Polish promotion KSW just booked the biggest bout it could muster from its roster to round off their year in 2022.
Former middleweight champion Mamed Khalidov will take on five-time former World’s Strongest Man and KSW knockout artist Mariusz Pudzianowski in the blockbuster main event of KSW 77, which takes place on December 17 in Gliwice, Poland.
The bout pits head to head two members of KSW royalty. Khalidov is arguably the greatest champion in the promotion’s history, having held the middleweight and light heavyweight titles over a career with the promotion that stretches back to 2007.
After a three-fight skid that prompted him to announce his retirement in 2019, Khalidov returned in stunning fashion to knock out middleweight champion Scott Askham in 36 seconds and recapture the title at 185 pounds. But that reign lasted just one fight as he was finished with strikes for the first time since his pro debut by heavy-handed Roberto Soldic at KSW 65 in December 2021.
Now Khalidov is back again, and he’s set to face quite literally the biggest test of his 45-fight MMA career in Pudzianowski, who weighs in toward or at the upper limit of the 265-pound heavyweght division. Khalidov, meanwhile, has never weighed in for a bout heavier than the 209 pounds he registered on the scale for his catchweight bout with Martin Zawada in 2007.
Pudzianowski is also a man in top form. The former strongman is riding a five-fight, five-knockout win streak, with his most recent win coming against another former champion, Michal Materla, at KSW 70.
It’s a bout that will capture the imagination of fight fans across Europe, and will cement the legacy of the winner as one of the promotion’s all-time greats.
The co-main event for KSW 77 has also been confirmed, with bantamweight champion Sebastian Przybysz putting his 135-pound title on the line against Jakub Wiklacz in a trilogy bout.
