The latest
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki event featured plenty of action as all
but one contest ended inside the distance.
In the KSW
67 headliner, Philip De
Fries put his heavyweight championship on the line against
fellow
Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Darko
Stosic. Aware that his opponent featured remarkable knockout
power, De Fries (21-6, 1NC; 7-0 KSW) immediately resorted to his
grappling skills, dragging Stosic to the canvas and letting the
Serbian taste leather throughout the fight. The British champion
set effective takedowns that allowed him to control the challenger
on the mat and score with ground-and-pound. Stosic (16-5, 3-1 KSW)
struggled to contain his adversary’s offense and was denied in many
attempts to get back on the feet.
While De Fries manhandled his opponent on the canvas, the
Englishman didn’t quite look close to finishing Stosic. In the
fifth stanza, things took an unexpected turn, where De Fries
captured his opponent’s back and unloaded some punches. A visibly
exhausted Stosic attempted to resist, but he gave up due to a mix
of strikes landed by his foe and fatigue. The official time
indicated the 3:44 of Round 5.
In victory, De Fries not only scored his ninth straight conquest,
but also became the owner of the longest title defense streak in
KSW history by beating six contenders.
WOW!! 🤯 @bartos_mma
beats Grzebyk!!
#KSW67 pic.twitter.com/57POjrsYfe— KSW (@KSW_MMA)
February 26, 2022
In the co-main event, Adrian
Bartosinski locked horns with former Fight Exclusive Night
two-division champion Andrzej
Grzebyk in a welterweight affair. Bartosinski (11-0, 3-0 KSW)
showcased a sharper and more effective striking game, picking him
apart in the first half of Round 1 with punches and kicks. The
strikes allowed Bartosinski to set up a nice takedown that forced
Grzebyk (18-5, 2-2 KSW) to fight with his back on the mat for the
remaining duration. Grzebyk, who missed weight by .6 pounds ahead
of the fight, resurged back on the feet right in time to land a
nice right hand before the first horn sounded. A much more
confident Grzebyk staggered Bartosinski early in Round 2, knocking
him down. Bartosinski entered into survival mode as he retaliated
to his opponent’s punches with a kneebar attempt. Grzebyk fought
the submission back for a few seconds, but he was forced to tap
after 33 seconds into the second frame.
Elsewhere, Igor
Michaliszyn (9-2, 1-0 KSW) showed no mercy for late-replacement
Idris
Amizhaev (10-5, 0-1 KSW) as he walked through his opponent with
punches before finishing him with an elbow 66 seconds into their
176-pound catchweight tilt.
Dawid
Smielowski (9-0, 1-0 KSW) scored an exciting comeback victory
after smashing Filip Pejic
(15-7-2, 2-5 KSW) with only eight seconds left in their 151-pound
catchweight; Adam
Soldaev (6-1, 1-0 KSW) landed a walk-off knockout at the
expense of Pascal
Hintzen (7-1, 0-1 KSW) after staggering his opponent with a
perfectly-timed right counter at the 3:18 mark of Round 1 at
featherweight; in a bantamweight affair, Zuriko
Jojua (8-1, 1-0 KSW) tapped Shamil
Banukayev (7-2, 0-1 KSW) thanks to a slick armbar at 1:57 in
the third frame; Borys
Borkowski (4-1, 1-1 KSW) stopped Arkadiusz
Kaszuba (3-1, 0-1 KSW) with punches and elbows from the
crucifix position at the 3:55 mark of their middleweight encounter;
in a 161-pound catchweight, Yann Liasse
(6-1, 1-0 KSW) outwrestled Oskar
Szczepaniak (2-1, 0-1 KSW) en route to a unanimous decision.