One of Australia’s most popular female fighters is back from injury as Jessica-Rose Clark (9-5) has her next fight booked.
The UFC announced on Thursday that Clark will be welcomed back to the Octagon at bantamweight in Moscow, Russia on November 9. Standing across from her will be a familiar face in Pannie “Banzai” Kianzad (11-5)
She's back!@missjessyjess 🇦🇺 heads to Moscow to take on Pannie "Banzai" Kianzad! #UFCMoscow 🇷🇺 pic.twitter.com/SOpEB7fndc
— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) September 19, 2019
For “Jessy Jess,” this will be her first fight back since June 2018 when she suffered her first UFC defeat to Jessica Eye at flyweight. Following the loss, Clark looked to get right back in action as she was set to face another rising contender and fellow Invicta FC alum, Andrea “KGB” Lee.
Unfortunately for Clark, she would pass out during her weight cut, therefore, resulting in the fight’s cancelation.
Shortly after UFC Milwaukie, the event they were supposed to compete at, Clark would announce her move back up to the 135-pound bantamweight class. The Combat Sports Academy (CSA) product would be matched with Talita Bernardo for her bantamweight return at UFC 237 in May. However, a severe foot injury would put her out of action until she was just recently cleared.
Her opponent, Sweden’s Kianzad, made her UFC debut as part The Ultimate Fighter season 28. Kianzad would lose to Macy Chiasson in their featherweight finale and not get a follow-up opportunity in the promotion.
A win over Iony Razafiarison via unanimous decision at bantamweight in Superior Challenge would get Kianzad back in the win column. She would get the call to return to the UFC in June after Julia Avila had her original opponent drop out of her UFC 239 promotional debut bout. Avila would end up defeating Kianzad by unanimous decision.
Clark and Kianzad first fought in 2015 at Invicta 13. Unbeaten at the time, Kianzad would advance her record to 8-0 with a win over the Aussie. Thus earning her a title shot against the then champion, Tonya Evinger.
Now with 12 fights in total, it wouldn’t be surprising to see UFC Moscow made finalized. The lineup can be seen below.
- Heavyweight – 207-265lbs: Junior dos Santos vs. Alexander Volkov
- Featherweight – 145lbs: Zabit Magomedsharipov vs. Calvin Kattar
- Light Heavyweight – 205lbs: Magomed Ankalaev vs. Dalcha Lungiambula
- Light Heavyweight: Shamil Gamzatov vs. Klidson Abreu
- Light Heavyweight: Gadzhimurad Antigulov vs. Ed Herman
- Middleweight – 185lbs: Roman Kopylov vs. Karl Roberson
- Bantamweight – 135lbs: Grigorii Popov vs. Davey Grant
- Welterweight – 170lbs: Abubakar Nurmagomedov vs. David Zawada
- Welterweight: Danny Roberts vs. Zelim Imadaev
- Lightweight – 155lbs: Vinc Pichel vs. Alexander Yakovlev
- Welterweight: Anthony Rocco Martin vs. Ramazan Emeev
- Bantamweight: Pannie Kianzad vs. Jessica-Rose Clark
