Poland’s Karolina Kowalkiewicz decisions Illinois’s Felice Herrig at ‘UFC 223’ in New York

“UFC 223” marked the seventh time Karolina “KK” Kowalkiewicz, 32, of Lodz, Poland fought inside the  Ultimate Fighting Championship octagon. She made her professional mixed martial arts debut on May 18, 2012.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Felice Herrig

Featuring nine MMA matches, “UFC 223” was held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, USA on April 7, 2018. In the fourth bout of the evening, Kowalkiewicz fought Felice “Lil Bulldog” Herrig, 33, of Crystal, Illinois, USA in the strawweight division.

Keith Peterson served as the referee. After three five-minute rounds, he raised the hand of Kowalkiewicz, who was declared the winner via split decision.

Two of the judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Kowalkiewicz. One judge scored it 29-28 in favor of Herrig.

In the post-fight interview, Kowalkiewicz dedicated her win to her cancer-stricken stepfather. She said she just won her fight so he should win his fight, too.

Kowalkiewicz’s UFC career started with three consecutive wins. She defeated Randa “Quiet Storm” Markos-Thomas, 32, of Ontario, Canada, Heather “Hurricane” Clark, 37, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA and Rose “Thug” Namajunas, 25, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA who went on to become the reigning UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.

For the fourth time, Kowalkiewicz won inside the UFC cage on October 21, 2017. She defeated Jodie Esquibel, 31, of Albuquerque via unanimous decision at “UFC Fight Night 118.”

On December 12, 2014, Herrig submitted Lisa Ellis, 35, of Olympia, Washington, USA via armbar in the finale of “The Ultimate Fighter 20”. Before “UFC 223”, Herrig submitted Kailin Curran, 26, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, USA via rear-naked choke, defeated Alexa Grasso, 24, of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and Justine Kish, 29, of Los Angeles, California, USA both via unanimous decision and defeated Cortney “Cast Iron” Casey, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona, USA via split decision.

Losing to Kowalkiewicz at “UFC 223” downgraded Herrig’s professional MMA record to 14 wins and 7 losses. The Polish MMA fighter now has 12 wins and 2 losses.