KSW featherweight and lightweight champion Salahdine Parnasse will look to become MMA’s first three-division champ this December.
On Monday, promotion officials announced that Parnasse (18-1) will face undefeated welterweight champion Adrian Bartosinski (14-0) at KSW 89 on December 16, 2023. The event is expected to take place in Gliwice, Poland.
No fighter has ever held three titles simultaneously, or at all, in a major promotion. Former Bellator lightweight champion and current featherweight king Patricio Pitbull was the last to attempt the feat, coming up short against Sergio Pettis in a shot at bantamweight gold earlier this year.
Parnasse, long heralded as one of the top prospects in the sport, first won gold under the KSW banner in 2019, picking up an interim featherweight championship. Later promoted to undisputed champ status, he lost his title to Daniel Torres in January of 2021, but reclaimed the belt later that year, avenging his lone loss in the process.
Last year, Parnasse claimed an interim lightweight title by defeating Sebastian Rajewski, who stepped in to replace undisputed champ Marian Ziółkowski in the fight. A planned title unification bout this past June fell through on the night of the event, meanwhile, after Ziółkowski injured himself during his warm-up. Parnasse was again promoted to undisputed champ status.
In August, the French star successfully defended his featherweight title against Robert Ruchała.
KSW welterweight champion Adrian Bartosinski captured the then-vacant 170lb title in a showdown with Artur Szczepaniak this past April. His fight with Parnasse marks Bartosinski’s first attempted title defense.
