Bantamweight it was truly not after Gafurov missed weight by five pounds. And on top of that controversy, at the end of the third round, the former ONE Championship fighter appeared to tap to a late guillotine, then denied it.

Wiklacz (18-3-2) wasn’t buying it. “I felt the tap, but first I just grabbed this gilly, and I was like, maybe it won’t be a submission, but I’ll try,” he told Cageside Press following the bout at the Meta Apex on Saturday. “Then I could hear he was breathing hard.” In his head, Wiklacz told himself “I got him, I got him. I need to continue that.”

Wiklacz felt the tap, and the ref ended the fight, though it was initially due to time running out. “He’s like ‘it was the time, it was the time’ and [I’m] like ‘f*ck no, it wasn’t time, it was a tapout. Just rewatch it! Rewatch it!’ And then I’m waiting for a replay, and I see him tapping out and I was f*cking crazy.”

Wiklacz and Gafurov paid each other their respects after the bout, but Wiklacz was sure to tell him that he’d tapped out. Gafurov suggested they wait and see— the replay in the end showed Wiklacz had the submission win with one second on the clock.

At 2-0 in the UFC now, with victories of Gafurov and former Bellator star Patchy Mix, Wiklacz is hoping to fight in America more, or bring the UFC to Poland. America, however, is where he feels he can grow his fan base.

“I want to win, but I know I have a style like this that they will love me,” he noted.

The 29-year old former KSW champ also revealed that there was no thought of declining the fight despite Gafurov coming in heavy.

“No. Maybe in another period of the career, maybe I will think about it. But in the UFC, I just want to show myself that, I don’t want to just stay here, win fight, lose fight, win fight, lose fight. I just want to get to the top. That’s why I was like, ‘okay.'”

When UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby told him that Gafurov wasn’t going to make weight, he conferred with his team, but it didn’t take long for him to accept.

“It’s even better to win with an opponent who didn’t cut the weight, and he was fresh,” suggested Wiklacz. “At first, I was feeling like he didn’t respect me, but now I like him. I have nothing to do with him, I just want to show that I belong here, and I want to get a ranked opponent.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 113 post-fight press conference with Jakub Wiklacz above.

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With post-fight bonuses upped to $100,000 U.S. (double their previous 50K value) and a new $25,000 finish bonus for any finishes outside the Fight of the Night/Performance of the Night, there was big money up for grabs. With just four finishes on the UFC Vegas 113 card, however, everyone with a stoppage had a solid chance of hitting it big.

In the end, the promotion awarded main event bantamweight Mario Bautista one of the two 100K Performance of the Night bonuses. Against Vinicius Oliveira, who looked to be the much larger man, Bautista’s energy never faltered, and he eventually earned himself a rear-naked choke submission in the second round.

The second Performance bonus went to bantamweight Jakub Wiklacz, who forced a tap from Muin Gafurov in the final second of their fight. Gafurov, who had a good chance at winning on the scorecards, played it off like he hadn’t tapped, but a review by the officials showed he had, at literally the final second.

Nikolay Veretennikov and Dustin Jacoby were the other finishers on the night, and both should be taking home $25,000.

Fight of the Night, meanwhile, went to a hard-hitting middleweight affair between Michal Oleksiejczuk and Marc-Andre Barriault. Poland’s Oleksiejczuk took that one on the scorecards, with MAB taking the second round, and the third being the closest of the fight.

The post Bautisa Gets Performance Bonus, Oleksiejczuk-MAB Earns FOTN at UFC Vegas 113 appeared first on Cageside Press.

Wiklacz was perhaps best known as being one of Patchy Mix’s UFC opponents, and the former KSW star got right to work, firing kicks, setting up his hands, and putting Gafurov on the back foot.

Gafurov, also a former ONE Championship athlete, seemed to settle in soon enough, though he would sail wide with a looping hook about a minute and a half in. Wiklacz likewise was fanning on his front kick. Gafurov came close to catching a kick, leading to a clinch, and a trip by the Tajik fighter. Wiklacz, however, popped right back up. Towards the end of the round, Gafurov fired a spinning kick in close, but was in too tight to land it. Wiklacz was having solid success with his kicks, but Gafurov uncorked a volley of punches right at the end of the round for his biggest moment.

