KSW is bringing a champion vs. champion showdown to KSW 47 when Phil De Fries faces Tomasz Narkun.
With the UFC coming off a couple of champ vs. champ bouts in Amanda Nunes vs. Cris Cyborg, and Henry Cejudo vs. T.J. Dillashaw, Polish powerhouse KSW is getting in on the act. On Monday, the promotion, which has made waves both in Poland and the U.K., announced that light heavyweight champ Tomasz Narkun would move up in weight to take on heavyweight kingpin Phil De Fries at KSW 47.
The event, the first of 2019 for the promotion, takes place at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland on March 23.
Both De Fries (16-6) and Narkun (16-2) went 2-0 in 2018. De Fries joined the promotion and immediately fought for the title at KSW 43, winning the belt from Michal Andryszak. He followed that up with his first title defense, against Karol Beforf at KSW 45 at Wembley Arena in the UK.
Narkun, meanwhile, won back-to-back fights against middleweight standout Mamed Khalidov, who had previously been undefeated in the sport. He’ll be moving up in weight to face De Fries, whose heavyweight title will be on the line.
“I am very excited to fight Tomasz Narkun, especially after his huge wins over Khalidov,” said De Fries in a press release distributed Monday. “He has one of the best guard games I have seen in MMA and is very tough, however, I feel I will be too big for him and we will see a repeat of my last two fights. I’m moving to American Top Team in preparation for this fight, this title will be staying with me in Sunderland.”
