Andre Petroski vs Jacob Malkoun slated for UFC Fight Night 239 on March 30
It appears we have our first fight booking since the holiday intact, as Andre Petroski (10-2) is slated to face Jacob Malkoun (7-3) at UFC Fight Night 239.
UFC FN 239 is to go down on March 30, 2024, live from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Following a 1-1 stint on The Ultimate Fighter 29, Andre Petroski debuted in the UFC with a record of 5-1 back in August of 2021, winning his first five promotional bouts over the likes of Michael Gillmore (TKO), Hu Yaozong (arm-triangle choke), Nick Maximov (anaconda choke), Wellington Turman (UD), and Gerald Meerschaert (SD).
This led up to his most recent appearance where he faced Michel Pereira, who was returning to 185 lbs on a five-fight win streak himself; Petroski was TKO’d in a mere 66 seconds of this contest in October, and he looks to get back to his winning ways with a victory over Malkoun this spring.
Jacob Malkoun on the other hand came to the UFC in October of 2020 with a record of 4-0, losing his promotional debut to Phil Hawes via KO in just 18 seconds. He’d go on to defeat Abdul Razak Alhassan (UD) and AJ Dobson (UD) over the course of his sophomore and junior efforts with the promotion, winning five of those six rounds fought, leading up to his fight with current no. 8 ranked Brendan Allen.
Though Malkoun would lose this bout via unanimous decision, he impressed us all by giving Allen all he could handle, arguably winning the fight in many people’s eyes. Allen is currently on a six-fight win streak, having just submitted Paul Craig in November, he’s 11-2 in the UFC overall, and Malkoun is the only opponent in those six fights he couldn’t finish.
Malkoun would next defeat Nick Maximov (UD) before losing a disqualification to Cody Brundage. Malkoun was absolutely handling Brundage in this bout, having his back for much of the fight en route to landing an illegal elbow to the back of Brundage’s head, disqualifying him at 4:15 of the opening round.
Petroski also went 7-1 as an amateur mixed martial artist, while Malkoun went 2-0 prior to turning professional, as well as going 3-0 across three professional boxing bouts.
This is a very intriguing bout for the UFC to make because these two are quite similar in their approach to fighting.
They’re both incredible wrestlers; Petroski having competed in the sport since he was just four years of age, and Malkoun having one of the better single leg trips in MMA today. Both are also wicked grapplers, Petroski boasting a BJJ brown belt under Daniel Gracie, and Malkoun boasting a BJJ black belt, as well as an ADCC Asian Championships gold medal.
Who walks away from this middleweight bout going down at UFC FN 239 the victor?
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