Early in round two, the fight went to the ground in a scramble off a jumping front kick by Wiklacz, with Jakub coming out on top. He wound up in side control, with Gafurov, on his back, laying with his head pointing to the fence. Wiklacz fired some heavy knees, and continued to stay heavy on top. When Gafurov tried to escape out, Wiklacz stayed on him. Tons of top time, and he wound up in mount, still two minutes on the clock. He’d eventually take the back and lock in a rear-naked choke with under 10 seconds to go, but the Polish fighter and ex-KSW champ inexplicably seemed to give up on the submission.

The third frame saw Gafurov close the distance and mix up his strikes, putting Wiklacz on the defensive early. Several heavy punches were at least partially blocked by Gafurov, who began digging the body in a clinch. Wiklacz responded with knees; Gafurov fired an elbow over the top off the break. Wiklacz was fighting with his mouth open, seeming to gulp air. A grazing eye poke halted the action for a millisecond, but Gafurov, the victim, didn’t want to stop. Instead, he went right back to work, tagging Wiklacz on the side of the head.

At the end of the round, Wiklacz made things dramatic. Gafurov went for a takedown. Wiklacz locked up a mounted guillotine choke instead, with seconds dying down. Gafurov appeared to give the thumb’s up, but moments later, was tapping right at the horn. It was a chaotic scene, with review officials needing to run it back. They saw what everyone else did, Gaufrov tapped just prior to the horn!

Official Result: Jakub Wiklacz def. Muin Gafurov by submission (guillotine choke), Round 3, 4:59

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The outcome was not without controversy, and Wiklacz (17-3-2) wasn’t entirely thrilled with his own performance, but will no doubt take the result.

“I’m happy that I won, but I made some mistakes I’m not happy about,” the Polish featherweight told media outlets including Cageside Press following the three-round preliminary card fight. The first two frames Wiklacz felt he won, the third was another story.

“To be honest, after the fight I was just angry at the third round, but after these two rounds, I was confident I won the two rounds because I tried submissions, I was striking well, I got him on the body and the head. I was happy about these two rounds.”

Wiklacz had a Dustin Poirier-style “jump the guillotine” moment in the fight, and admitted that when it came to the submission attempt, “I was too confident to be honest.”

“I’m just a guy like, if I see that someone has a good gilly, good grappling, I want to submit him with his own weapons. So that was my mistake,” noted Wiklacz. Patchy Mix is well-known for his guillotine, and submissions in general. “He had a great escape, and it was almost impossible to submit him with that gilly. That last gilly was really close, I lost some power on that and the round would have been better if I didn’t jump the gilly, but that’s just me.”

Watch the full UFC 320 post-fight press conference with Jakub Wiklacz above.

The post UFC 320: Jakub Wiklacz Wanted to Submit Mix with His Own Weapon appeared first on Cageside Press.

Bantamweight Mix, a Bellator grand prix winner, had come up short in a listless fight against Mario Bautista in his own promotional debut.

Wizlacz opened the fight with a steady stream of kicks, particularly targeting the body. He stayed busy early, putting pressure on Mix and preventing him from settling in. However, after slipping on a kick, Mix capitalized and secured an easy scoop takedown. Wizlacz looked to sweep from bottom, but Mix maintained top control. Moments later, Wizlacz elevated Mix and scrambled back to his feet. Mix kept the aggression high, and Wizlacz responded by jumping on a guillotine attempt. Though he didn’t secure it, the scramble allowed him to mount Mix. Mix managed to work his back to the cage as the round closed.

In round two, Mix came forward behind steady pressure and straight punches, while Wizlacz continued to focus on bodywork— doubling up on body kicks and straight shots. Mix exploded into another takedown, and once again, Wizlacz threatened with a guillotine. He didn’t finish it but used the position to stand back up. Both fighters were visibly fatigued, but Wizlacz stayed active, landing short, nasty elbows on the inside. Mix answered with a sharp left hand that earned respect and followed it with another takedown, which led to yet another guillotine attempt from Wizlacz. The grappling exchanges were brief, with both men scrambling to their feet quickly. In the final minute, Wizlacz went back to the body kicks as they traded clean shots in the clinch.

