Current season, competition or edition: 2024 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki | |
Sport | Mixed martial arts promotion |
---|---|
Founded | 2004 |
Founder | Martin Lewandowski Maciej Kawulski |
Owner(s) | Private |
Country | Poland |
Headquarters | Warsaw |
Official website | www |
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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
The KSW ring announcer is Waldemar Kasta, a former rapper born in Wrocław.
The rankings for the KSW's fighters are both recorded and updated when information has been obtained from the KSW's website. [14]
KSW MMA rankings | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Heavyweight | Light heavyweight | Middleweight | Welterweight |
C | Phil De Fries | Rafał Haratyk | Paweł Pawlak | Adrian Bartosiński |
1 | Darko Stošić | Damian Piwowarczyk 1 | Mamed Khalidov | Andrzej Grzebyk |
2 | Szymon Bajor | Marcin Wójcik 1 | Piotr Kuberski | Madars Fleminas |
3 | Štefan Vojčák | Bohdan Gnidko 1 | Damian Janikowski | Igor Michaliszyn |
4 | Michal Martínek | Kleber Silva 1 | Tomasz Romanowski | Artur Szczepaniak |
5 | Augusto Sakai | Maciej Różański | Michał Michalski | Marcin Krakowiak |
6 | Viktor Pešta | Henrique da Silva | Michał Materla | Wiktor Zalewski |
7 | Ricardo Prasel | Rafał Kijańczuk | Radosław Paczuski | Tymoteusz Łopaczyk |
8 | Arkadiusz Wrzosek | Michał Dreczkowski | Laïd Zerhouni | Brian Hooi |
9 | Matheus Scheffel | Łukasz Sudolski | Dominik Humburger | Matúš Juráček |
10 | Ivan Vitasović | Vojtech Garba | Bartosz Leśko | Oskar Szczepaniak |
Rank | Lightweight | Featherweight | Bantamweight | Women's Strawweight/Flyweight |
C | Salahdine Parnasse | Salahdine Parnasse | Jakub Wikłacz | |
1 | Valeriu Mircea | Robert Ruchała (IC) | Sebastian Przybysz | |
2 | Wilson Varela | Patryk Kaczmarczyk | Zuriko Jojua | |
3 | Marian Ziółkowski | Daniel Rutkowski | Oleksii Polischuck | |
4 | Leo Brichta | Kacper Formela 1 | Miljan Zdravković | |
5 | Marcin Held | Adam Soldaev 1 | Werlleson Martins | |
6 | Roman Szymański | Ahmed Vila 1 | Kamil Szkaradek | |
7 | Dawid Śmiełowski | Damian Stasiak 1 | Patryk Surdyn | |
8 | Welisson Paiva | Daniel Tărchilă 1 | Filip Macek | |
9 | Sebastian Rajewski | Łukasz Charzewski 1 | Mariusz Joniak | |
10 | Maciej Kazieczko 2 | Michał Domin | Islam Djabrailov | |
No. | Event | Date | Venue | Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
List of KSW events:
Czech Republic (total: 3)
United Kingdom (total: 3)
Ireland (total: 1)
Croatia (total: 1)
France (total: 1)
Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
Heavyweight | 120 kg (264.6 lb; 18.9 st) | Phil De Fries | April 14, 2018 ( KSW 43 ) | 10 |
Light Heavyweight | 93 kg (205.0 lb; 14.6 st) | Rafał Haratyk | February 24, 2024 (KSW Epic: Khalidov vs. Adamek ) | 0 |
Middleweight | 84 kg (185.2 lb; 13.2 st) | Paweł Pawlak | June 3, 2023 ( KSW 83: Colosseum 2 ) | 2 |
Welterweight | 77 kg (169.8 lb; 12.1 st) | Adrian Bartosiński | April 22, 2023 ( KSW 81 ) | 2 |
Lightweight | 70 kg (154.3 lb; 11.0 st) | Salahdine Parnasse | June 3, 2023 ( KSW 83: Colosseum 2 ) | 1 |
Featherweight | 66 kg (145.5 lb; 10.4 st) | Salahdine Parnasse | December 18, 2021 ( KSW 65 ) | 2 |
Bantamweight | 61 kg (134.5 lb; 9.6 st) | Jakub Wikłacz | December 17, 2022 ( KSW 77 ) | 3 |
Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|
Flyweight | 57 kg (125.7 lb; 9.0 st) | Vacant | September 23, 2018 | |
Strawweight | 52 kg (114.6 lb; 8.2 st) | Vacant | September 21, 2015 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Karol Bedorf def. Pawel Nastula | KSW 24 Łódź, Poland | Sep 28, 2013 | 1162 days | 1. def. Rolles Gracie at KSW 28 on Oct 4, 2014 |
2 | Fernando Rodrigues Jr. | KSW 37 Kraków, Poland | Dec 3, 2016 | 175 days | |
3 | Marcin Rozalski | KSW 39 Warsaw, Poland | May 27, 2017 | 163 days | |
