KSW 49: Norman Parke to Face Former Champion Artur Sowiński in Catchweight Bout

Norman Parke KSW 49
Credit: Gleidson Venga/Sherdog.com

KSW is loading up their May card, KSW 49, with former UFC lightweight Norman Parke taking on former featherweight champion Artur Sowiński in a catchweight contest.

The promotion announced the addition to KSW 49 today.

After spending his career at 155 pounds, Norman Parke recently fought at welterweight for the first time. Sowiński followed a similar path, fighting at featherweight from 2013 to 2018 before going up to lightweight in his last bout. They’ll meet in the middle with a 163-pound catchweight fight set for KSW 49.

Norman Parke won TUF: The Smashes in 2012 and proceeded to go 5-3-1 in the UFC. After fights in both ACB and BAMMA, the Northern Ireland native found a home in KSW. Parke received a title shot in his first fight with the Polish promotion, losing to champion Mateusz Gamrot by decision. The rematch resulted in a no-contest after an eye-poke early in the second round. Since then, “Stormin’ Norman” is 3-0.

Artur Sowiński has been with KSW since 2010, going 10-6 with one no contest. The Polish fighter won the promotion’s featherweight title in 2015 and defended it once before losing to “The Polish Zombie” Marcin Wrzosek. Since then, Sowiński is 2-2, winning his last fight in December.

KSW 49 features a who’s who of the Polish promotion. Michal Materla and Scott Askham will battle for the vacant middleweight title in the main event, while top prospect Roberto Soldic looks to defend his welterweight belt for the first time against Krystian Kaszubowski. Also on the card are former UFC fighters Thiago Silva and Damian Grabowski. The event takes place on May 18 in Gdansk, Poland, inside the ERGO Arena.