UFC’s Andre Petroski Set For Big Middleweight Run
With the UFC set to return to action this week with UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. Cortez, show opener Andre Petroski will look to show the world why he started 5-0 in the UFC when he faces off with Josh Fremd. Aside from fighting in the UFC, Petroski has also spent much of his time recently competing at Fury Pro Grappling, showing his dominance on the ground game. Petroski will look to showcase those true mixed martial arts skills and steal the show Saturday.
Introduction to Combat Sports and Early Career
As with many strong UFC fighters, a wrestling base was instilled in Petroski early in his career. A three-time state qualifier in Pennsylvania (Springfield High School), he also grew up with a colligate-level wrestling father. “My dad wrestled at Penn State, did some boxing, and ran a karate studio. I also grew up watching all of the UFC fights,” Petroski told MYMMANEWS. After competing a few seasons at the University of North Carolina, Petroski transferred to Kutztown University, where he would finish his wrestling collegiate career. He would have a successful 2014-2015 season earning a national qualifying bid as well as being selected All-PSAC. Petroski would place second at the Super Region 1 Championships and third in the PSAC Championships.
Like other good fighters, Petroski can admit it takes a lot of people to mold a solid fighter. “There are too many to name, but my coach Eddy Torres has taken me to the next level,” stated Petroski. This foundation led him to his solid amateur career which saw him go 7-1 from January 2016 to February 2018. He would also collect the Art of War Cage Fighting welterweight title and Stellar Fights middleweight title along his amateur path.
Starting his pro career 3-0 with three first-round finishes, Petroski would find himself meeting Shedrick Goodridge for the AOWCF pro middleweight title. Petroski would continue his string of dominance, winning via second-round TKO. Taking on two more bouts, Petroski would then enter the TUF house participating on The Ultimate Fighter season 29 in April 2021.
TUF and UFC Run
With COVID-19 just concluding as far as shutting down the sports world, TUF would make it’s return after a couple of years off with TUF 29. The coaches for this season would be Brian Ortega and Alexander Volkanovski. Petroski was the second-overall middleweight selected, the first by Team Ortega. Showing his ground dominance, Petroski would score a submission win over Louisiana native Aaron Phillips in the quarterfinals. Though Petroski would lose in the semi-finals to the eventual champion, there was a lot gained by the future star.
“TUF was a smooth transition into the UFC with becoming more familiar with the Apex before fighting in arenas. TUF also put me in touch with my current manager as well as the knowledge I gained from Rener Gracie, Brian Ortega, and Paul Hererra,” stated Petroski.
Just three months after his time on TUF, Andre Petroski would receive his call from the UFC and would not disappoint. Competing on the UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Chikadze card against Michael Gillmore, pouring on the ground and pound to earn the third-round TKO victory. Showing this was not a fluke performance, Petroski would go on to win his next four UFC appearances, two by decision and two by submission, to run his UFC record up to 5-0.
Suffering back-to-back losses for the first time in his career, Petroski will look to smoothly utilize blending his striking with his grappling Saturday. Petroski is coming off of a victory over Alex Myers at Fury Pro Grappling 10 in April 2024. This victory may be what Petroski needs has he re-enters the Octagon to show the world he can make a run in the UFC’s middleweight division.
