WHAT!?! A UFC event that begins at 4:30 in the AFTERNOON? Christmas has come early ladies and gentleman as the octagon rolls into Gdansk, Poland for the first time in the promotion’s history.
The ERGO Arena plays host to the twelve-strong fight card, which culminates in unbeaten British welterweight sensation Darren Till, taking on perennial fan favourite Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
Darren Till steps into the octagon just seven weeks after outclassing Bojan Velickovic at UFC Rotterdam, with a huge step up in competition laying in his way of a top fifteen ranking in the UFC. Donald Cerrone has fought most of the roster and holds an impressive 19-6 record, even more impressive when he only joined the promotion in 2011.
A win for Cowboy would equal Michael Bisping’s record of twenty wins in the octagon, an incredible achievement. It will be key for the Darren Till to press the pace early and utilise his Muay Thai, as he looks to cause an upset in Poland. Cerrone has lost two consecutive bouts to Jorge Masvidal and Robbie Lawler and will look to return to form.
Poland’s second favourite daughter Karolina Kowalkiewicz will also be looking to avoid sliding to three consecutive defeats, taking on octagon debutant Jodie Esquibel.
Kowalkiewicz held a perfect 10-0 record before being outpointed by compatriot Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 205, and then went on to lose to Claudia Gadelha in the first round at UFC 212. Esquibel however is 1-2 at strawweight after previously fighting at a slim 105lbs in the atomweight division.
The Polish strawweight hasn’t registered a win inside the distance since 2014, but will be looking to make a statement to get her title challenge back on track in Gdansk.
Jan Blachowicz will look to avoid potentially losing his place in the promotion after winning just one in his last five. Devin Clark is the man looking to end the Pole’s octagon career with the winner set for a ranking in a shallow light heavyweight divison.
Gdank’s own Oskar Piechota opens the main card, making his UFC debut after his devastating finish of Jason Radcliffe to seal the Cage Warriors middleweight title earlier this year. He takes on Jonathan Wilson, making his first appearance after moving down to middleweight.
The fight card also features Conor McGregor’s stablemate Artem Lobov, who takes on Andre ‘Touchy’ Fili in the third bout of the evening. Lobov holds a 2-3 record in the UFC but hopes to fight a further two times before 2017 is over!
The action gets underway from 4:30PM on UFC Fight Pass before the main card begins at 8PM on UFC Fight Pass & BT Sport ESPN.
UFC Gdansk Full Fight Card
Main Card
- Welterweight: Donald Cerrone vs. Darren Till
- Women’s Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs. Jodie Esquibel
- Light Heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz vs. Devin Clark
- Middleweight: Jonathan Wilson vs. Oskar Piechota
Prelims
- Lightweight: Marcin Held vs. Nasrat Haqparast
- Heavyweight: Adam Wieczorek vs. Anthony Hamilton
- Bantamweight: Brian Kelleher vs. Damian Stasiak
- Middleweight: Ramazan Emeev vs. Sam Alvey
- Featherweight: Artem Lobov vs. Andre Fili
- Welterweight: Warlley Alves vs. Salim Touahri
- Women’s Bantamweight: Lina Lansberg vs. Aspen Ladd
- Featherweight: Felipe Arantes vs. Josh Emmett
