Michal Materla Crushes Kendall Grove in KSW 78 Rematch

A rematch nearly 10 years in the making headlined KSW 78 as Michal
Materla locked horns with Kendall
Grove.

The emotionally charged second clash between “Cipao” and “Da
Spyder” ended with another victory for Materla (32-9, 21-7 KSW).
Unlike their first fight—a bloody affair that ended with Materla
pocketing a unanimous decision victory at KSW 23 in 2013—the Polish
fighter finished his foe inside the distance this time. 40-year-old
Grove (24-19, 1 NC, 0-3 KSW) made his cage return after a
three-year hiatus but showcased decent condition and performance
for as long as he survived in the 195-pound catchweight affair,
blocking all his foe’s takedown attempts in the opening frame.
Materla’s punching power was the key in the contest as he adopted a
different game plan in Round 2, attacking Grove with punches and
knocking him down. While Grove recovered from the subsequent
assault, Materla kept scoring with his left hand on different
occasions until he dropped Grove once more. On the canvas, Materla
finished the job with a series of punches. Referee Tomasz Bronder
halted the contest at the 4:27 mark of Round 2.

The co-headliner featured an intriguing 185-pound affair between
Tomasz
Romanowski and Radoslaw
Paczuski. The pair kept the fight on the feet for three rounds,
putting on a striking contest. Romanowski (17-9, 1 NC; 6-1 KSW)
showcased good footwork and mobility, landing more shots than his
opponent thanks to his speed. In the second, “Tommy” clipped his
foe on the chin with a nice left overhand that immediately dropped
Paczuski. In turn, Paczuski (5-1, 2-1 KSW) bounced back following
the knockdown and retaliated with punches that opened a cut above
Romanowski’s right eyebrow. The pace decreased in the third, where
Romanowski controlled his Paczuski from afar. When the dust
settled, the cage announcer revealed Romanowski took home a
split-decision victory.

Elsewhere, Roman
Szymanski (17-6, 9-3 KSW) forced Raul
Tutarauli (31-7, 0-1 KSW) to tap to an armbar 65 seconds into
their lightweight tilt; 155-pounder Valeriu
Mircea (28-8-1, 2-1 KSW) wrecked former KSW welterweight champ
Borys
Mankowski (22-11-1, 11-8 KSW) with punches at 4:22 of Round 1;
former Jungle Fight 205-pound titleholder Kleber
Raimundo
Silva (21-12, 1-0 KSW) rendered Lukasz
Sudolski (10-2, 0-1 KSW) unconscious with punches 40 seconds
out of the gate in the second period; Rafal
Kijanczuk (11-6, 1-2 KSW) crushed Marc
Doussis (8-2, 1NC; 1-2 KSW) with punches at 2:03 of the opening
frame at light heavyweight; Lukasz
Rajewski (12-8, 1 NC; 5-5 KSW) smashed Sahil Siraj
(7-2, 0-1 KSW) with punches at 4:05 of Round 1 in their lightweight
clash; 155-pounder Oskar
Szczepaniak (4-1, 1-1 KSW) did enough to take home a unanimous
decision victory over Raimondas
Krilavicius (6-3-1, 1NC; 0-1 KSW); Borys
Dzikowski (3-0, 2-0 KSW) outpointed Andre
Langen (1-1, 0-1 KSW) on all scorecards at middleweight.