Krzysztof
Jotko sees a new frontier in front of him.
The Polish grinder will make his
Professional Fighters League debut as part of the 2023 light
heavyweight field when he battles
Will Fleury
in a featured
PFL 1 attraction on Saturday at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in
Las Vegas. Jotko carries a 24-6 record and enters the cage with
wins in five of his past seven outings. He last appeared at UFC
Fight Night 211, where he submitted to a rear-naked choke from
Brendan
Allen in the first round of their Oct. 1 pairing.
As Jotko approaches his showdown with
SBG Ireland’s Fleury at 205 pounds, here are five things you
might not know about him:
1. Small-town Europe served as his stomping grounds.
Jotko was born on Aug. 19, 1989 in Orneta, Poland—a town of roughly
9,000 people situated some 40 miles southeast of the Baltic Sea. A
part of Germany prior two World War 2, it was transferred to Poland
at the behest of the Soviet Union as part of the Potsdam Conference
in 1945.
2. He warranted immediate attention.
The 6-foot-1 Jotko made his professional mixed martial arts debut
at the age of 20 and established himself as one of Europe’s top
young talents by winning his first 14 bouts. His run included a
successful first assignment in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he took a unanimous decision
over
Bruno
Santos at UFC Fight Night 33 on Dec. 7, 2013.
3. He excelled at the highest level.
Jotko enjoyed a successful nine-year run in the UFC’s middleweight
division, where he compiled an 11-6 record across his 17
appearances inside the Octagon. In fact, his .647 winning
percentage in the company is higher than two men—
Jack
Hermansson (.625) and
Kelvin
Gastelum (.579)—currently ranked in the Top 15 at 185
pounds.
4. A proven pedigree bolsters his profile.
The 33-year-old Jotko operates out of the acclaimed
American Top Team camp in Coconut Creek, Florida, where he
trains under a host of world-class coaches, like
Mike
Thomas Brown and
Thiago
Alves, and sharpens his skills alongside a bevy of accomplished
stablemates, including current
Bellator
MMA middleweight champion
Johnny
Eblen, former two-division
Legacy Fighting Alliance titleholder
Joshua
Silveira and four-time NCAA All-American wrestler
Bo
Nickal.
5. Wanderlust does not figure to be an issue for him.
Jotko has fought in 10 different countries as a mixed martial
artist. In addition to the 11 appearances he has made in his native
Poland, he has competed in Germany, Australia, Sweden, Ireland,
England, Canada, Brazil, Russia and the United States.