Andre Petroski has something to prove against Pat Downey, then it's on to Bo Nickal
Petroski and Downey clash in Saturday's FURY Professional Grappling 12 co-main event on UFC FIGHT PASS
On Saturday night, UFC middleweight Andre Petroski makes his seventh appearance for FURY Professional Grappling, competing in the co-main event in what is without question one of the most-anticipated matchups of the night.
Petroski proudly refers to himself as the "best grappler in MMA," but Downey's wrestling accolades as a former U.S. National Champion and Division I All-American make him an absolutely formidable foe. It's a challenge that Petroski happily accepted when others wouldn't, and he says there's some personal motivation in the contest.
"On paper, I think a lot of people would say he's a better wrestler than me," Petroski said. "He won my FILA junior bracket when I was a kid. He's done better than me in tournaments from earlier in my career when I was just wrestling, so the opportunity to get that back and show how many levels ahead I've jumped is a great one."
The two now clash at FURY Professional Grappling 12, which streams live on UFC FIGHT PASS from Philadelphia's 2300 Arena. For Petroski, it's unique matchups like this one that keep him coming back to the FURY Professional Grappling mats, where he's been competing since the promotion's inaugural card in 2021.
"I think FURY's a great platform," Petroski said. "I think it really gives us a good opportunity to display our skills. I think the ruleset is great. Submission only, first point scores in overtime, it just really works well.
"At this point, I mean I've gotten to compete and beat big-name fighters. Ovince Saint Preux fought Jon Jones for a world title, and obviously we saw how that match went. I got to compete against Eryk Anders, Phil Hawes – real high-level guys. I don't know anybody else that's really putting on shows as far as grappling goes where I can match up with these high-level guys.”
Downey certainly represents another one of those high-level opponents. While his MMA accomplishments don't measure up to Petroski's, Downey's wrestling pedigree is unquestionable, and he's recently turned his attention to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, where earlier this month he went 5-0 in the IBJJF No-Gi World Championships without conceding a single point.
Petroski, though, believes that he's still the more well-rounded tactician.
"I think that the key to winning this match is obviously forcing him to do jiu-jitsu," Petrsoki said. "Obviously he did well in the Worlds, but that was at blue belt.
"I've watched him in matches in the past, and I know that he struggles later in matches. I want to take him to deep waters."
The 215-pound contest should be high-energy, with plenty of forward pressure from both athletes. A victory would be a heck of a way to wrap up the year for Petroski, who's already scored two UFC wins in 2024, as well as having his hand raised at May's FURY Professional Grappling 10.
Once that business is handled, Petroski wants to book his UFC return with a fight he's been requesting for quite some time against highly touted prospect and former collegiate wrestling standout Bo Nickal.
“I mean, it's going to happen," Petroski said. "It has to happen. Everybody knows now that I've called him out so many times and even Dana (White) said that Bo is not ready for a top-10 guy, which I mean, no slack to him. He's only got six pro fights, so I'm not knocking him by saying that, but he is going to have to step back and fight someone in that 20-to-30 range, and that's me. I've called him out so many times."
