Jorgen Kruth
Swedish kickboxer Jörgen ‘The Last Viking’ Kruth (5-0) was to have tested his striking against French fighter Cyrille ‘The Snake’ Diabaté (18-8-1) last month at the UFC on FUEL TV 2 event in Stockholm, but Kruth was forced off the card due to a rib injury and was replaced by Tom DeBlass.
Kruth has a new date for his Octagon debut, September 29, 2012 at a yet-to-be-announced UFC event, and it will be against Diabaté in a light heavyweight matchupl.
‘The Last Viking’ broke the news to Swedish news agency Expressen.SE on Sunday.
“I think it will be a fun match. We have the same background.We were supposed to have met before, but unfortunately I had to drop out. It was a boring fight and he was also disappointed, because he got to fight someone he had not prepared for.”
(loosely translated utilizing Google Translate)
Kruth is 5-0 as a mixed martial artist, and is 71-14-2 as a kickboxer. The Swedish fighter has not competed in MMA since last November when he stopped Yusuke Kawaguchi at a Rumble of the Kings 6 event in Sweden by TKO. All five of Kruth’s wins have been first round stoppages.
Diabaté won his bout with DeBlass by majority decision at the UFC Sweden event, bouncing back from a submission loss to Anthony Perosh at UFC 138 last November. ‘The Snake’ has traded wins for losses since joining the UFC going 3-2. If this pattern stays true, Diabaté is due for another loss.
Props to Fighters Only for the heads up on the article.