Well, wonder no more. On Friday, KSW officials announced via press release that Racic (25-8-1) will face Sebastian Przybysz (7-2) at the March event. The fight will mark Racic’s second defense of the KSW bantamweight title.

Croatia’s Racic currently sits on a seven-fight win streak, with the last six of those victories coming inside the KSW cage. In 2019, he defeated former UFC fighter Damian Stasiak to win the title. He then returned last year to defend the belt against Brazil’s Bruno Santos.

Poland’s Przybysz is in familiar territory at KSW 59. Sitting on a three-fight win streak, the title opportunity against Racic is a rematch of their 2018 fight. Racic won that non-title affair by unanimous decision.

KSW 59 takes place March 20 and is expected to air live on KSW TV. The main event will see five time world’s strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski return to competition for the first time since November 2019, when he defeated Erko Jun. Punzianowski’s opponent has yet to be officially announced.

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At the top of the card, heavyweight champion Phil De Fries, a former UFC fighter on the best run of his career, returned to make yet another defense of his title, this time against Poland’s own Michal Kita. For his part, Kita entered the fight on a two-bout finishing streak — but England’s De Fries was winner of six straight.

The co-main event saw Marian Ziółkowski and Roman Szymański throw down for the vacant lightweight championship, while Antun Račić was set to defend his bantamweight title against Brazil’s Antun Račić.

Also on the card, PFL veteran Abusupiyan Magomedov was paired up with Cezary Kęsik, and ex-champ Borys Mankowski was set to face Artur Sowinski.

Full results from KSW 57 can be found below. A live stream is available via KSW TV. The event takes place Saturday, December 19 starting at 2PM ET.

KSW 57: De Fries vs. Kita Results

Phil De Fries (c) def. Michał Kita by TKO, Round 2, 0:50 – For the KSW Heavyweight Championship
Marian Ziółkowski def. Roman Szymański by TKO, Round 4, 4:01 – For the Vacant KSW Lightweight Championship
Borys Mańkowski def. Artur Sowiński by unanimous decision
Antun Račić (c) def. Bruno dos Santos by unanimous decision – For the KSW Bantamweight Championship
Abusupiyan Magomedov def. Cezary Kęsik by submission (guillotine choke), Round 2, 1:53
Patrik Kincl def. Tomasz Drwal by knockout, Round 1, 4:23
Marcin Krakowiak def. Kacper Koziorzębski by submission (guillotine choke), Round 3, 4:07
Christian Eckerlin def. Albert Odzimkowski by split decision

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Croatia’s Antun Racic (24-8-1) will defend his bantamweight title against Bruno Santos (9-1) at the event, expected to take place December 19. The card has two previously announced title fights in Phil De Fries vs. Michal Kita for the heavyweight title, as well as Marian Ziolkowski vs. Roman Szymanski  for the vacant welterweight strap.

Racic’s participation in the card was previously announced. However, the identity of his opponent was in question until KSW officials announced the news Friday.

Rakic won the promotion’s 135lb belt last year, defeating UFC alum Damian Stasiak by decision to claim gold. “Killer” has won six straight bouts, and previously competed for M-1 and Superior FC.

Santos is the winner of four straight, and will be making his debut in the promotion at KSW 57.

The full card as announced to date can be found below. KSW 57 is expected to stream via KSW TV.

Main Event
Heavyweight Title
Champion Phil De Fries (18-6) vs. Michal Kita (20-11-1)

Co-Main Event
Vacant Lightweight Title
Marian Ziolkowski (21-8-1) vs. Roman Szymanski (13-5)

Lightweight
Artur Sowinski (21-11) vs. Borys Mankowski (20-8-1)

Bantamweight Title
Champion Antun Racic (24-8-1) vs. Bruno ‘Gafanhoto’ Santos (9-1)

Middleweight
Cezary Kesik (12-0) vs. Abus Magomedov (23-4-1)

Middleweight
Tomasz Drwal (22-5-1) vs. Patrik Kincl (22-9)

Welterweight
Kacper Koziorzębski (7-2) vs. Marcin Krakowiak (9-3)

Welterweight
Albert Odzimkowski (11-4) vs. Christian Eckerlin (12-5)

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On Monday, promotion officials announced via press release that both the bantamweight and heavyweight titles would be defended at the event. Which gives both Phil De Fries and Antun Racic a chance to pick up a title defense.

De Fries (18-6), KSW’s reigning heavyweight champ, is currently on one of the best runs of his career. With six straight wins in KSW, Bellator, and elsewhere, the British fighter has looked solid, and defended his belt three times since first capturing the title in 2018. However, the onset of the coronavirus pandemic kept De Fries on the sidelines through most of 2020, and it will have been well over a year since his last fight when he returns at KSW 57.

Challenging for the former UFC fighter’s heavyweight title will be Michal Kita (20-11-1). Kita holds back-to-back first round stoppages in KSW, including one over former title challenger Michal Andryszak. He also holds 17 career stoppages.

