Joanne Calderwood vs Maryna Moroz added to Apr. 11 UFC show

Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting reported today that Joanne Calderwood will face UFC newcomer Maryna Moroz UFC Fight Night 64 Apr. 11 at the Krakow Arena in Krakow, Poland. I'm sure Joanne and her fans are very happy and I will get to that in a minute. But first I want to talk about her opponent because I'm sure most fans have never heard of her. Maryna Moroz is 23 years old from the Ukraine and she trains at YK Promotion owned by veteran fighter Yuriy Kyselov. Maryna is the first fighter from this gym to sign with the UFC. She's listed as 5'7" so she's a little taller than Joanne. Her record is 5-0 and she has more international experience than I have come to expect from European fighters. She has won four of her five fights via armbar, all but one finished in round one. She has fought twice in China. Lately she has been part of the XFC Strawweight Championship tournament in Brazil. She is supposed to face Dora Perjes on Mar. 15 in the semi finals of that tournament. Not anymore. Her latest fight was a win over Karine Silva on the Nov. 1 XFC show. And I have the video of that fight for you. Maryna is in bottom position for the entire fight but she goes for an armbar several times until she gets it and the fight is over. She looks pretty good but Joanne is a different animal. So it's interesting that this is on the same show as Claudia Gadelha vs Aisling Daly. As I said when that fight was announced, this should be Claudia vs Joanne for a title shot. But Claudia chose to fight a lower ranked fighter and then told Tatame that a win would get her a title shot. I would believe that if she was fighting Joanne. Instead, I expect that if Joanne wins this fight, she will get a title shot and main event this summer's UFC show in Scotland. That will be insane. And despite being a UFC newcomer, Maryna Moroz looks like a very tough opponent who likes to finish. A fighter wins championships by beating tough fighters and that's what Joanne wants to do. I think her fans will be pleased. Check out the video of Maryna Moroz vs Karine Silva and see for yourself.