KSW 59 has undergone a major change just hours, if not minutes, before its start time.
On Saturday, KSW officials confirmed that Senegal’s “Bombardier” (Serigne Ousmane Dia) had suffered an acute appendicitis attack, and was forced out of the event. That left his opponent, promotional darling and former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudziankowski, in need of a new opponent.
Shockingly, one has been found. Nikola Milanovic, a Sambo and Judo champ, will step up on just hours’ notice, taking on Pudzianowski in the main event. It’s unclear what, if any, training Milanovic had been doing ahead of the event, but he most certainly did not expect to be competing.
Pudzianowski will be returning from an extended layoff, meanwhile. He last competed in 2019, earning a second-round TKO of social media star Erko Jun. That snapped a two-fight skid for “Pudzian.”
The KSW 59 card now breaks down as follows. The event can be streamed live via KSW TV and Fite.tv
Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Nikola Milanovic
Antun Račić (c) vs. Sebastian Przybysz – For the KSW Bantamweight Championship
Jason Radcliffe vs. Damian Janikowski
Darko Stošić vs. Michał Włodarek
Krystian Kaszubowski vs. Michał Pietrzak
Konrad Dyrschka vs. Łukasz Rajewski
Lionel Padilla vs. Adrian Bartosiński
Sebastian Rajewski vs. Savo Lazić
Cyprian Wieczorek vs. Patryk Likus