Title vacated after Rozalski announced his return to kickboxing. [15] | |||||
4 | Phil De Fries def. Michal Andryszak | KSW 43 Wrocław, Poland | Apr 14, 2018 | 2347 days (incumbent) | 1. def. Karol Bedorf at KSW 45 on Oct 6, 2018 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mamed Khalidov def. Daniel Acacio | KSW 11 Warsaw, Poland | May 15, 2009 | ? days | 1. drew with Ryuta Sakurai at KSW 13 on May 7, 2010 |
Title vacated after Khalidov moved down to middleweight. | |||||
2 | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Jan Błachowicz | KSW 15 Warsaw, Poland | Mar 19, 2011 | 252 days | |
3 | Jan Błachowicz | KSW 17 Łódź, Poland | Nov 26, 2011 | 796 days | 1. def. Houston Alexander at KSW 20 on Sep 15, 2012 |
Błachowicz vacated the title on January 30, 2014, after he signed with Ultimate Fighting Championship. [16] | |||||
4 | Goran Reljić def. Attila Végh | KSW 31 Gdańsk, Poland | May 23, 2015 | 161 days | |
5 | Tomasz Narkun | KSW 32 London, England | Oct 31, 2015 | 2268 days | 1. def. Cassio Barbosa de Oliveira at KSW 34 on Mar 5, 2016 |
6 | Ibragim Chuzhigaev | KSW 66 Szczecin, Poland | Jan 15, 2022 | 689 days | 1. def. Ivan Erslan at KSW 77 on Dec 17, 2022 |
Title was vacated on December 5, 2023, after Chuzhigaev left KSW. | |||||
7 | Rafał Haratyk def. Damian Piwowarczyk | KSW Epic: Khalidov vs. Adamek Gliwice, Poland | Feb 24, 2024 | 205 days (incumbent) |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Krzysztof Kułak def. Vitor Nobrega | KSW 13 Katowice, Poland | May 7, 2010 | ? days | |
Title vacated after Kułak was unable to defend the title due to injury. | |||||
2 | Michał Materla def. Jay Silva | KSW 19 Łódź, Poland | May 12, 2012 | 1295 days | 1. def. Rodney Wallace at KSW 21 on Dec 1, 2012 |
3 | Mamed Khalidov | KSW 33 Kraków, Poland | Nov 28, 2015 | 975 days | 1. def. Aziz Karaoglu at KSW 35 on May 27, 2016 |
Khalilov vacated the title after lost Tomasz Narkun in a champion vs. champion superfight and instead pursue a rematch against Narkun. | |||||
4 | Scott Askham def. Michał Materla | KSW 49 Gdańsk, Poland | May 18, 2019 | 511 days | |
5 | Mamed Khalidov (2) | KSW 55 Łódź, Poland | Oct 10, 2020 | 434 days | |
6 | Roberto Soldić | KSW 65 Gliwice, Poland | Dec 18, 2021 | 226 days | |
Soldić vacated the title on August 1, 2022, when he signed with ONE Championship. [17] | |||||
7 | Paweł Pawlak def. Tomasz Romanowski | KSW 83 Warsaw, Poland | Jun 3, 2023 | 471 days (incumbent) | 1. def. Michał Materla at KSW 89 on Dec 16, 2023 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Aslambek Saidov def. Borys Mańkowski | KSW 21 Warsaw, Poland | Dec 1, 2012 | 532 days | 1. def. Daniel Acacio at KSW 25 on Dec 8, 2013 |
2 | Borys Mańkowski | KSW 27 Gdańsk, Poland | May 17, 2014 | 1316 days | 1. def. David Zawada at KSW 29 on Dec 6, 2014 |
3 | Roberto Soldić | KSW 41 Katowice, Poland | Dec 23, 2017 | 112 days | |
4 | Dricus du Plessis | KSW 43 Warsaw, Poland | Apr 14, 2018 | 175 days | |
5 | Roberto Soldić (2) | KSW 45 London, England | Oct 6, 2018 | 1395 days | 1. def. Krystian Kaszubowski at KSW 49 on May 18, 2019 |
Soldić vacated the title on August 1, 2023, when he signed with ONE Championship. [17] | |||||
6 | Adrian Bartosiński def. Artur Szczepaniak | KSW 81 Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland | Apr 22, 2023 | 513 days (incumbent) | 1. def. Salahdine Parnasse at KSW 89 on Dec 16, 2023 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maciej Jewtuszko def. Artur Sowiński | KSW 21 Warsaw, Poland | Dec 1, 2012 | 812 days | |
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. | |||||
2 | Mateusz Gamrot def. Mansour Barnaoui | KSW 35 Gdánsk, Poland | May 27, 2016 | 1574 days | 1. def. Renato Gomes at KSW 36 on Oct 1, 2016 |
– | Norman Parke def. Marcin Wrzosek for interim title | KSW 50 London, England | Sep 14, 2019 | – | |
