KSW heavyweight champion Phil De Fries has his next title defense lined up.
De Fries (23-6, 1NC) will put his title on the line against Szymon Bajor (24-9) at KSW 84 on July 15, 2023. The bout will serve as the main event of the card, scheduled to take place at the PolSat Plus Arena in Gdynia, Poland.
KSW officially announced the match-up on Tuesday, following an initial report by Sherdog. The promotion is coming off its massive KSW Colosseum 2 event, which saw over 50,000 fans turn up at Poland’s National Stadium.
De Fries has arguably been the biggest success story in KSW history. A UFC and Bellator MMA veteran, the British heavyweight went 1-3 inside the octagon then toiled on the regional scene for a couple of years following his 2013 release, trading wins and losses.
Starting in 2017, however, De Fries went on a run that has yet to see him falter, putting together an 11-fight win streak that saw him capture the KSW heavyweight championship and defend it on eight straight occasions.
Most recently, De Fries finished Todd Duffee via TKO inside of a round, avenging one of his UFC defeats.
Bajor is a Polish veteran returning to the promotion for the first time since 2016. After posting a 2-1 record in the company, he jumped ship to RIZIN Fighting Federation, then moved to FEN and most recently, the PFL. Bajor finds himself on a four-fight win streak at the moment, and is coming off a win over Ronny Markes.
