The UFC was on a roll on Tuesday.
In addition to Dana White announcing the main and co-main event for UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey on June 7, the promotion also unveiled a new headliner for the UFC Kansas City card on April 26.
Ian Machado Garry is stepping up to replace Geoff Neal, and he will take on hard-charging welterweight contender Carlos Prates. That fight will now be the UFC Kansas City main event, with Khalil Rountree vs. Jamahal Hill being scrapped because of an injury to the latter’s leg.
Many fans took to social media after the announcement, and the sentiment seems to be the replacement fight is even better than the original.
New UFC Kansas City Main Event: Garry vs. Prates
Garry is coming off a hard-fought loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov in December. He was a late replacement for injured UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad in that fight. A win for Garry in this fight would put him right back in the immediate title picture.
It won’t be easy.
Prates is enjoying a meteoric rise through the welterweight rankings. The 31-year-old Brazilian is on an 11-fight win streak. He hasn’t lost a fight in six years. Prates is a perfect 5-0 if you count his impressive showing on the Dana White’s Contender Series in August 2023.
Prates is also on a run, having captured four consecutive Performance Bonuses. Most recently, he destroyed Neil Magny via first-round TKO in November 2024.
This welterweight clash looks excellent on paper.
UFC Kansas City Former Main Event Removed
The previously scheduled main event between Jamahal Hill and Khalil Rountree was removed after Hill suffered a leg injury.
Rountree discussed the cancellation in the video below.
The fight was expected to take place at light heavyweight and had potential rankings implications. No replacement opponent has been announced for Rountree, and he doesn’t know when he’ll be back in the Octagon.
Rountree’s last fight was an epic clash with former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in October 2024. Rountree fell via fourth-round TKO; however, he raised his stock in the process.
He dropped Pereira and pushed the champion to his brink before being overcome by one of the best pure strikers in the sport. Hill lost his last fight as well. He was stopped by Jiri Prochazka in January at UFC 311.
Hill is on a two-fight losing streak, so it would make sense that he’d want to be at 100 percent for his next fight. He cannot afford to drop three in a row, and likewise, it will be tough to defeat Rountree at 100 percent—let alone if he is compromised.
Full UFC Kansas City Fight Card
Here is a look at the updated fight card for UFC Kansas City.
- Ian Machado Garry vs. Carlos Prates (170 lbs)
- Anthony Smith vs. Mingyang Zhang (205 lbs)
- Michel Pereira vs. Abus Magomedov (185 lbs)
- Giga Chikadze vs. David Onama (155 lbs)
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. André Muniz (185 lbs)
- Randy Brown vs. Nicolas Dalby (170 lbs)
- Jacqueline Amorim vs. Polyana Viana (115 lbs)
- Cameron Saaiman vs. Malcolm Wellmaker (135 lbs)
- Chelsea Chandler vs. Joselyne Edwards (135 lbs)
- Matt Schnell vs. Jimmy Flick (125 lbs)
- Ahmad Hassanzada vs. Evan Elder (155 lbs)