Early in the final round, Mix timed a kick perfectly to shoot in for a takedown. Wizlacz once again looked for the guillotine, but it wasn’t close. Though he accepted being taken down, he refused to stay flat on bottom—constantly elevating Mix’s hips and creating space to move. Mix, however, was stronger from top position in the third, controlling more of the round and staying just active enough to maintain it. Wizlacz attempted one last scramble in the closing seconds, but Mix ended the fight on his back, finishing the round in control.

Official Result: Jakub Wiklacz def. Patchy Mix by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

The post UFC 320: Jakub Wiklacz Claims Split Decision Over Patchy Mix appeared first on Cageside Press.

Patchy Mix (20-2), who fell short in his highly anticipated UFC debut two months ago, will look to bounce back when he faces promotional newcomer Jakub Wiklacz (16-3-2) at the event in Las Vegas on October 4, 2025.

Mix is a former Bellator MMA bantamweight champion and grand prix winner, while Wiklacz previously held gold for Polish promotion KSW, which until recently dominated a large swathe of the European MMA scene.

UFC officials announced the match-up on Thursday.

Mix suffered just the second defeat of his professional career in a low-energy fight with Mario Bautista at UFC 316 in June. The decision loss snapped a seven fight win streak that had seen Mix defeat the likes of Kyoji Horiguchi, Sergio Pettis, Raufeon Stots, and Magomed Magomedov.

Poland’s Wiklacz has not lost a fight since 2020, and will be competing for the first time since defending his 135lb KSW belt by submitting Sebastian Przybysz in June of 2024. Wiklacz successfully defended his belt three times after claiming it in the second of four career fights he’s had against Przybysz.

UFC 320 is headlined by the rematch between light heavyweight champ Magomed Ankalaev and Brazilian star Alex Pereira. Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will look to fend off Cory Sandhagen in the co-headliner at the T-Mobile Arena on October 4.

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That fight was both the fourth meeting between champ Jakub Wiklacz and ex-champ Sebastian Przybysz, and an immediate rematch of sorts — for Wiklacz anyway.

The pair had first met under the ACB banner in 2017, with Wiklacz taking home a unanimous decision win. With both later employed by KSW, they met again in 2020, where Przybysz finished his rival with body shots.

Last December, with Przybysz holding gold, the pair met in a rubber match to what was then a trilogy, with Wiklacz winning the title care of a split decision win. That was not to be the end of the rivalry, however— Przybysz went on to win his next two fights. Wiklacz, meanwhile, had been expected to defend his title this past July against Werlleson Martins — who apparently thought the bout was at featherweight. Not really, but he missed weight by over ten pounds; the title was off the line as a result, and Wiklacz turned down a catchweight non-title bout.

Instead, his first fight since winning the KSW bantamweight championship against Przybysz was once again against Sebastian Przybysz.

KSW 86 kicks off at 1PM ET on Saturday, September 16, 2023 at the Hala Orbita in Wroclaw, Poland, and streams live via KSWTV.com. Full results can be found below.

KSW 86: Wiklacz vs. Przybysz 4 Full Results

Jakub Wiklacz (c) vs. Sebastian Przybysz ends in a unanimous technical draw (37-37, 37-37, 37-37) — for the KSW bantamweight championship
Michal Michalski def. Dominik Humburger by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Lom Ali Eskiev def. Dawid Smielowski by TKO, Round 1, 4:21
Artur Szczepaniak def. Henry Fadipe by KO, Round 2, 4:00
Wiktor Zalewski def. Kacper Koziorzebski by TKO, Round 2, 0:55
Damian Piwowarczyk def. Lukasz Sudolski by KO, Round 1, 3:38
Viktor Pesta def. Filip Stawowy by submission (rear-naked choke), Round 1, 2:12
Miljan Zdravkovic def. Mariusz Joniak by TKO (punches), Round 1, 4:16
Oskar Szczepaniak def. Adrian Gralak by KO (punch), Round 1, 4:29

The post KSW 86: Wiklacz vs. Przybysz 4 Full Results 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.

