WOW!! History made!! 🤩
🇲🇩 Valeriu Mircea submits Leo Brichta to become the first Moldovan
champion in KSW history!!!
#KSW91 pic.twitter.com/QxCF16Kx5h— KSW (@KSW_MMA)
February 17, 2024
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Valeriu
Mircea took Leo Brichta
into deep waters and drowned the Prague native with a rear-naked
choke in the fourth round of the KSW
91 main event Saturday at Home Credit Arena in Liberec, Czech
Republic.
With the win, Mircea claimed the vacant interim
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki lightweight title and set up an
eventual title unification showdown with champion Salahdine
Parnasse. Mircea (30-8-1) notched his fourth straight win, but
it didn’t come easy.
The fight opened up like a chess match, with Britcha holding the
edge on the feet. Mircea’s guard was held low at Brichta (12-4) and
routinely made him pay for it. To even the odds, Mircea took the
fight to the ground and had his way.
Soon the fight became a battle of wills. Whenever the fight was on
the ground, Mircea’s experience showed through. He nearly ended the
fight in the second round with an arm triangle but was almost
finished himself once the fight returned to the feet.
Heading into the championship rounds, it was still either man’s
fight, but once Mircea took Britcha’s back, he knew he couldn’t
risk letting him get away. Mircea pounded away at Britcha’s guard
until his prey was forced to shift his guard, exposing his neck.
Mircea took advantage immediately and snatched the belt with a
rear-naked choke at 2:40 of Round 4.
Fresh off the first loss of his career, Dominik
Humburger had his hands full early against Adrian
Dudek. The stocky, heavy-handed middleweight routinely got
under Humburger and cracked the bigger man with shots upstairs.
Hamburger, on the cusp of his second career defeat, rallied in the
second round with a new gust of wind and staggered Dudek along the
fence before stopping his man at 2:28 of Round 2.
Matus
Juracek exploded onto the KSW scene with a first-round knockout
of Henry
Fadipe in welterweight action. Fadipe (14-12-1) is a skilled,
slick striker, but he underestimated Juracek’s hand speed and paid
dearly. Fadipe was reeling across the cage with one left hook
before landing flat on his back. Juracek (11-3) pounced quickly and
finished the fight at 4:00 of the opening stanza.
Kacper
Koziorzebski ruined former undefeated welterweight Viktor
Cervinsky’s perfect record by taking a unanimous decision (30-
27, 30-27, 30-27). Koziorzebski’s superior pace was too much for
the young prospect and simply outworked him in the clinch along the
fence. Cervinsky had his moments but Koziorzebski’s in-your-face
style was something he wasn’t prepared for.
After two dominant rounds on the mat, Lukasz
Charzewski was in danger of dropping his second straight fight
after taking a vicious elbow from Michal
Sobiech. Charzewski was in control for most of the 150-pound
catchweight bout, but his eye was grotesquely swollen and the
contest was in danger of being stopped.
Luckily for Charzewksi (13-2), his prayers were answered, and he
was allowed to fight out the final five minutes. Going back to his
bread and butter, the Pole grinded Sobiech out en route to a
unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
Former Glory kickboxer Dawid
Kasperski won his mixed martial arts debut on Saturday against
a game Vasil Ducar
by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27). Kasperski relied on
his kickboxing background and hurt Ducar’s calves with slicing
kicks. While that wasn’t a surprise, the 33-year-old’s wrestling
was. Kasperski (1-0) maintained top control for most of the fight
and mixed up his game well for a fighter in their first MMA bout.
Ducar (3-3) was a sturdy opponent and wouldn’t go away, but
Kasperski always found an answer.
Josef
Stummer and Adrian
Wieliczko’s featherweight feud was madness from the opening
bell. Seconds into the fight, Wieliczko attacked with a heel hook
that looked destined to give Stummer his second career loss. In the
midst of defending the lock, Stummer accidentally gave up his
back.
Wieliczko secured a python-like body lock on Stummer and clung to
him like a backpack while Stummer survived the final two minutes of
the round. It was a dominant first round for Wieliczko, but he
burned himself out while forcing the rear-naked choke. In the
second round, Stummer turned the tide and rocked Wieliczko
repeatedly. Once the fight returned to the ground, there wasn’t
much the exhausted Wieliczko could do to stop Stummer from locking
in a fight-finishing triangle choke with 40 seconds left in the
round.
KSW’s No. 10 ranked bantamweight Mariusz
Joniak stormed back into the winner’s column with a first-round
knockout over Tobiasz Le.
Le (4-2) brought a two-fight win streak into the cage but left with
the first knockout loss of his career after eating a haymaker of a
right hand from Joniak (12-5) at 1:05 of the first round.
KSW 91 kicked off with a battle of youth and experience between
20-year-old flyweight Wiktoria
Czyzewska and 42-year-old Petra
Castkova. Czyzewska started fast and confused Castkova by
switching between orthodox and southpaw. Czyzewska (3-1) landed
multiple body and head combinations before putting the vet down for
good 1:56 into the round with a body kick to the ribs.