GNP finish for Phil de Fries. And still KSW
heavyweight champ
#KSW57 pic.twitter.com/0MlJLc5ARn— Will (@ChillemDafoe)
December 19, 2020
Philip De
Fries closed out Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s 2020 schedule with
a dominant display against Michal
Kita.
De Fries (19-6) retained his heavyweight crown with a technical
knockout victory over Kita (20-12-1) in the KSW
57 headliner at Wytwornia Club in Lodz, Poland, on Saturday.
Following an early sequence that saw “Masakra” catch De Fries with
a couple of heavy combinations, “F-11” shifted gears and took his
opponent down. De Fries punished the Polish fighter with many shots
of ground-and-pound, and it didn’t take long before Kita’s face
started bearing the marks of De Fries’ offense. At the end of the
first stanza, the referee and the physician checked Kita’s
condition very carefully, but the Polish fighter insisted on
continuing.
In the second stanza, “F-11” immediately took his opponent to the
canvas once again and mauled him like in the previous round. After
many unanswered shots, the referee stepped in to stop the action 50
seconds into the second round. In addition to his heavyweight belt,
De Fries took home his seventh consecutive victory.
With that finishing body kick, Marian
Ziółkowski wins the vacant KSW lightweight belt!
#KSW57 pic.twitter.com/FLheTddGB0— Will (@ChillemDafoe)
December 19, 2020
In the co-main event, KSW crowned a new lightweight champion as
Marian
Ziolkowski (22-8-1) smashed Roman
Szymanski (13-6) and earned the vacant title. Following a few
minutes in which both contenders tested each other’s reactions, it
became pretty clear that Ziolkowski’s reach advance would be the
determining factor of the clash. “Golden Boy” danced around
Szymanski for the majority of the time, teasing him with his
surgical jab and blocking his opponent’s offense on all fronts. As
the clash entered into the championship rounds, Ziolkowski was
arguably ahead of his opponent. Sensing the urgency, Szymanski
pressured Ziolkowski early in the fourth stanza. Shortly after
landing an involuntary low blow, Ziolkowski caught his opponent
with a liver kick that immediately dropped Szymanski on the canvas.
“Golden Boy” finished him off with a few follow-up punches. The
official time indicated 4:01 in Round 4.
Earlier that night, Antun Racic
(25-8-1) notched the first defense of his bantamweight title after
overcoming Bruno
Augusto dos Santos (9-2). The first round was competitive and
could have gone either way, and Racic appeared to drop the second
frame to the challenger, but from there, “Killer” started pushing
the pace and controlling “Gafanhoto” from the third round onward.
Racic’s well-known cardio made the difference in the championship
rounds, as “Killer” kept clipping his foe with many combinations
and taking him on the canvas. At the end of the contest, all three
judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of the defending
champion.
Elsewhere, Borys
Mankowski (21-8-1) dominated Artur
Sowinski (21-12) in a lightweight tilt that saw “The Tasmanian
Devil” take home a well-deserved unanimous decision victory;
Professional Fighters League vet Abusupiyan
Magomedov (24-4-1) made a successful KSW debut by rendering
Cezary
Kesik (12-1) unconscious thanks to a slick guillotine choke
that ended the contest at the 1:53 mark in the second round; in a
middleweight affair, Patrik
Kincl (23-9) smashed UFC alum Tomasz
Drwal (22-6-1) with a one-two combination that forced the
referee to stop the action 4:23 into the opening stanza; Marcin
Krakowiak (10-3) submitted Kacper
Koziorzebski (7-3) thanks to a guillotine choke at the 4:07
mark in the third round of their welterweight affair; in a
170-pound clash, KSW newcomer Christian
Eckerlin (13-5) edged Albert
Odzimkowski (11-5) via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).