Tonight KSW returns to Wembley for their Jubilee 50th event. It’s a stacked card with three titles on the line. Stay tuned to MiddleEasy for all the latest updates, results & pics!
First up we have strawweight bout between Aleksandra Rola (2-0) and Ireland’s Catherine Costigan (6-2). Rola here is making her KSW debut, though don’t discount her lacklustre record as she’s had an extensive amateur career fighting all over Poland and has got in nigh 20 bouts already. Rola is training out of the WCA fight team in Warsaw and is a submission specialist. As for her opponent, Catherine is a veteran of the Irish MMA scene, so far she’s fought all round the world for promotions like Invicta, BAMMA & Cage Warriors. Catherine similar to Rola is a submission specialist getting four victories by way of tap out.Expect this bout to be a war as both competitors are known for gritty toughness.
Round 1: Pretty boring so far, crowd seem amped up though chanting ‘Polska!’ though. Rola managed to drag the fight to the canvas towards the end of the round but didn’t do much with it.
Round 2: Finish for Rola early on as she gets the TKO victory and improves to (3-0).
Now up we have Dricus Du Plessis (12-2) VS Joilton Lutterbach (30-7).
Dricus was a two weight EFC champion and holds a 100% finishing rate in his professional career. He also holds a win over Roberto Soldic; who is one of the hottest talents in Europe right now. Dricus has been out of action for a year now due to injury and looks set to bounce back strong. His opponent Lutterbach is one of the hottest prospects in Brazil right now, and he’s currently on a (17-1) run heading into this fight. Lutterbach too is an extremely well roun ded fighter; getting 20 wins by stoppage and 10 by way of decision. Expect Lutterbach to go for broke in an effort to pull off the under-dog upset
Round 1: So far it’s been a fun enough fight between the pair with a few exciting kickboxing exchanges. Du Plessis managed to secure two takedowns and at the end came close to wrapping up a guillotine choke finish.
Round 2: More action now as the pair begin to lay into each other on the feet. Lutterbach shot for a takedown but Du Plessis countered into a guillotine. He couldn’t lock it up and Du Plessis took the back of Lutterbach and began punishing him with strikes until referee Marc Goddard called a stop to the action. Du Plessis TKO victory
Next up in London, we have Antoni Chmielewski (31-17) VS Jason Radcliffe (15-7).
Chmielewski is a sixteen year MMA veteran and an all-round staple of the KSW promotion. Back when KSW was just in its embryonic stage in 2003, it held PRIDE style one-night MMA grand prixes and Chmielewski was the victor at KSW 2 in 2003 & KSW 3 in 2004. Tonight will be his 50th professional fight on the 50th KSW show. His opponent Jason Radcliffe is a young up and comer who packs explosive knockout power, he’s renowned for his ‘Kill or be killed’ fighting style as he has a 100% finishing rate. This fight is a classic veteran VS young gun matchup and it’ll be interesting to see if Radcliffe adds another kill to his resumé or gets beaten and schooled by the crafty veteran.
Round 1: Great first round for Antoni who is winging the overhand rights at Radcliffe. Antoni has had great success with the right low kick too. Best fight of the night so far.
Round 2: Thee two are absolutely swinging it out now! Antoni is holding strong, repaedtley winging overhands and looking to clinch it up. The low kicks are really coming into play now too as Radcliffe is getting lit up with them. Although cardio wise Antoni does appear to be fading slightly.
Round 3: Antoni stayed strong all the way to the end, despite him being exhausted he kept winging the overhands up till the final bell. You’d have to imagine he’ll get the 30-27 nod here based on the overhands and repeated legkicks. It’s a shame he didn’t throw more kicks in the final round as he could have possibly stopped the fight by a leg kick TKO if he kept it up.
Radcliffe gets the victory by decision, didn’t see that happening at all. Will have to rewatch as it’s difficult to score when cage-side and watching without commentary.
Freak MMA time, Damian Janikowski (3-2) VS Tony Giles (6-1)
And… Now we come to one of the most intriguing fights on the card. Janikowski won an Olympic bronze medal in freestyle grecco-roman wrestling in the 2012 London Olympic games, supposedly he’s a pretty big star in Poland because of that. Janikowski is on a two fight losing streak but is hoping to bounce back with a big win over Tony Giles here tonight. As for his opponent; Giles gained mainstream fame from staring in the ‘Gypsies next door’ UK reality TV show, due to his brash persona on the show he’s both loved and loathed amongst the UK fans. Outside of TV, Giles is actually a really good fighter as he’s had a decorated K1 kickboxing career and since losing his MMA debut in 2011, he’s went on a six fight tear winning every fight by way of vicious first round knockout.
