That fight will see longtime promotional staple Mariusz Pudzianowski, one of KSW’s biggest stars, take on Eddie Hall. KSW officials announced the fight on Friday.

Hall, 37, won The World’s Strongest Man in 2017. He’ll be making his MMA debut in the fight, but does have experience in boxing, having lost an exhibition match with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson – a fellow World’s Strongest Man winner who is perhaps better known as one of three actors to portray Gregor Clegane, or The Mountain, on HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Mariusz Pudzianowski, 48, will have a massive experience edge when he takes on Hall, sporting a record of 17-9, 1NC. “Pudzian” started his pro fighting career in 2009 and holds wins over Butterbean, Oli Thompson, Bob Sapp, Rolles Gracie Jr., and UFC vet Jay Silva, among others. On the strongman circuit, the Polish star captured five World’s Strongest Man titles, the most in the competition’s history. While he is the older athlete and coming off of back-to-back losses, Pudzianowski is expected to be a heavy favorite in the fight. That despite not having fought since 2023.

Also set for KSW 105, Szymon Bajor will take on former Bellator and UFC star Augusto Sakai, fighting for the first time since a title fight loss to KSW heavyweight champ Phil De Fries. Two title fights also feature: Adrian Bartosiński vs. Andrzej Grzebyk, which sees Bartosiński looking to defend his welterweight title for the third time, and Rafał Haratyk vs. Ibragim Chuzhigaev. That fight has Haratyk looking to make the second defense of his 205lb title against a former champion who is undefeated since 2017.

The post Pudzianowski vs. Hall: KSW Books “World’s Strongest Fight” appeared first on Cageside Press.

Parnasse (19-2), who recently re-signed with the company, will face Wilson Varela (12-5) atop the card, with the champ’s lightweight title on the line. KSW officials announced the booking on Thursday via press release. No other fights have been revealed for the event, which takes place on December 20, 2024 at the Paris La Défense Arena.

The re-signing of Parnasse earlier this year raised eyebrows, with many assuming he would be a lock for either the UFC or PFL. Instead, KSW retained arguably its hottest star, with Parnasse holding both featherweight and lightweight gold, and having fought (and come up short) for a third belt at welterweight.

Most recently, Parnasse stopped Valeriu Mircea at KSW 93 in April, care of a head kick. Having started his career a perfect 13-0, Salahdine Parnasse holds wins over Ivan Buchinger, Artur Sowinski, and Daniel Torres, avenging one of his two career losses against the latter.

As for Wilson Varela, he sits on a six fight win streak, with victories in his first four fights under the KSW banner. That includes a victory over Marian Ziółkowski, the former lightweight champ who dislocated his shoulder in the fight with Varela.

The post KSW 101 Announced for Paris, Salahdine Parnasse Headlines appeared first on Cageside Press.

France’s Parnasse (19-2), just 26-years old, holds featherweight and lightweight gold with the Polish promotion, and challenged Adrian Bartosiński for a third title, unsuccessfully, late last year. Despite that setback, Parnasse remains one of the most talented fighters outside the UFC, and bounced back in April with a head kick finish of Valeriu Mircea.

Entering free agency just weeks ago, there was a chance that Parnasse might have been snapped up by the UFC or PFL, among other potential suitors. However, on Friday, KSW officials announced via press release that the French star and double champ had opted to sign a new, multi-fight deal with the promotion.

Terms of the deal were not released. However, KSW were sure to sing the praises of Parnasse in Friday’s press release, which noted the company’s recent French debut.

“Salahdine Parnasse is a true gem in the world of MMA and one of the brightest stars of KSW. The spectacular Frenchman has 21 bouts under his belt and he won 19 of them. In KSW, he became the champion of the featherweight and lightweight division. The 26-year-old is dominating the world of mixed martial arts and people call him ‘The Kylian Mbappe of French MMA’ for a reason. Parnasse has been a part of KSW since 2017. His last bout which took place in Paris ended with Valeriu Mircea having to recognize his superiority. Thus Salahdine defended his lightweight championship belt for the first time in front of his own audience.”

Parnasse is part of a wave of talented French fighters who have emerged in the years since France legalized MMA. Those include Ciryl Gane, a former UFC interim heavyweight champ, and Cedric Doumbe, who has turned into a sizable star for the PFL.

The post Free Agent Salahdine Parnasse Re-Signs with KSW appeared first on Cageside Press.

