Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jessica Penne will make history when they fight at UFC Fight Night 69, when they become the first women to headline a UFC bout in Europe.
The card was originally set to feature Alexander Gustafsson Vs Glover Teixeria in a Light Heavyweight showdown, but an injury suffered by Gustafsson has seen the bout removed and replaced by a UFC Women’s Strawweight Title Fight.
The fight will see the first time a UFC Title is defended in Germany and will be only the fifth instance of a UFC Title going up for grabs in Europe.
Below breaks down the history of the UFC Title fights to date that the European fans have been graced with;
July 2002: Welterweight Title UFC 38 Matt Hughes Vs Carlos Newton
The Brawl at the Hall was the UFC’s debut in the UK and featured a number of British fighters including Ian Freeman and Mark Weir. The main event pitted Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes against Carlos Newton, in Hughes second title defence. Hughes had beaten Newton to take the strap at UFC 34 and so redemption was on the cards for Newton who since losing the belt had picked up a win in Pride.
Unfortunately for Newton the result turned out the same with Hughes having his hand raised after stopping Newton by TKO in the fourth round. Hughes utilised his strong wrestling base and solid top game to take the fight out of Newton before getting the stoppage in the fourth round.
September 2007: UFC Light Heavyweight Title and Pride Middleweight Title Unification Bout UFC 75 Quinton Jackson Vs Dan Henderson
It doesn’t get bigger than Rampage Vs Henderson especially when you factor in the unification of the UFC and Pride titles. Arguably one of the biggest European fighters in terms of star power and especially given that at the time this fight took place both Rampage and Henderson were in their prime.
The fight itself saw Henderson take the first two rounds but a huge shift in the pace of the fight saw Rampage push the pace and wear out Henderson in the final three rounds. Rampage had success both on the feet and landing some big ground and pound which saw him get the nod across the board on the judge’s scorecard.
January 2008: Lightweight Title UFC 80 BJ Penn Vs Joe Stevenson
The Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle played host to UFC 80 headlined between the then UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson, who at the time of the fight was on a four fight winning streak.
That streak ended in Newcastle for Stevenson as he suffered a brutal defeat courtesy of Penn. Penn landed a huge elbow in the first round which opened up a nasty gash on Stevenson’s head and ultimately took his mind away from the fight. The second round saw Penn get Stevenson to the ground and the rest was inevitable. At 4:02 Penn got the tap via rear naked choke to retain his Lightweight Title.
February 2013: Interim Bantamweight Title UFC on Fuel TV: Barao Vs McDonald
With Bantamweight Champion Dominic Cruz side-lined, Renan Barao was successful in winning the Interim title at UFC 149 and made his first defence of the Interim strap in London against top contender Michael McDonald.
While Barao started the fight slowly arguably losing the first round following a knockdown by McDonald, the Champion switched up the gears and came on strong in round two, three and four which is where he picked up the submission win.
Don’t miss our interview with Joanna Jedrzejczyk: