Poland’s KSW is returning to the site of its biggest triumph.
In a press release distributed Friday, promotion officials announced that KSW would return to PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland on June 3, 2023 for KSW Colosseum 2.
The first Colosseum event, which took place at the same venue in 2017, set a European attendance record for MMA events with 57,766 fans on hand to witness the show. The original Colosseum card featured a champion versus champion main event, as Borys Mankowski faced Mamed Khalidov at a catchweight. Khalidov, the promotion’s middleweight champion at the time, picked up the win over then-welterweight champion Mankowski.
Heavyweight star Mariusz Pudzianowski also appeared. No fights have been announced for KSW Colosseum 2 as of yet, but if he’s available, “Pudzian” is almost certainly a lock.
Only one card in MMA history had greater attendance than KSW Colossseum — PRIDE Shockwave in 2002. That drew a reported 71,000 spectators at the Tokyo National Stadium in Japan.
The UFC sits in third place on the all-time attendance list with 2019’s UFC 243: Whittaker vs. Adesanya bringing in 57,127 fans at Melbourne, Australia’s Marvel Stadium. 2015’s UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm at the same venue comes in at #4.
Quoted in Friday’s press release, KSW CEO Martin Lewandowski said that “It has been a long time coming. We are finally returning to our ‘Colosseum.’ The last event was one of the most memorable nights ever witnessed both in KSW and MMA in general. Now the time has come for us to write a new chapter. We can expect some massive names to be announced for this event in the coming weeks. I cannot wait and I invite you all to be part of history!”
