A pair of welterweight prospects will collide in April.
After being on the wrong side of a highlight reel finish, Impa Kasanganay will return to action against Sasha Palatnikov at a UFC event on April 10. Kasanganay will be dropping down a weight class to 170 for the first time in his career.
MMA Junkie was first to report the news. Palatnikov later confirmed the booking, adding “It’s go time!!! Happy to announce a date and opponent excited to put on a beautiful display of violence.”
We have not seen Kasanganay (8-1) since he was the victim of the Knockout out of the Year in 2020. That saw him finished via two-touch kick by Joaquin Buckey last October at UFC Fight Night: Moraes vs. Sandhagen on ‘Fight Island.’ Before being on the receiving end of the viral knockout, Kasanganay was having a good 2020. He received a UFC contract on season four of Dana White’s Contender Series by defeating Anthony Adams via unanimous decision. He would make his UFC debut two weeks later against Maki Pitolo, winning another unanimous decision.
Palatnikov (6-2) made his UFC debut at UFC 255 in a Fight of the Night winning performance by snapping Louis Cosce’s undefeated streak. He ended up coming back and finishing Cosce in the third round. Palatnikov had previously fought for promotions such as UAE Warriors and AFC.
The UFC’s April 10 Fight Night lineup now looks like this:
- Darren Till vs. Marvin Vettori
- Nina Ansaroff vs. Mackenzie Dern
- Jarjis Danho vs. Yorgan De Castro
- Ignacio Bahamondes vs. John Makdessi
- Norma Dumont vs. Bea Malecki
- Sam Alvey vs. Zak Cummings
- Jordan Griffin vs. Luis Saldana
- Arnold Allen vs. Sodiq Yusuff
- Hunter Azure vs. Jack Shore
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Aliaskhab Khizriev
- Shamil Gamzatov vs. Da Un Jung
- Mike Perry vs. Daniel Rodriguez
- Impa Kasanganay vs. Sasha Palatnikov
