Cageside Report: KSW 45

Cageside Report: KSW 45

By Henry Walter

KSW (Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki), the premier mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland, staged their highly anticipated KSW 45 card at Wembley Arena on Saturday evening.

The main event saw KSW Heavyweight Champion Phil De Fries, 15-6, defeat challenger Karol Bedorf with a key lock submission shortly before the end of round two.

Round one had seen most of the action taking place on the floor with the two jostling for position and De Fries able to see off Bedorf’s own submission attempts and implement an impressive ground and pound.

As round two began De Fries, 32, was immediately able to take the fight straight back to the canvas and Bedorf again spent almost the entirety of the round on his back. When the finish finally came the exhausted Bedorf looked almost relieved.

The KSW card featured nine fights in total and all were quality matchups on paper. Just before the main event a fight billed as the co-main event took place between the highly popular Polish contender and aptly named Popek Monster, 3-3, and undefeated former bodybuilder Erko Jun, 1-0.

Monster won the award for quote of the night during his pre-fight comments:

“Conditioning is the most important part of fights. You might be able to fight like Bruce Lee but if you run out of gas you will get beat up in the second.” -Popek Monster

Monster entered the arena to a huge reception but round one began with a prolonged grappling match against the cage which saw both men booed as the crowd grew impatient at the stalemate. Monster responded to the crowds wrath with a decent right hand that briefly staggered Jun before the grappling resumed.

Round two was livelier and saw good punch exchanges. A perfectly timed Monster jab saw Jun staggering once again but Jun then began to take control of the fight.

The two ended up on the ground as the round progressed and Jun managed to manoeuvre himself onto Monster’s back and he proceeded to pound him from behind with hooks to the side of the head. With Monster virtually defenceless in this position the fight was immediately stopped.

The highlight of the evening was arguably the highly entertaining brawl between middleweight contenders Michal Meterla, 26-6, and Damian Janikowski, 3-0.

Meterla was described by the announcers as:

“The heart and soul of KSW.”

It was quickly apparent why. The bout was short but began with vicious exchanges right from the start. Fast hands, hard kicks and a frightening intensity saw the crowd on their feet throughout as both men went for the knockout.

Irritatingly my view was briefly obscured by a rather less entertaining scuffle that broke out in the crowd directly in front of me. Yet roars from the crowd informed me that neither Materla or Janikowski were slowing down.

The crowd trouble was gradually dealt with by security and in the cage Materla’s experience began to show. Hard and fast Materla combinations knocked Janikowski to the floor and Materla ended the fight by mounting him and pounding him into submission for a great win. Both fighters showed admirable respect for each other both before and after the fight.

The card also featured a fascinating rematch for the KSW Welterweight Championship between Dricus Du Plessis, 12-1, and Roberto Soldic,13-3. Du Plessis had beaten Soldic in their first bout but Soldic had claimed that he had been under prepared and weight drained. He insisted that in reality he is the better fighter and that Du Plessis has been very fortunate to catch him at his worst. He proved his point.

Round one saw little action as both men seemed reluctant to engage. Finally Soldic took the initiative and began backing up Du Plessis with fast combinations.

Round two saw some decent exchanges of punches and kicks and Du Plessis was staggered towards the end of the round. Things didn’t improve for Du Plessis in round three and from this display it’s difficult to imagine how he was able to beat Soldic in their first fight.

Soldic produced something of a counter punching master class during this third round and he knocked Du Plessis to the ground before finishing him with fast punches to the body and head to regain his title.

Another card highlight saw Britain’s Scott Askham, 16-4, highlight his striking prowess with a brilliant first round KO over Poland’s Marcin Wojic with a near perfect left hook finish.

In the first match of the main card Thiago Silva, 20-7, won a unanimous decision over heavyweight contender James McSweeney, 15-16.

Silva complained throughout about McSweeney’s running but his superior boxing saw him win every round fairly comfortably and the former UFC star’s win never seemed in doubt.

In the last of the preliminary fights light-heavyweight Wagner Prato took out late replacement Lucasz Parobiec with a textbook right hook just forty-one seconds in.

The second bout of the evening took place between Akop Szotak and Jamie Sloane and quickly descended into farce when Szotak’s finger jabbed Sloane in the eye. The Englishman was in obvious pain and refused to continue. The fans were very vocal with their disapproval and his refusal to carry on caused uproar. The referee eventually ruled the bout a no contest due to an accidental foul.

The evening had begun on a slightly better note as the opening bout saw lightweight prospect Leszek Krawoski defeat Alfie Davis by a deserved split decision in a tactical affair. Davis showed superior striking and outboxed Kranowski for long periods but The Polishman’s superior wrestling and numerous takedowns won him the fight.