KSW 41 Becomes Title Doubleheader With Borys Mankowski-Dricus Du Plessis WW Title Bout

KSW 41 is now a championship doubleheader at the very least.

Preeminent Poland-based promotion Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki's forthcoming event will feature a welterweight title bout between champion Borys Mankowski and once-beaten South African challenger Dricus Du Plessis. The company announced the bout officially on Monday.

KSW 41 is scheduled for Dec. 23 at the famed Spodek arena in Katowice, Poland. The promotion had previously announced a featherweight title rematch between champ Kleber Koike Erbst and former titlist Artur Sowinski, as well as a super heavyweight attraction featuring notorious rapper-slash-fighter “Popek Monster” Pawel Mikolajuw facing actor and judoka Tomasz Oswiecinski.

Mankowski, 28, took the KSW welterweight strap in May 2014, choking out Aslambek Saidov. Since then, he has defended his title successfully three times, beating the likes of Ultimate Fighting Championship veterans John Maguire and Jesse Taylor. “The Tasmanian Devil” is coming off of a defeat, however, as he stepped up to 185 pounds this past May for KSW's milestone “Colosseum” card in front of nearly 58,000 fans in Warsaw, losing a highly contentious decision to the promotion's middleweight champion Mamed Khalidov in a 181-pound catch-weight contest.

The 23-year-old Du Plessis has compiled an 11-1 record in his career, competing exclusively in South Africa's foremost MMA outfit, Extreme Fighting Championship Africa. Just 13 months into his pro tenure, he was choked out in an EFC Africa middleweight title bout with UFC vet Garreth McLellan. “Stillknocks” has gone 7-0 since, alternating between bouts as a welterweight and middleweight, finishing all seven of those opponents inside of 15 minutes. Du Plessis most recently choked out former British Association of MMA 185-pound champ Yannick Bahati in 90 seconds in August.