A fighter we recently highlighted, Hicham El Gaoui, is fresh off a victory over a top opponent in Alexander Stetsurenko on November 12. He’s set to make a quick turn-around, this time facing another well regarded opponent.

El Gaoui will take on the Czech fighter Jiri Zak on December 9th in the Czech Republic. Zak has been a mainstay around the 77-80kg range for a while now, recently competing and losing twice in the MPL. The losses aren’t too bad though, as they were under Muay Thai rules and to very good opposition in Marc de Bonte and Artem Vakhitov. This fight will take place under K-1 rules, where Zak is much more comfortable and has much more experience.

A win for Zak would help him rebound from a shaky fall of 2011. A win for El Gaoui would further advance his career and add to his already stellar 2011. El Gaoui has wins over L’houcine “Aussie” Ouzgni and Alexander Stetsurenko this year. Zak has a win over Fred Sikking this year, back in May.