Mariusz Pudzianowski has, for years, been one of the pillars of the promotion. A winner of The World’s Strongest Man strongman competition years ago, “Pudzian” is a hulking heavyweight who has found considerable success crossing over from another sport. While he’s never won, or even fought, for a title, at heavyweight, it almost doesn’t matter: he puts butts in seats and wins more than he loses, with a 17-7, 1NC record heading into Saturday’s showdown with Mamed Khalidov.

When it comes to Khalidov, for years he was one of the best middleweight talents outside the UFC. Wins over Jesse Taylor, Kendall Grove, Maiquel Falcao, and Brett Cooper in the early days of the Polish promotion solidified his reputation, as did victories outside the promotion against Igor Pokrajac, Jason Guida, and Jorge Santiago.

Early on in the promotion’s history, Khalidov became the inaugural KSW light heavyweight champion. And while in recent years he struggled with catchweight bouts opposite Tomasz Narkun and Scott Askham before losing his middleweight title against Roberto Soldic, at 42 Khalidov’s skills remain a threat to all but the best in the organization.

Two title fights also adorned the KSW 77 card, with Sebastian Przybysz defending against Jakub Wiklacz, and Ibragim Chuzhigaev putting his belt on the line against Ivan Erslan.

KSW 77 takes place Saturday, December 17, 2022 in Gliwice, Poland, kicking off at 1PM ET. The event can be streamed via KSWTV.com.

KSW 77: Pudzianowski vs. Khalidov Results

Mamed Khalidov def. Mariusz Pudzianowski by TKO (Submission to Punches) Round 1, 1:54
Jakub Wiklacz def. Sebastian Przybysz (c) by Split Decision – for the KSW bantamweight championship
Ibragim Chuzhigaev (c) def. Ivan Erslan by Unanimous Decision – for the KSW light heavyweight championship
Daniel Rutkowski def. Lom-Ali Eskiev by Split Decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
Andrzej Grzebyk def. Oton Jasse by KO (Body Punch), Round 1, 4:21
Patryk Kaczmarczyk def. Pascal Hintzen by TKO (Knees to the Body), Round 1, 1:03
Bogdan Gnidko def. Madalin Pirvulescu by KO (Head Kick and Punches), Round 1, 0:38
Michal Domin def. Patryk Likus by Technical Submission (Triangle Choke), Round 3, 4:33
Yann Liasse def. Adrian Gralak by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 2, 2:37
Shamad Erzanukaev def. Carl McNally by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke), Round 2, 2:48
Wiktoria Czyzewska def. Aleksandra Karaseva by TKO (Punches), Round 1, 1:12

The post KSW 77: Pudzianowski vs. Khalidov Full Results appeared first on Cageside Press.

On Wednesday, KSW officials announced via press release that two title fights had joined the fray. At light heavyweight, Ibragim Chuzhigaev (16-5) will attempt the first defense of his title against Croatian Ivan Erslan (12-1). Bantamweight champ Sebastian Przybysz (10-2), meanwhile, puts his belt on the line in the evening’s co-main event, opposite Jakub Wiklacz (13-3-1).

Chuzhigaev won the KSW 205lb title against promotional stalwart Tomasz Narkun earlier this year. That extended the Turkish standout’s win streak to seven straight. In his 21-fight career, Chuzhigaev holds wins over Bellator, Cage Warriors and PFL vet Lee Chadwick, UFC vet David Mitchell, Bellator/UFC vet Mike Rhodes, and others.

Erslan’s only loss, for his part, came against former champ Narkun in November 2020. He has not lost since, winning his last three bouts, two of which came under the KSW banner.

Sebastian Przybysz captured bantamweight gold against Antun Racic in 2021, and has defended the title twice since. He and Wiklacz have met twice before, with the pair’s career series tied at one win apiece.

KSW 77 is set to take place on December 17, 2022 at the Arena Gliwice in Gwlice, Poland.

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