A pair of middleweights will fight for the No. 15 spot in the UFC’s 185lb rankings.
Announced on Paradigm Sports‘ social media, Sean Strickland will try and keep his No. 15 spot when he faces Krzysztof Jotko on May 1. Strickland is represented by the management firm.
Stickland (22-3) returned to action last year after more than a two-year lay-off due to a serious motorcycle accident. He got right back to his winning ways by dominantly defeating Jack Marshman via unanimous decision on Halloween. Strickland did not waste any time as he jumped in on short notice to face Brendan Allen at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos. He snapped Allen’s winning streak and became the first man to defeat him in the UFC by finishing him via TKO.
Poland’s Jotko (22-4) is also on a three-fight winning streak. He defeated Alen Amedovski and Marc-André Barriault in 2019. Jotko only fought once in 2020, although he was scheduled on one other occasion only to be forced to withdraw. In his only fight last year, Jotko defeated Eryk Anders, snapping “Ya Boi’s” win streak. The Polish fighter was ranked No. 15 for a few months last year but was replaced by Strickland. With a win over Strickland, Jotko will take his spot right back and steal Stickland’s steam.
No official location, venue, or broadcast details have been announced for the UFC’s May 1 Fight Night event. The following bouts have been reported for the card thus far:
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Augusto Sakai
- Damon Jackson vs. T.J. Laramie
- Kai Kamaka III vs. T.J. Brown
- Mike Jackson vs. Dean Barry
- Ji Yeon Kim vs. Poliana Botelho
- Dominick Reyes vs. Jirí Prochazka
- Andreas Michailidis vs. KB Bhullar
- Ion Cuțelaba vs. Devin Clark
- Sam Hughes vs. Loma Lookboonmee
- Sean Strickland vs. Krzysztof Jotko
