitely has knockout power and there is no doubt that Oleksiejczuk is a very good striker. The question I have in this fight is whether or not Oleksiejczuk has the power to handle good UFC fighters and whether or not he is in the right division. He may be better suited to middleweight rather than light heavyweight. Rountree is an all or nothing fighter and he should be a good matchup for Oleksiejczuk simply because Oleksiejczuk is a technical fighter. Rountree should give him a lot of openings to deliver shot after shot. The danger, of course, is that Rountree lands a big shot that Oleksiejczuk simply can’t handle. I think Oleksiejczuk will be wary of the power that Rountree has and fight a good technical fight and get in a lot more shots. We should also get some value, as I expect Oleksiejczuk to be listed as the underdog in this fight. I will take Oleksiejczuk to get the win at plus money.
UFC 219 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, December 30 with the feature bout a matchup between Cris Cyborg and Holly Holm. There are five fights on the main pay-per-view card and five on the preliminary card, with four on FS1 and one on UFC Fight Pass.
Main Card (pay-per-view)
Cris Cyborg vs. Holly Holm
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Edson Barboza
Jimmie Rivera vs. John Lineker
Cynthia Calvillo vs. Carla Esparza
Carlos Condit vs. Neil Magny
Preliminary Card (FS1)
Khalil Rountree vs. Michal Oleksiejczuk
Dan Hooker vs. Marc Diakiese
Myles Jury vs. Rick Glenn
Louis Smolka vs. Matheus Nicolau
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)
Marvin Vettori vs. Omari Akhmedov
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