At bantamweight, meanwhile, Antun Racic (24-8-1) will look to secure the first defense of his 135lb title. The Croatian won the belt by defeating Damian Stasiak at KSW 51 last year, in the process becoming the promotion’s inaugural bantamweight champion. Racic’s KSW 57 opponent has yet to be announced.

Also announced for the KSW 57 card is Borys Mankowski (21-8-1). The former welterweight champ will compete in a lightweight bout against an opponent also to be named later.

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KSW’s biggest star has long been five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski, and on Saturday, the hulking Polish heavyweight took on bodybuilder and social media star Erko Jun in the KSW 51 main event. The card went much deeper than that, however. Former welterweight champion Borys Mańkowski was in action, taking on Vaso Bakočević in a catchweight co-main event. A new title was on the line as well, as Antun Račić faced Damian Stasiak for the inaugural KSW bantamweight title.

Elsewhere on the card, UFC and Bellator veteran Oli Thompson stepped up on 48-hours notice to take on Ante Delija.

The card streamed live on DAZN and KSWTV, with the fights kicking off at 1PM ET. Check below for full results.

KSW 51 Weigh-In Results

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Antun Racic will take on Damian Stasiak at KSW 51. The two men will battle it out for the right to be called the inaugural KSW bantamweight champion this Saturday. When the action goes down, Racic will be fighting at home, as the Polish MMA promotion heads to Croatia for the first time. The show takes place at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia on Saturday, November 9, and will be broadcast on DAZN and KSWTV at 1PM ET. The card is headlined by Erko Jun against Mariusz Pudzianowski but the event has some depth to it, for sure.

Antun Racic

Racic spent a lot of time preparing for his KSW 51 title fight in Montreal. The relationship initially began when he met TriStar head coach Firas Zahabi at the last KSW event in London. The move has paid dividends for Racic, and he likes the Canadian way of life as well. He has gotten in some time with some TriStar staples and recently posted a glimpse of himself with Georges St Pierre on Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3R4KPinc29/

GSP isn’t the only GOAT contender Racic has been training with as of late. He also got in some time with Jon Jones when he visited Germany. Racic divides up some time in Germany and Jones came over for a promotional appearance. Racic is constantly surrounded by top-level martial artists and is always looking to absorb new information.

As much as he’s enjoying his time in Quebec, it’s all business for Racic, who is laser-focused on what’s ahead. Racic told Cageside Press ahead of the bout that “Damian Stasiak is a dangerous opponent. He’s a good fighter but I think I’m a complete fighter. I push hard every day for this.”

KSW 51

With this event going down in Zagreb, the fight takes on an extra element for Racic. The proud Croatian will have the partisan support of the crowd as he enters the cage for the highest stakes fight of his career.

“I am Croatian, you know. Every preparation for my fight, I spend two months in Germany. This time I spend one month in Germany and almost one month here. I fight for the title of one of the biggest MMA organizations in the world and for sure KSW is the best Europe organization,” he stated. “In Croatia, it’s going to be a little bit pressure on me because I fight in front of my people. The arena will be full and it’s going to be one of the greatest shows in Europe. And I’m proud I’m part of this card.”

Racic loves where he is at right now but realizes there is much to be done. He is riding a five-fight win streak, is unbeaten under the KSW banner, but he has a gold championship that he wants to add to the mantle.

“Fight for the title and win this title. After this, sure I’ll defend this belt,” Racic predicted. “I’m really happy in KSW. I feel like this is my organization. Only goal is winning this KSW bantamweight belt.”

Watch Antun Racic take on Damian Stasiak for the KSW bantamweight title this Saturday, November 9 at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia.

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KSW 51 goes down in Croatia this November, the Polish promotion’s debut in the nation. And another first is coming with it: the crowning of the inaugural KSW bantamweight champion. Promotion officials announced the news this week. The bout will see Croatia’s Antun Racic (23-8-1) face Poland’s Damian Stasiak (11-6) with the belt, and history, on the line.

MMA fans should remember Stasiak from his UFC run between 2015 and 2018, during which he went 2-4 with the promotion. After being released on the heels of a three-fight skid last September, Stasiak bounced back with a submission win against Nikolay Kondratuk in his native Poland in April.

He’ll be making his KSW debut when he fights for gold against Racic. The Croatian has been with the organization since 2017, and is 4-0 under its banner.

Also announced Friday, KSW 51 will witness Filip ‘Nitro’ Pejic (14-2-2) fighting at home when he takes on Krzysztof Klaczek (12-6). Pejic competed once for the UFC in 2016, coincidentally losing to Stasiak. He was released after that single fight. ‘Nitro’ made his KSW debut earlier this year, doing so in style with a head kick finish of Filip Wolanski.

KSW 51 takes place November 9, 2019 at the Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia. The main event sees Mariusz Pudzianowski take on Erko Jun in a heavyweight clash.

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