By:  | March 10, 2023 9:19 am

Mark Striegl will be back in action at UAE Warriors 39. The ONE Championship and UFC veteran has been matched with Walter Cogliandro in a catchweight contest at the Etihad Arena on March 19th.

It will be Striegl’s first fight in over a year. He was last seen losing to Chas Skelly at UFC Vegas 48 in a defeat that would ultimately cost him his spot on the roster.

Striegl (18-4-0-1) is a former URCC featherweight champion. He has also fought for numerous regional promotions in Asia including Legend FC, Pro FC and PXC.

This catchweight contest is set for 150lbs and pits Striegl against an opponent who is also making his UAE Warriors debut. Cogliandro (11-4-1) hails from Italy and has fought for Bellator.

Featherweight clash

This will be one of three UAE Warriors events held at the Etihad Arena across the course of the weekend and the main event is a featherweight fight. It pits Mochamed Machaev against Bagdos Olzhabay.

Machaev (12-1)  fights out of Austria and has won his last two. He will be familiar to MMA fans in the Middle East having fought four times for Bahrain based promotion Brave.

Olzhabay (13-3) hails from Kazakhstan. He comes into this contest on a five fight winning streak and spent a lot of time competing in China at the start of his career.


Former champion

The co-main event features former UAE Warriors bantamweight champion Vinicius de Oliveira. He has been matched with Japan’s Hikaru Yoshino.

De Oliveira (17-3) lost his bantamweight title at UAE Warriors 30. That snapped a six fight winning streak for the Brazilian and cost him his title.

Yoshino (12-2) has won his last four. He has fought for Rizin, ONE Championship and Deep and almost always goes the distance with his last seven fights all being decided by the judges.

UAE Warriors 39, Abu Dhabi, March 18th
Mochamed Machaev vs. Bagdos Olzhabay (Featherweight)
Vinicius de Oliveira vs. Hikaru Yoshino (Bantamweight)
Mark Striegl vs. Walter Cogliandro (Catchweight)