The heavyweight champion @phildefriesmma
retains his title!! Becomes the first person to finish Tomasz
Narkun in KSW!!
#KSW60 pic.twitter.com/kkxsN3mnFU— KSW (@KSW_MMA)
April 24, 2021
Two reigning champions notched title defenses in the latest event
held by Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki.
The KSW
60 main event saw heavyweight champion Phil De Fries (20-6)
stop 205-pound titleholder Tomasz
Narkun (18-4) in a clash for the heavyweight crown. The pair
already met at KSW 47, where the Ultimate Fighting Championship vet
outwrestled “Giraffe.” The rematch started with a flying knee
attempt from Narkun, who missed the target but recomposed for a
short exchange on the feet. Wanting to prove that he made some
adjustments after their first clash, “Giraffe” shot for a
successful takedown. A scramble phase followed before Narkun went
for a kneebar. De Fries fought out of the submission attempt and
ended on top of Narkun, ultimately forcing his opponent to carry
his weight for the round.
The wrestling exchanges took their toll on Narkun, who looked
fatigued at the beginning of the second frame. After missing some
wide swings, “Giraffe” was taken down by De Fries with ease. The
Englishman sat on the chest of his opponent as he unloaded shots of
ground-and-pound. De Fries moved to isolate one of his opponent’s
arms and kept punching. Even though the shots didn’t look very
hard, they accumulated as time passed. After many unanswered shots,
the referee stopped the action at the 3:37 mark of Round 2, sealing
one of the most dominant performances ever by De Fries.
In the co-main event, 155-pound kingpin Marian
Ziolkowski (23-8-1) shattered the championship dreams of
Maciej
Kazieczko (7-2). “The Golden Boy” took most of the opening
stanza to study the challenger, testing his reaction with jabs and
low kicks. Kazieczko looked to shorten the distance, but he was
often met by Ziolkowski’s jab for his efforts. Midway through the
frame, “The Golden Boy” landed a powerful right hand that shook
Kazieczko, who recovered from the shot but couldn’t offer any real
danger to the defending champion.
A much more finishing-focused Ziolkowski came out of his corner at
the beginning of the second round. After avoiding some boxing
combinations from Kazieczko, “The Golden Boy” resorted to his jab
once again before dropping Kazieczko with another flashy right
hand. The champion looked to finish the fight, but his opponent
recovered from the shot and got back to his feet. Kazieczko
attempted a last foray, but Ziolkowski shrugged the flurry off with
ease before dropping his opponent for a second time with a right
hand. “The Golden Boy” then took mount and unleashed some shots
that forced Kazieczko to give up his back to escape from the
danger. Sensing that the end was near, Ziolkowski put the hooks in
and went for a rear-naked choke, forcing Kazieczko to tap after a
few seconds. The official end came 4:24 into the second frame.
Elsewhere, heavyweight Marek
Samociuk (3-1) scored an unexpected comeback after stopping an
exhausted Izu Ugonoh (1-1) with punches after a mere 27 seconds in
the second stanza.
Earlier on the card, Patryk
Kaczmarczyk (7-0) upended Michal
Sobiech (4-1) via unanimous decision in a 145-pound clash;
Aleksandar
Ilic (13-4) dropped Adrian
Dudek (5-2) with a short left punch before finishing him with a
series of hammerfists at the 3:44 mark at Round 1 at middleweight;
featherweight contender Vojto
Barborik (13-1) tapped Krzysztof
Klaczek (12-7) with a rear-naked choke after 2:30 in the second
frame; Karolina
Wojcik (8-2) did enough to take home a decision at the expense
of Aleksandra
Rola (3-2) at the end of their 115-pound encounter; Ion Surdu
(11-3) rendered Kacper
Koziorzebski (7-4) unconscious thanks to a lethal left head
kick that ended the 176-pound catchweight bout 2:19 in the opening
stanza and Jakub
Wiklacz (11-3-1) defeated Patryk
Surdyn (5-2) via unanimous decision at bantamweight.