Canada's Kennedy to face off against Volkanovski at UFC 221

Alessandro Ricci and Jeremy Kennedy, right, fight during a lightweight bout in Vancouver on Aug. 27, 2016THE CANADIAN PRESS

The UFC isn’t making this easy for Jeremy Kennedy.

The Surrey, B.C., fighter has made a strong impression in the early days of his UFC career, winning his first three fights in dominant fashion.

His reward? A matchup with Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 221 in Perth, Australia, on Feb. 10.

Yes, Kennedy will be tasked with flying around the world to fight and Aussie with a 16-0-1 record in front of what’s sure to be a partisan crowd Down Under.

In the UFC, the reward for winning is usually tougher fights, and that’s certainly holding true for Kennedy.

In his UFC bouts so far, Kennedy has shown a well-rounded arsenal of weapons and that he is as capable of winning with his standup as he is with his jiu-jitsu, although all three of his victories so far have come via unanimous decision.

The Volkanovski fight won’t be the first time Kennedy has taken on a local opponent in enemy territory, either, as his triumph over Brazilian Rony Jason last year came in front of a partisan crowd in Fortazela, Brazil.

In Volkanovski, he’ll be facing a fighter with an identical 3-0 record in the UFC and a guy who absolutely dominated Shane Young over three rounds in his last fight at UFC Fight Night: Sydney last November.

UFC 221 is headline by middleweight championship fight between Australian champion Robert Whittaker and former 185-pound king Luke Rockhold.

daustin@postmedia.com

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