In a video posted to their official social media channels, KSW featured Barnett issuing a challenge to De Fries “to come to my realm” and face “The Warmaster” in a grappling match, “where I thrive.”

The Warmaster 🇺🇸 @JoshLBarnett has issued a challenge to KSW heavyweight champion 🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma 👑! XTB #KSWEpic pic.twitter.com/ZuE5KCFUqc

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 1, 2024

De Fries accepted — no surprise there — and the match will be part of KSW Epic on February 24, 2024.

Josh Barnett hasn’t fought in MMA since 2016 but did take a bareknuckle fight in 2020, defeating Marcin Różalski at KSW Genesis: Różalski vs. Barnett. Barnett won the bout via TKO, defeating a former KSW heavyweight champ in the process.

Since then, Barnett has mainly worked in the professional wrestling realm, and turned up on AEW programming in 2023, making his promotional debut on the promotion’s WrestleDream PPV in October.

De Fries has become arguably the most successful heavyweight outside the UFC in years, putting together a 12-fight win streak with nine defenses of his heavyweight title. He holds wins over Todd Duffee, Darko Stosic, Tomas Narkun, Karol Bedorf and Luis Henrique among others during that run.

While the KSW Epic booking is just a grappling match, it remains to be seen if Barnett gets inspired to get back in the cage.

The most dominant champ in KSW history vs. a true combat sports legend! 🤩

𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma
vs. @JoshLBarnett 🇺🇸

Celebrating 20 years of KSW!

XTB #KSWEpic | Feb 24 | #Gliwice
🎟️ @eBiletPL | 📺 PPV https://t.co/KEwIlAHwkA pic.twitter.com/eFPt52gTZO

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 2, 2024

The post Josh Barnett Issues Grappling Challenge to Phil De Fries, KSW Heavyweight Champ Accepts appeared first on Cageside Press.

Promotion officials announced the KSW Paris card on Saturday, ahead of Salahdine Parnasse looking to become the sport’s first triple champ at KSW 89.

The event, KSW 93, will take place at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France on April 6, 2024. No fights have been announced for the card— but you can bet that if Parnasse is available, he’ll be taking part.

Poland’s KSW has slowly become one of the largest promotions in Europe, drawing crowds that rival the biggest UFC events. In 2017, KSW 39: Colosseum drew 57,776 fans at the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland, surpassing UFC 193 to become the second-highest attended MMA event in history, and the largest in European history. A second Colosseum show early this year brought in approximately 50,000 fans.

MMA in France was legalized in 2020, though the UFC did not make its first trip to the European nation until 2022, beat to the punch repeatedly by rival Bellator MMA. In the past couple of years, Paris in particular has become a popular destination for fight promotions, with the sport popularized by the likes of Francis Ngannou, Ciryl Gane, Cedric Doumbe, and Salahdine Parnasse as well.

The post KSW 93 Sees Promotion Debut in Paris, France on April 6, 2024 appeared first on Cageside Press.

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.

The post Salahdine Parnasse Looks to Become Triple Champ, Faces Adrian Bartosinski at KSW 89 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Set for October 14, 2023 at the Werk Arena in Trinec, Czech Republic, KSW 87 will be headlined by heavyweight action, as Czech big man Michal ‘Blackbeard’ Martinek (10-4) takes on former UFC athlete Darko Stosic (18-6) in a fight that could produce a title challenger for dominant champion Phil De Fries.

Martinek, a Dana White’s Contender Series alum, is coming off a loss to Daniel Omielańczuk, another UFC veteran. Stosic is fresh off a KO win against Stefan Vojcak, and looking for a second shot at De Fries after coming up short last year.

Whoever lands the title shot against De Fries with have an enormous task on his hands: the English champ has defended his belt an astounding nine times, and has won twelve straight fights.

The full line-up for KSW 87 as announced by the promotion this week can be found below.

