Tomasz ‘Giraffe’ Narkun: Poland’s Slick Submission Specialist

(PRESS RELEASE) -- At only 20 years of age, Tomasz ‘Giraffe’ Narkun is sitting at the top of the light heavyweight food chain within the M-1 Global Selections ranks thanks to an undefeated, all-submission 4-0 record.

Fighting out of Stargard Szczecinski, Poland and the Berserkers Team, Narkun would be considered a small light heavyweight by North American standards weighing in just shy of the 205lb mark. But as with some of the great Europeans, these undersized athletes are proving that size doesn’t always matter when compared to strong tactical offensive and defensive capabilities.

Even one of the world’s top ranked pound-for-pound fighters, Gegard ‘Dreamcatcher’ Mousassi, sees great potential in Narkun: “Tomasz Narkun will definitely go big in the future. Tactically and technically he has reached a very high level. He regularly trains with me and makes sure that I stay on the ground. In two years there will be no way to stop him on his way to the top. It is important that he keeps working on his skills. I believe he is the future light heavyweight champion.” These are truly inspiring words for Narkun.

Since making his professional mixed martial arts debut less than one year ago, Narkun has strung together four impressive submission victories. His road to the M-1 Selections European finals started with Olutobi Ayodeji Kalejaiye where he displayed composure and fluid transitions before locking in a rear-naked choke at only 52 seconds into the first frame. Next to be faced was Timo Karttunen, who was defeated in 49 seconds with a joint-jacking armbar. And the Eastern/Western European Selections Finals presented another walk for Narkun as he destroyed David Tkeshelashvili at 1:50 of the very first round via rear naked choke. Three tournament fights with a total elapsed time of less than one full round of fighting; sounds eerily similar to fellow Selections light heavyweight champion from the USA, Byron Byrd.

Narkun now finds himself in a position to cross the Atlantic Ocean and battle for the M-1 Challenge championship belt December 11th at M-1 Challenge XXII in the USA where he will face either Eastern European Selection tournament winner, Vyacheslav Vasilevski, or stiff American competitor and Americas Selection champ, Byron Byrd.

Tomasz ‘Giraffe’ Narkun holds the cards to his destiny and is certainly looking to live up to Mousassi’s high expectations.