Phil De Fries retains heavyweight championship at KSW 50
Phil De Fries successfully defended his KSW heavyweight championship contest by split decision against Luis Henrique at KSW 50 in London.
The heavyweight headliner was largely a stalemate contested in the clinch against the cage fence.
The first three rounds pretty much followed that linear pattern, with De Fries seemingly having the better of control in close.
In the fourth round, the pair started upping the ante with some big, swinging punches. Henrique landed a great shot first, but De Fries replied with even bigger punches and at more volume, mixing up both head and body shots.
There was another round of increased action in the fifth round, but still at a slower pace. The pair have both been tired since the end of the third round. Henrique was on the retreat as De Fries sought to land a big punch, but it was too little, too late to salvage the crowd’s opinion of this fight as boos rained down at its close.
Tomasz Narkun dispatches Przemysław Mysiala in the first round
There’s a reason why Tomasz Narkun is the man to beat in KSW’s light heavyweight champion.
Polish MMA’s prize man looked in imperious form on Saturday, making short work of Przemyslaw Mysiala at KSW 50 in London.
Mysiala is a tough fighter, but had no answer for the heat Narkun was throwing his way.
After coming close to knocking out Mysiala on multiple occasions, Narkun instead opted to snatch a guillotine choke. Mysiala promptly tapped.
Roberto Soldic gets a test on way to Michal Pietrzak win
Roberto Soldic defeated late-notice replacement Michal Pietrzak at KSW 50 on Saturday night, but he had to work for it.
Pietrzak, who replaced Czech fighter Patrik Kincl on less than a week’s notice, was tough, durable, and provided a challenge to Soldic who so often performs and wins his fights with brutal creativity.
Soldic threw heat Pietrzak’s way – especially in the first round – but Poland’s Pietrzak continued bringing the fight to his Croatian opponent.
Ultimately, that wasn’t enough as Soldic took the W via a unanimous decision from the judges, though Pietrzak should be commended for making this an interesting contest.
Norman Parke edges split decision against Marcin Wrzosek to win interim KSW lightweight championship
Fellow TUF alum Norman Parke and Marcin Wrzosek fought to a split decision over 25 minutes to determine the interim KSW lightweight championship.
But the belt didn’t land into Polish hands, as Parke got the decision from two of three judges.
Wrzosek, who came in as a late replacement for the injured Marian Ziolkowski, seemed to edge the first two rounds. However, Parke’s constant pressure soon told.
In the third round, Parke’s bodywork appeared to start paying dividends. The Northern Irishman peppered Wrzosek with teep kicks to the body in the early stages of the fight and scored a takedown to seal the round.
The fourth stanza was largely contested in the clinch against the cage. Initiated by Parke, Wrzosek could do little to work his way into a position which he wanted, though he suffered minimal damage and stuff every takedown attempt thrown his way.
The final round played out similarly to the fourth with plenty of clinch battles against the cage fence. Parke did score a takedown at one point, but Wrzosek showed good defensive grappling to quickly regain his position on the feet.
The fight went to the judges, and it is “Stormin'” Norman Parke who leaves London with the interim KSW lightweight championship.
After the fight, Wrzosek asked for a rematch and Parke seemed keen at the idea.
Damian Janikowski beats Tony Giles via verbal submission
This was a bit of a bizarre one.
Damian Janikowski, a wrestler who has won an Olympic bronze medal representing Poland, rightly sought to take Tony Giles down at the earliest opportunity.
After some jostling for position on the ground, the referee was seen getting involved with something. Before we know it, the fight is called off for a verbal submission.
Given the vantage point of press row, it’s unclear what happened – even the replays provide little information.
Regardless, Janikowski is back in the win column at KSW following two consecutive losses.
Jason Radcliffe gets judges’ nod over Antoni Chmieleski over three rounds
Jason Radcliffe went to a decision for the first time in his career at KSW 50. In his 22nd professional mixed martial arts bout, Radcliffe was finally involved in a contest which went to the judges’ scorecards.
Fortunately for him, those judges sat cageside scored his light heavyweight scrap against Antoni Chmieleski in his favour.
It was a chaotic brawl between two heavy-handed men for 15 minutes, staying on the feet for almost the entire duration of this contest. The kind of war of attrition which could officially won by either competitor.
The pro-Poland London crowd was upset by the decision and Wembley’s SSE Arena was a cacophony of boos and whistles upon the verdict being read out. But, it’s Radcliffe who leaves the venue with a win.
Dricus Du Plessis scores TKO stoppage win over Joilton Santos
Dricus Du Plessis picked up a win as he returned to the middleweight division.
His opponent, Joilton Santos, looked to have got the better of the early exchanges. Santos scored a big takedown and generally appeared to control the cage better in the early going.
However, Du Plessis stepped things up a gear as soon as the fight restarted for the second round, launching a spinning back kick to the body which landed.
Santos sought to take the fight down again, but Du Plessis defended well and threatened with a guillotine choke. Eventually, Santos ended pinned against the cage, only for South Africa’s Du Plessis to launch an assault of punches.
Santos was wary of what happened but unable to defend himself. Referee Marc Goddard called a stop to the action, giving Du Plessis the TKO victory.
KSW 50 London live results:
KSW Heavyweight Title: Phil De Fries (c) def. Luis Henrique by split decision
KSW Light Heavyweight Title: Tomasz Narkun (c) def. Przemyslaw Mysiala by submission (guillotine choke) at 4:03 of the first round
Catchweight: Roberto Soldic def. Michal Pietrzak by unanimous decision after three rounds
Interim KSW Lightweight Title: Norman Parke def. Marcin Wrzosek by split decision after five rounds
Middleweight: Damian Janikowski def. Tony Giles by verbal submission at 1:24 of round one
90kg Catchweight: Jason Radcliffe def. Antoni Chmieleski by unanimous decision after three rounds
Middleweight: Dricus Du Plessis def. Joilton Santos by TKO (punches) at 3:04 of round two
Female Strawweight: Aleksandra Rola def. Catherine Costigan by TKO (knees and elbows) at 0:50 round two
