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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
The UFC announced three new European dates today, bringing UFC Fight Night events to Krakow, Poland, on April 11, Berlin, Germany on June 20, and Glasgow, Scotland, on July 18. The trips to Poland and Scotland are a first for the UFC.
The Poland event also has an official main and co-main event, as Mirko Cro Cop will return against Gabriel Gonzaga, while Jan Blachowicz and Jimi Manuwa take the co-main event slot.
The Cro Cop-Gonzaga fight is a rematch of one of the more shocking upsets of 2007, where Gonzaga gave the Croatian then-star a taste of his own medicine with a head kick at UFC 70. Cro Cop is returning to the UFC after three and a half years out of the organization, while Gonzaga will try to bounce back from consecutive losses to Stipe Miocic and Matt Mitrione.
Penick's Analysis: I guess from a name standpoint I understand the move, but the fact that Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga is getting five rounds in 2015 is just laughable. Blachowicz and Manuwa might not be as well known as Cro Cop and Gonzaga, but it's much more deserving of that slot. Regardless, the events are going to hit UFC Fight Pass, and the draw for local fans is going to be the UFC coming to town for the first time.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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