Kowalkiewicz must overcome record age gap in UFC fight

Kowalkiewicz has won nine of her 16 fights in the UFC

Karolina Kowalkiewicz and Iasmin Lucindo will set a record for the largest age gap between two women in a UFC bout when they meet in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on Saturday.

There will be 16 years (5929 days) between Poland's Kowalkiewicz, 38, and Brazil's Lucindo, 22, when the strawweights fight at the Jeunesse Arena at UFC 301.

The figure eclipses the previous record set by Maycee Barber and Roxanne Modafferi's 2020 bout by 214 days.

Kowalkiewicz believes her "experience" from "big names and world champions" will prove the difference in the fight.

“I am like good wine, the older the better," she told the UFC.

“She’s a great fighter. Very young, very talented, very aggressive.

“[But with my experience] I can keep calm all the time. If I am in bad situation, I can keep calm and move forward.”

Kowalkiewicz fought for the title in 2016, losing to compatriot Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and also holds a victory over former two-time champion Rose Namajunas.

Lucindo, meanwhile, will be competing in her fourth UFC bout and was just 13 years old when Kowalkiewicz made her debut in the promotion in 2015.

The record age gap between two men in the promotion is a remarkable 23 years between Royce Gracie and Ron van Clief, when the pair fought at UFC 4 in 1994.

Gracie had just turned 28 and beat a 51-year-old Van Clief by submission.