Oh no!! Kick to a downed opponent!!
Fight is over!! What is going to happen!?
#KSW86 pic.twitter.com/XQIEsWk4Ts— KSW (@KSW_MMA)
September 16, 2023
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Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki bantamweight kingpin Jakub
Wiklacz can’t get rid of former champion Sebastian
Przybysz and despite duking it out for a fourth time in the
KSW 86 main event, it doesn’t look like the two’s rivalry will
end anytime soon.
Wiklacz and Przybysz’s four-round war was scored a technical draw
after Wiklacz was deducted two points from referee Marc Goddard
due to an illegal soccer kick. Pryzbysz was unable to continue and
the point deduction closed the gap in a very competitive fight.
What may be the most absurd fact is that most fans tuned into the
live stream lost sight of the feed early into the fourth round. By
the time the feed came back Goddard was waiving off the fight and
fans were left in shock of what happened.
The fight was a barnburner that kicked off with a first-round
knockdown from the challenger. Since losing the belt to Wiklacz
last December, Przybysz had stayed busy with a pair of finishes
over Filip Macek
and Islam
Djabrailov.
Przybysz looked destined to regain his belt but the champion showed
excellent poise and even ended the first round in mount. Shaking
off his slow start, Wiklacz upped his aggression in round two and
took the fight to the challenger.
Wiklacz nearly paid dearly in round 3 after falling into a rare
Peruvian necktie by Przybysz. The grip was tight and Wiklacz’s hold
on the belt looked lose, but he managed to escape and dominate the
rest of the round on the ground. Heading into round four, the
champion looked confident and Przybysz showed signs of fatigue.
Fans only saw a few moments of the fourth round but when the feed
returned, pandemonium broke out in the cage. Przybysz was visibly
shaken and unable to continue from an illegal soccer kick from
Wiklacz. Seasoned vet Marc Goddard
deducted two points and the fight went to decision. Due to
Wiklacz’s dominance over rounds two and three, he was ahead on the
scorecards, but Goddard’s point deduction was the great equalizer.
Now with a record of 2-1-1 against his greatest foe, it looks like
a fifth fight is the only way to settle the rivalry.
Middleweights Michal
Michalski and Dominik
Humburger left it all in the cage in a three round war that
left both men exhausted.
Humburger came in confident with an undefeated record but seasoned
vet and hometown favorite Michalski showed early that he had the
chin to withstand a whopper of a right hand. Humburger took an
early lead with sharp elbows and knees in Round 1 but it was clear
that he’s was in for a battle on the ground.
Michalski grinded out Humburger on the ground over the last two
rounds and landed some thudding shots of their own. Despite going
to the scorecards after seven straight finishes, the fans at Hala
Orbita were in awe of the co-main event. In the end, the hometown
hero Michalski’s hand was raised in victory by way of unanimous
decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
Dawid
Smielowski came into his 11th pro fight with an undefeated
record and left with a nasty gash and a first round TKO loss.
Lom-Ali
Eskiev (21-7) dominated from start to finish after catching a
high kick and inside tripping Smielowski near the fence. During the
scramble, Eskiev tied up his man in a crucifix and proceeded to
beat him down with punches and elbows before the fight was
mercifully stopped with 40 seconds left in the first round.
Artur
Szcepaniak looked to put behind his disastrous attempt at
welterweight gold last April with a win over Ireland’s Henry
Fadipe in a 179-pound catchweight bout. Early on, Fadipe’s
speed, agility and hands down style made Szczepaniak look slow and
off rhythm. Unfortunately for Fadipe, Szcezpaniak’s tank knew no
bounds and the former title challenger refused to take his foot off
the gas. Every takedown attempt was harder to stuff than the last
and Fadipe remained on his backfoot.
By Round 2, the Pole was having his way on the ground, exhausting
Fadipe with pressure. By the time Fadipe got back to his feet, he
lacked the pop to keep Szczepaniak honest and was floored by a huge
right hand. After nearly 10 minutes of frantic action, Fadipe waved
off referee Goddard before Szczepaniak could follow up with even
more punishment.
There was bound to be a fight that made it out of the first round,
but that doesn’t mean undefeated welterweight Wiktor
Zalewski was shy about the violence.
The 23-year-old had his four-fight knockout streak broken in his
KSW debut win over Robert
Maciejowski back in May and looked hesitant against seasoned
scrapper Kacper
Koziorzebski in the first round of their three-round bout. But
Zaleski would eventually come out of his shell and let his hands go
before connecting with a left cross to Kiziorzebski’s chin,
dropping him.
Zaleski wasted little time pummeling his victim until referee
Tomasz Bronder halted the action 55 seconds into the second
round.
With three straight first-round finishes to open KSW 86, no fighter
wanted to be the one to break the streak. Certainly not Damian
Piwowarczyk (7-2), who notched his second knockout in a row
against Lukasz
Sudolski in light heavyweight action. Piwowarczyk demonstrated
his devastating power by walking down Sudolski (10-3) to the fence
and dropping “Pchela” with two rear uppercuts that would’ve made
“Iron” Mike Tyson proud.
Viktor
Pesta struggled to make a run in the Professional Fighters
League heavyweight standings but he may have found himself a home
in the premier Polish promotion. Pesta (19-8) dominated KSW’s No. 5
ranked heavyweight Filip
Stawowy (10-4) after taking his back and pummeling him with
punches. While Stawowy managed to block a few thudding left hands,
he failed to protect his neck from a rear-naked choke that ended
the bout midway through the first round.
Despite coming in with an undefeated record, Miljan
Zdravkovic entered his bantamweight contest with Mariusz
Joniak as one of the biggest underdogs on the card. That meant
no difference to the Serbian slugger. Zdravkovic (6-0) gave Joniak
(11-5) the first knockout loss of his career with a right hook to
the chin at the 4:16 mark of the first round.
Welterweight Oskar
Szczepaniak (5-1) opened KSW 86 with a bang after putting
Adrian
Gralak (5-2) to sleep with twin left crosses at the 4:30 mark
of the first round. Szczepaniak nearly ended Gralak’s night in the
first two minutes of the bout, but Gralak showed great poise to get
back to his feet. Szczepaniak wouldn’t lose another chance at a
highlight reel KO after switching from orthodox to southpaw and
dropping a shot from Szczecin right on the chin.