KSW 87 Fight Card

Main Event
Heavyweight
Darko Stosic (18-6) vs. Michal Martinek (10-4)

Co-Main Event
Lightweight
Roman Szymanski (17-7) vs. Leo Brichta (11-3)

Light Heavyweight
Ivan Erslan (13-2) vs. Rafal Haratyk (16-5-2)

Bantamweight
Filip Macek (27-18-1) vs. Oleksii Polischuck (10-4)

Light Heavyweight
Vojtech Garba (8-4) vs. Michal Dreckowski (3-0)

Catchweight 87 kg/192 lb
Adrian Dudek (6-2) vs. Lukas Dvorak (6-2)

Lightweight
Sahil Siraj (8-2) vs. Ahmed Abdulkadirov (9-1)

Featherweight
Josef Stummer (3-0) vs. Dawid Kareta (4-3)

Bantamweight
Carl McNally (2-1) vs. Tobiasz Le (3-1)

The post KSW 87 Set for Czech Republic, Full Card Announced appeared first on Cageside Press.

There were no misses at the scale on Friday, with all fights now official. That includes the bantamweight title fight headlining the show, which sees Jakub Wiklacz run it back in an immediate rematch with Sebastian Przybysz, from whom he captured the title in December 2022, off a split decision.

The rematch was not the original plan for Wiklacz. He had been expected to defend his title against Zuriko Jojua in June, only for Jojua to drop out of the fight. Brazil’s Werlleson Martins then stepped in to replace Jojua, only to miss weight a whopping 11.4lbs, hitting the scales at 146.4 for the bantamweight title fight.

Wiklacz declined a non-title catchweight bout against Martins, and as a result has not competed since winning the belt.

Przybysz on the other hand has fought twice since the pair’s first meeting, finishing both bouts inside the distance.

Full results from Friday’s KSW 86 weigh-in can be found below!

KSW 86 Weigh-In Results

Main Event
Bantamweight Title Fight
Champion Jakub Wiklacz (61.2 kg/135 lb) vs. Sebastian Przybysz (61.2 kg/135 lb)

Co-Main Event
Middleweight
Michal Michalski (84.1 kg/185 lb) vs. Dominik Humburger (84.3 kg/186 lb)

Featherweight
Lom Ali Eskiev (66.2 kg/145 lb) vs. Dawid Smielowski (66.3 kg/146 lb)

Catchweight 81 kg/179 lb
Artur Szczepaniak (80.9 kg/179 lb) vs. Henry Fadipe (81 kg/179 lb)

Welterweight
Kacper Koziorzebski (77.6 kg/171 lb) vs. Wiktor Zalewski (77.6 kg/171 lb)

Light Heavyweight
Damian Piwowarczyk (92.9 kg/205 lb) vs. Lukasz Sudolski (92.8 kg/205 lb)

Heavyweight
Filip Stawowy (117.9 kg/260 lb) vs. Viktor Pesta (110.3 kg/243 lb)

Bantamweight
Mariusz Joniak (61.6 kg/136 lb) vs. Miljan Zdravkovic (61.7 kg/136 lb)

Welterweight
Oskar Szczepaniak (77.5 kg/171 lb) vs. Adrian Gralak (77.5 kg/171 lb)

The post KSW 86: Wiklacz vs. Przybysz 4 Weigh-In Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

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.

The post Phil De Fries Set to Defend Heavyweight Title Against Szymon Bajor at KSW 84 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Just hours before the event, KSW’s social media channels were still promoting the lightweight title unification bout between champ Marian Ziolkowski and Salahdine Parnasse, set as the co-main event of the card at the National Stadium, with 50,000 in attendance.

However, with the event underway, Ziolkowski was forced to withdraw. Following Artur Szpilka’s come-from-behind TKO of Mariusz Pudzianowski, Ziolkowski stepped into the cage, laying down his title and announcing that he was relinquishing the belt, with Parnasse on hand with his interim title.

pic.twitter.com/rlhOSubbyN

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) June 3, 2023

News of the cancellation broke about an hour before the fight was expected to go down, care of RMC Sport Combat, and included a clip of a clearly disappointed Parnasse. In the cage, Ziolkowski’s knee was bandaged, perhaps an indication of just what had gone wrong. The Polish lightweight reportedly injured himself warming up.

The pair were previously scheduled to compete in November, with Ziolkowski pulling out of that date as well.

Parnasse now takes on the moniker of undisputed champion, and proper double champ, as the French standout already holds featherweight gold. No doubt not the way he wanted to establish his reign as a double-champ.

KSW Colosseum 2 is headlined by a non-title trilogy fight between rivals Scott Askham and Mamed Khalidov.

The post Marian Ziolkowski Relinquishes Lightweight Belt Following Last Minute Cancellation at KSW Colosseum 2 appeared first on Cageside Press.