Round 1:Janikowski took Giles down like a minute into the fight and Giles lost due to verbal submission. Have no idea what just happened there to be honest.
Title time! Norman Parke (27-6-1) VS Marcin Wrzosek (14-5)
Northern Ireland’s Norman Parke and Poland’s Marcin Wrzosek are about to go to war for the interim lightweight belt. Parke comes into this bout on an impressive (6-1 NC) run since leaving the UFC. For most fighters, leaving the UFC is the career downfall but Parke has gone from strength to strength building up an impressive European MMA killstreak, trumping people like John Redmond, Reza Madadi & Jon Tuck in the process. He’s not really a finisher, Parke is instead more of a technical striker who likes to brawl it out at times. His opponent Marcin is a former KSW featherweight champion and comes in on short notice to challenge Parke for the interim belt. Marcin is known as ‘The Polish Zombie’ for a reason, as he is a complete warrior. Although Marcin is not just a straight up Gaethje style brawler either as Wrzosek is good on both the feet and canvass. This should be a fun little technical scrap with moments of chaos.
Round 1: Pretty meh first round. Could see it going to either fighter, Parke came close to securing a takedown at the end of the round but he didn’t really land much offense either.
Round 2: Decent technical fight playing out right now, both guys making reads and making adjustments. Parke came close to landing a flying knee whilst The Zombie has been landing jabs and the odd kick here and there. Very difficult fight to score right now, but I’d give the edge to Parke slightly as he seems to be doing more damage.
Round 3:Parke’s coming on strong now, lighting the Polish zombie up in the pocket exchanges, and he keeps landing a good left jab over and over. Crowd seem pretty bored with the bout so far. Towards the end of the round Norman dragged the fight to the canvass and landed a few strikes from half guard. Definitely the best round for Parke so far as he looks to drain the zombie. He also tried a guillotine and americana but neither ever came close to being locked in.
Round 4: Another pretty dominant and boring round for Parke as he keeps clinching up and bullying his opponent with clinches and short jabs.
Round 5: Much the same as before with Norman taking the action to the Pole as he pushes and drains him up against the fence. I’d expect Parke to get the nod easily here. The Polish Zombie has stayed strong though, and showcased impressive heart in fighting through 25 hard minutes.
Parke gets the split decision nod, everybody was a little shocked that a judge had that for Marcin.
Welterweight war? Roberto Soldic (16-3) VS Michal Pietrzak (8-3)
Hailing in from Croatia, Roberto Soldic like his predecessors Stipe Miocic & Mirko Cro Cop is another Croatian striking powerhouse. Soldic is arguably the hottest welterweight in all of Europe right now, so far he’s managed to finish 14 of his 16 fights pro fights by way of knockout and looks set to successfully defend his welterweight belt again tonight. Though his opponent Pietrazak is no easy walk over. Pietrazak is a grappling specialist and possesses amazing wrestling skills, he’s a former national wrestling & no-gi grappling champion and as a result the people call him ‘The Crusher’. Tonight Pietrzak comes in on short notice to try and dethrone the KSW king, if Pietrzak is to pull off the massive upset tonight he’ll need to drag the fight to the ground early and hurt Roberto on the ground. But it’s easier said than done.
Light heavyweight scrapping Tomasz Narkun (16-3) VS Przemyslaw Mysiala (23-9-1)
Heading into this bout, Narkun holds a 94% finishing rate & has twelve career wins from submissions. He captured the KSW title in 2015 at KSW 32 by beating up and knocking Goran Reljic out just one minute into the fight. He was also the first man to beat KSW king Mamed Khalidov. In Narkuns last outing he moved up to heavyweight where he lost to Phil DeFries but now he’s back to defend his title against Mysiala. Mysila is fifteen year MMA veteran. In pro MMA he’s been on an absolute tear of late, he’s undefeated since 2013 (7 wins -1 draw) and has a whooping 95% finishing rate. In his 33 fight career he’s only needed the judges twice. This bout has fight of the night written all over it!
Main event time – Phil DeFries (17-6) VS Luis Henrique (12-5)
The heavyweight KSW king is back! In this outing England’s Phil DeFries will be taking on short notice replacement Luis Henrique. Phil is a well rounded tank, and will look to add another successful title defense to the resumé. Phil holds a 83% finishing rate and holds wins over Karol Bedorf, the light heavyweight champ Tomasz Narkun, James Thompson & Brett Rogers. Phil is pretty well rounded on both the feet and grappling department, he too has impressive cardio which allows him to outlast and punish the competition as his fights go on. Henrique on the other hand is a wild brawler with a 75% finishing rate. Henrique is getting the call-up on short notice and has really nothing to lose so expect him to go for broke early on and seek the one-punch knockout.
