Khalil Rountree Jr. releases first statement after Jamahal Hill fight scratched from UFC Kansas City main event

Khalil Rountree Jr. will no longer be competing in the main event of UFC Kansas City against Jamahal Hill, and he has now provided some context for the change in his first statement.

“So [I had a phone call] with UFC, and it appears Jamahal Hill is injured, not able to fight in Kansas City on [April 26],” Rountree said on his YouTube channel. “So it looks like I’m out of a fight, and it’s going to be postponed — I don’t know when, but it looks like that’s the case so far.”

The UFC announced Tuesday that the new headliner for the promotion’s return to Kansas City is a welterweight matchup between Ian Machado Garry and Carlos Prates.

As far as the actual injury to Hill goes, Rountree—currently No. 7 at light heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings—wasn’t given any specifics.

“I have no idea what the issue is, all I know is UFC told me that he had to pull out due to an injury,” Rountree said. “Usually they don’t give too many details as to what the injury is, or whatever, but they did tell me it was an injury and that he needed more time to recover from this injury, which is why they’re going to postpone the fight.

“So hopefully it stays that we stay matched up, just at a later date.”

Hill was looking for his second bout of 2025, as he competed at UFC 311 in January, suffering a third-round stoppage loss to Jiri Prochazka—the former champ’s second consecutive loss.

Rountree and Hill were matched up for UFC 303 this past June before Rountree was forced out following a two-month suspension after taking a banned supplement. “The War Horse” went on to face Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title at UFC 307 this past October, where he was stopped in the fourth round of a spirited battle.

The news also serves as possible disappointment in terms of Rountree’s long-term goals in 2025, as he aimed to fight three times this year. While that can still happen, Rountree hopes his fight with Hill can be rebooked quickly.

“I really want this fight to happen,” Rountree said. “I think it’s a great matchup for me and this is the fight that I want. So hopefully this injury heals up quick, because I want to stay focused on fighting Jamahal.”