Mariusz ‘PUDZIAN’ Pudzianowski!
#KSW59 pic.twitter.com/gUcwrqLkbK— KSW (@KSW_MMA)
March 20, 2021
Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s main event underwent a last-minute
change after Serigne
Ousmane Dia suffered an acute appendicitis attack and had
to be hospitalized ahead of Saturday’s card in Lodz, Poland.
The new KSW 59
headliner saw Mariusz
Pudzianowski (14-7, 1 NC) taking on MMA
debutant Nikola
Milanovic (0-1) in the super heavyweight division.
Milanovic took the fight on less than 24 hours notice, but he could
do nothing to stop “Pudzian” from ending the contest in the opening
frame. Milanovic attacked the legendary strongman with a couple of
leg kicks as soon as the battle started, and Pudzianowski
retaliated with a jab. The Serbian fighter rushed then to push his
opponent against the cage, looking for a double-leg takedown.
While the takedown attempt likely would have been successful,
“Pudzian” grabbed the fence to defend himself from going down.
After escaping from danger and ending up on the back of Milanovic,
Pudzianowski mauled his hapless opponent with punches. Referee
Lukasz Bosacki intervened after noticing that the Serbian fighter
wasn’t defending himself intelligently anymore at the 1:10 mark of
the opening frame.
In the co-main event, Sebastian
Przybysz (8-2) outpointed Antun
Racic (25-9-1) to capture the bantamweight championship.
The pair combined for a hard-fought contest where Przybysz made the
most out of his longer reach. The Polish fighter maintained the
center of the cage and scored with his combinations, while Racic
did his best to keep the battle in close quarters. The first two
stanzas saw Przybysz scoring with his jab and elbows. Midway
through the third round, “Killer” dropped Przybysz with a perfectly
timed left hook. The Polish fighter attempted to recover from the
shot as Racic rushed to finish his opponent, but Przybysz managed
to survive until the horn.
Przybysz recomposed himself entering the championship rounds, but
Racic seemed to be the one scoring the most significant shots in
the fourth stanza as well. Sensing the danger, Przybysz moved the
action to the mat in the fifth and final round, landing a couple of
takedowns and nearly taking his opponent’s back before the end of
the contest. Ultimately, Przybysz garnered a unanimous decision
victory with 49-46, 49-46, and 48-47 nods from the judges, avenging
a previous loss to Rakic at KSW 46 in December 2018.
Elsewhere, Olympic bronze medalist Damian
Janikowski (6-3) overcame Jason
Radcliffe (16-8) thanks to a series of punches that halted
the contest at the 4:41 mark in the second stanza of their
middleweight encounter.
Earlier on the card, Michal
Pietrzak (10-4) edged Krystian
Kaszubowski (9-2) thanks to a narrow decision at the end
of a welterweight clash; in the heavyweight division, Ultimate
Fighting Championship vet Darko
Stosic (14-4) snapped a three-bout skid by
rendering Michal
Wlodarek (8-3) unconscious with a right hand that stopped
the contest at the 4:39 mark in Round 2; Lukasz
Rajewski (11-6 1NC) upended Konrad
Dyrschka (11-2) via unanimous decision at the end of their
155-pound clash and Adrian
Bartosinski (10-0) smashed Lionel
Padilla Suarez (8-2) with punches 4:05 mark into the third
stanza of their welterweight encounter.
In the opening fights on the card, Sebastian
Rajewski (10-6) outpointed Savo
Lazic (10-6) at lightweight, while Patryk
Likus (1-0) upended Cyprian
Wieczorek (0-1) via unanimous decision in their 145-pound
encounter.