Look out, a trio of European prospects are headed to the Octagon soon …
It seems like every week, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is adding decent regional fighters on super short notice and ignoring some other good international prospects, opting to put them through Contender Series instead.
However, the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion just recently added three interesting fighters from Europe: Jakub Wiklacz (16-3-2), Robert Ruchala (11-1) and Shem Rock (12-1-1).
By far, the best fighter of the three to get the UFC call-up is Wiklacz, a former KSW Bantamweight champion. Wiklacz is riding a six-fight win streak (with a draw). The Polish fighter captured KSW’s 135-pound title in 2022, avenging a loss to Sebastian Przybysz via split decision and then defended it three times.
Interestingly enough, Wikacz and Przybysz have fought five times since 2017.
Wiklacz holds a 63 percent finish rate with 10 submission wins.
Ruchala, meanwhile, is a two-time KSW interim Featherweight champion and even defended the title in his second reign. His sole professional loss came against France’s Salahdine Parnasse, one of the best prospects in the sport today.
The Polish 145-pound standout is riding a two-fight win streak, with both of those wins coming by way of brutal finish.
Ruchala is a welcome addition to UFC’s stacked Featherweight division.
And, lastly, of the three fighters who got signed, Rock is the least talented; however, he’s the most exciting to watch.
The 31-year-old Irish fighter comes from OKTAGON and is riding a six-fight win streak, five of which were first round finishes.
He went to his first decision in his last outing, but before that, all of his fights ended early.
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