Karolina Kowalkiewicz will fight Yan Xiaonan at UFC Fight Night 168 in Auckland, New Zealand on February 23rd.
It’s a big fight for Kowlakiewicz as the former strawweight title contender is currently in the midst of a three-fight losing slump.
That began with a tough first round KO loss to Jessica Andrade in 2018 and since then she’s dropped two unanimous decision losses against Michelle Waterson and Alexa Grasso, resulting in a slide to just No.14 on the 115lb rankings.
Kowalkiewicz hasn’t been handed an easy fight though as she’s going up against a rising Chinese star in Xiaonan, who has so far compiled a 4-0 start to her time in the UFC.
All four of Xioanan’s victories have come by way of unanimous decision against Kailin Curren, Viviana Pereira, Syuri Kondo and most recently Angela Hill, though that series of victories hasn’t yet earned her a spot on the strawweight rankings.
Kowalkiewicz vs. Xioanan joins a UFC Fight Night 168 card that will likely be headlined by a lightweight battle between Paul Felder and Dan Hooker, while Jake Matthews fights Emil Webber Meek and Tyson Pedro is back in action against Vinicius Moreira.
