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Calderwood
Joanne Calderwood

In the fight week approaching UFC on Fox in Stockholm, Sweden this past January, UFC starwweight Joanne Calderwood pleaded with the UFC to have her feature on the July 18 card when the UFC venture to Glasgow, Scotland later this year.

It would be illogical for ‘Badmofo JoJo’ to miss out on competing for the UFC in her native land, but the 28-year-old has first been tasked with a bout on April 11 where she is now set to face Ukraine’s Maryna “The Iron Woman” Moroz in Krakow, Poland.

Calderwood, with a professional MMA record of 9-0, faces an opponent with a similarly impressive record. 23-year-old Moroz will make her UFC debut undefeated, and with a fearsome run consisting of five victories, four first round stoppages, four submissions, and one knockout.

Calderwoos made her UFC debut at the Ultimate Fighter 20 Finale last December in Las Vegas, and posted a unanimous decision victory over South Korean Seo Hee Ham.

In a UFC press release, Calderwood stated:

“It’s worked out perfectly for me. It’s good to see so many female fighters on the card – it will be similar, in a way, to my UFC debut at the TUF Finale. It’s going to be a good night for fans.

“I really look forward to challenging myself, especially with so many girls out there. I want to expose myself to different styles and the only way to do that is to get fights.

“This is the first time I’ve not had to travel far for a fight. In my MMA career I’ve only ever fought in America and India, so it’s good to be fighting closer to home. I feel a bit of a connection to Poland too because, in my gym, a quarter of the members are Polish and we do Polish classes. They are always telling me that people in Poland talk about me when I’m fighting and they say I’ve got a few fans out there, so that’s nice. It’s been on my list of places to go so I’m glad to be fighting there.

“To be honest, I haven’t looked Moroz up just yet. My coaches have looked her up and they tell me she’s the same height as me and that she’s won all her fights except one by arm bar, so there’s going to be a few things to look out for. But my coaches will put a game plan together and we’ll be ready.

“For me, this is perfect timing. After this fight, I 100% want to fight on the Glasgow card on July 18th. It would be a dream come true for me to fight in Glasgow for the UFC. The opportunity to step inside the Octagon in front of a home crowd would be something I’d never forget.”

UFC Fight Night: Gonzaga vs. Cro Cop 2 takes place at the Krakow Arena on April 11, headlined by returning legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic facing Brazilian heavyweight Gabriel Gonzaga for a second time.

Photo by Jorden Curran