Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (English: Martial Arts Confrontation), better known by its initials KSW, is widely considered to be the premier mixed martial arts organization in Poland[1] and one of the leading in Europe.
Martin Lewandowski had been the manager of the Hotel Marriott in Warsaw when he met Maciej Kawulski in 2002. Kawulski was organizing one of the biggest sports expos in Poland at that time, and as both businessmen come from martial arts backgrounds, they quickly found a common subject. Eighteen months later the first KSW show was born.[3]
The promotion is famed for its four and eight-man tournaments, which until KSW X - Dekalog took place over the period of one night,[4] but since KSW XI they are split, with the tournament final taking place on the next event. KSW XV is the first event without a new tournament, only with extra fights and finals from previous tournaments.
Different from other bigger promotions such as the UFC, KSW adopted the strategy of having events that are less frequent but bigger, focusing on creating big shows with stacked cards and with great spectacle.[5] In 2017, KSW 39: Colosseum beat the record for the largest live attendance to a MMA event in Europe, and second-largest in history with 57,776 fans, only after the Pride Shockwave in 2002 and ahead of UFC 193.[6][7]
Several fighters who have been successful in KSW have signed on to more well known promotions such as the UFC. KSW has its own fight team, the KSW Team, which consists of some of the promotion's elite fighters, such as Mamed Khalidov, Jan Błachowicz, Krzysztof Kulak, Łukasz Jurkowski or Antoni Chmielewski. KSW co-operates with many other promotions in Europe by exchanging fighters, for example WFC and The Cage. KSW runs the majority of its shows live on a variety of TV networks (Polsat Sport, Polsat Sport Extra) throughout Europe. Since KSW XI, the promotion runs its shows live on nationally available at private free-to-air television network Polsat.
Viaplay era
On November 22, 2021, KSW announced a long-term partnership with streaming platform Viaplay. Contract includes increasing number of KSW events to 12 per year and exclusive rights to Viaplay to broadcast KSW events on its platform for the Polish, Nordic, Scandinavian, Dutch and English markets.[8]
Cooperation with XTB
In October 2022, it was announced that as part of the extension of cooperation with XTB - one of the largest Polish fintechs offering its own investment platform, a new agreement was concluded, in which XTB will become the title sponsor of the KSW gala in 2023. The agreement is concluded for the entire year 2023 and will be valid for ten out of twelve planned galas, of which six of these events will be called XTB KSW. In other cases, XTB will be a strategic sponsor, just like in 2022 - at galas in Łódź, Toruń, Radom and Warsaw.[9]
Hall of Fame
On May 10, 2023, the KSW federation announced the introduction of the Hall of Fame, intended to recognize players every year, as well as other people who have made a unique contribution to the history of the organization.[10] The first honored player inducted into the Hall of Fame was former KSW commentator and the first KSW tournament champion, Łukasz "Juras" Jurkowski [33] . The official ceremony of Jurkowski's introduction to the Hall of Fame took place during the XTB KSW 83: Colosseum 2 gala.[11]
Special XTB KSW Epic gala
On February 24, 2024, a special XTB KSW Epic gala took place, focusing on organizing fights in formulas other than just MMA.[12] During the fight of the evening of this event, Mamed Chalidow and Tomasz Adamek crossed gloves in the boxing formula.[13]
1. def. Cassio Barbosa de Oliveira at KSW 34 on Mar 5, 2016 2. def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at KSW 36 on Oct 1, 2016 3. def. Marcin Wojcik at KSW 39 on May 27, 2017 4. def. Przemyslaw Mysiala at KSW 50 on Sep 14, 2019 5. def. Ivan Erslan at KSW 56 on Nov 14, 2020
Jewtuszko vacated the title on February 21, 2015, when he pulled out of a title fight due to an injury and moved up to compete in the Welterweight division.
1. def. Renato Gomes at KSW 36 on Oct 1, 2016 2. def. Norman Parke at KSW 39 on May 27, 2017 3. def. Grzegorz Szulakowski at KSW 42 on Mar 3, 2018 4. def. Marian Ziółkowski at KSW 54 on Aug 29, 2020
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Norman Parke def. Marcin Wrzosek for interim title
Originally scheduled as a title unification bout, Mateusz Gamrot defeated interim champion Norman Parke on July 11, 2020 in a non-title bout due to Parke missing weight. Interim title was vacated at this time.
1. def. Maciej Kazieczko at KSW 60 on Apr 24, 2021 2. def. Borys Mańkowski at KSW 66 on Jan 15, 2022 3. def. Sebastian Rajewski at KSW 71 on Jun 18, 2022
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Salahdine Parnasse def. Sebastian Rajewski for interim title
1. drew with Sebastian Przybysz at KSW 86 on Sep 16, 2023 2. def. Zuriko Jojua at KSW 92 on Mar 16, 2024 3. def. Sebastian Przybysz at KSW 95 on Jun 7, 2024
Wikłacz vacated the title on December 16, 2024, when he was released from KSW.[23]
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2025 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki 