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. | |||||
Gamrot vacated the title on September 17, 2020, when he signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. [18] | |||||
3 | Marian Ziółkowski def. Roman Szymański | KSW 57 Łódź, Poland | Dec 19, 2020 | 896 days | 1. def. Maciej Kazieczko at KSW 60 on Apr 24, 2021 |
– | Salahdine Parnasse def. Sebastian Rajewski for interim title | KSW 76 Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland | Nov 12, 2022 | – | |
Ziółkowski vacated the title due to continue inactivity and an injury minutes before his fight against Salahdine Parnasse at KSW 83. [19] | |||||
4 | Salahdine Parnasse promoted to undisputed champion | — | Jun 3, 2023 | 471 days (incumbent) | 1. def. interim champion Valeriu Mircea at KSW 93 on Apr 6, 2024 |
– | Valeriu Mircea def. Leo Brichta for interim title | KSW 91 Liberec, Czech Republic | Feb 17, 2024 | – |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Artur Sowiński def. Kleber Koike Erbst | KSW 33 Kraków, Poland | Nov 28, 2015 | 371 days | 1. def. Fabiano Silva da Conceicao at KSW 34 on Mar 5, 2016 |
2 | Marcin Wrzosek | KSW 37 Kraków, Poland | Dec 3, 2016 | 175 days | |
3 | Kleber Koike Erbst | KSW 39 Warsaw, Poland | May 27, 2017 | 209 days | |
Koike was stripped of the title on December 22, 2017, after failing to make weight for his title defense against Artur Sowiński at KSW 41. [20] | |||||
4 | Mateusz Gamrot def. Kleber Koike Erbst | KSW 46 Gliwice, Poland | Dec 1, 2018 | 167 days | |
– | Salahdine Parnasse def. Roman Szymanski for interim title | KSW 48 Lublin, Poland | Apr 27, 2019 | – | |
Gamrot vacated the belt to focus on the Lightweight division. The interim champion Salahdine Parnasse became the new champion. [21] | |||||
5 | Salahdine Parnasse promoted to undisputed champion | — | May 17, 2019 | 624 days | 1. def. Ivan Buchinger at KSW 52 on Dec 7, 2019 |
6 | Daniel Torres | KSW 58 Łódź, Poland | Jan 30, 2021 | 321 days | |
Torres was stripped of the title on December 17, 2021, after failing to make weight for his title defense against Salahdine Parnasse at KSW 65. [22] | |||||
7 | Salahdine Parnasse (2) def. Daniel Torres | KSW 65 Gliwice, Poland | Dec 18, 2021 | 1003 days (incumbent) | 1. def. Daniel Rutkowski at KSW 68 on Mar 19, 2022 |
– | Robert Ruchała def. Lom-Ali Eskiev for interim title | KSW 80 Lublin, Poland | Mar 17, 2023 | – | |
– | Robert Ruchała def. Patryk Kaczmarczyk for interim title | KSW 94 Gdańsk, Poland | May 11, 2024 | 128 days (incumbent) |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Antun Račić def. Damian Stasiak | KSW 51 Zagreb, Croatia | Nov 9, 2019 | 497 days | 1. def. Bruno dos Santos at KSW 57 on Dec 19, 2020 |
2 | Sebastian Przybysz | KSW 59 Łódź, Poland | Mar 20, 2021 | 637 days | 1. def. Bruno dos Santos at KSW 64 on Oct 23, 2021 |
3 | Jakub Wikłacz | KSW 77 Gliwice, Poland | Dec 17, 2022 | 639 days (incumbent) | 1. drew with Sebastian Przybysz at KSW 86 on Sep 16, 2023 |
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ariane Lipski def. Diana Belbiţă | KSW 39 Warsaw, Poland | May 27, 2017 | 485 days | 1. def. Mariana Morais at KSW 40 on Oct 22, 2017 |
Lipski vacated the title on September 24, 2018, when she signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. [23] | |||||
No. | Name | Event | Date | Reign (total) | Defenses |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Marta Chojnoska | KSW 23 Gdańsk, Poland | Jun 8, 2013 | 851 days | 1. def. Jasminka Cive at KSW 27 on May 17, 2014 |
Kowalkiewicz vacated the title on October 7, 2015, when she signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. |
Other
Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski, also known as "Pudzian" and "Dominator", is a Polish entrepreneur, mixed martial artist and former strongman competitor. With 43 international victories at a record 70% winning percentage and over 20 world records in his strongman career, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time.
Mamed Khalidov is a Polish mixed martial artist. He is best known for competing in the Middleweight division of Polish MMA promotion KSW, where he is the former KSW Light Heavyweight and KSW Middleweight Champions. He is currently ranked #1 in the KSW Middleweight rankings.
Philip De Fries is a British mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, where he is the current KSW Heavyweight Champion. A professional competitor since 2009, De Fries has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, and M-1 Global.
The year 2012 was the ninth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2012 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, KSW 18: Unfinished Sympathy.
The year 2013 was the tenth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2014 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, KSW 22: Pride Time.
Scott Askham is an English mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of Oktagon MMA. A professional since 2010, he has also competed for the UFC, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), Absolute Championship Berkut, BAMMA, and Cage Warriors.
Paweł Pawlak is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Middleweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), where he is the current KSW Middleweight Champion. A professional since 2010, he has also fought in the UFC and Absolute Championship Akhmat.
The year 2011 was the eighth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2011 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, KSW Extra 2.
The year 2014 was the eleventh year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2014 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, KSW 26: Materla vs. Silva III.
The year 2016 was the thirteenth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2016 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, KSW 34: New Order.
The year 2017 was the 14th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2017 began with KSW 38.
Michał Materla is a Polish mixed martial artist. He currently competes for the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), where he is former KSW Middleweight Champion. As of 2023, He is currently ranked #6 in KSW Middleweight rankings.
The year 2019 was the 16th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2019 began with KSW 47.
The year 2020 was the 17th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2020 will begin with KSW 53.
The year 2021 was the 18th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2021 will begin with KSW 58.
The year 2022 was the 19th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2022 will begin with KSW 66. For 2021, besides its own channels KSW announced official distribution partnerships with Viaplay and Fight Network, to broadcast the promotion's Pay-per-view events.
Arkadiusz Wrzosek is a Polish kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He is currently competing for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), having previously competed in Glory as a kickboxer. He is currently ranked #8 in the KSW Heavyweight rankings.
The year 2023 was 20th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2023 has begun with KSW 78. For 2023, besides its own channels KSW announced official distribution partnerships with Viaplay and Fight Network, to broadcast the promotion's Pay-per-view events.
The year 2024 will be the 20th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2024 will begin with KSW 90.
Fight Exclusive Night, better known by its initials FEN, is Polish mixed martial arts and K-1 promotion based in Wrocław.