A couple new UFC fights have been announced over the last few days, and here they are along with my thoughts on them.
Danny Roberts vs. David Zawada, UFC Fight Night 134
A welterweight matchup has been booked for UFC Fight Night 134 featuring Danny Roberts and short-notice replacement David Zawada. Zawada is filling in on short notice for the injured Alan Jouban, UFC officials confirmed. The card takes place Sunday, July 22 at Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Roberts (15-3) is 4-2 in the UFC and is coming off of a KO win over Oliver Enkamp in his last outing. Zawada (16-3) is a Germany native who is coming off of five straight wins, with a couple of UFC veterans like Andreas Stahl and Maciej Jewtuszko among the list of fighters he has defeated on the European regional circuit. I should have a full breakdown for the fight coming up this week, and you can expect me to lean towards the more experiened Roberts in the matchup.
Jessica Andrade vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz, UFC 228
An important women’s strawweight bout between Jessica Andrade and Karolina Kowalkiewicz is being targeted for UFC 228, which takes place Saturday, September 8 in Dallas, Texas. ESPN.com broke the news of the bout. Most assumed Andrade would be getting the next title shot against UFC women’s strawweight champion Rose Namajunas but apparently she will have to win another fight to get that opportunity. Andrade (18-6) is 5-1 since moving down to 115lbs and in her last two bouts she defeated top conteners Tecia Torres and Claudia Gadelha. Kowalkiewicz (12-2) is on a two-fight win streak over Felice Herrig and Jodie Esquibel and actually has a notable win over Namajunas. Both women are excellent fighters but based on how dominant Andrade has looked as of late it’s hard not to give her a slight lean to take home the win in this fight.
