Mariusz Pudzianowski Punches Out Lukasz Jurkowski in KSW 61 Headliner

What a fight! What a performance from Pudzian!! #KSW61 pic.twitter.com/KUZa7T1ACU

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 5, 2021

Fans were finally allowed to see a Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki event live in an arena.

KSW 61 was headlined by a heavyweight clash between five-time world’s strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski (15-7) and Lukasz Jurkowski (17-12). “Juras” looked very mobile on the feet in the opening stanza, hitting Pudzianowski with a variety of punches and spinning back kicks as “Pudzian” took his time to study his opponent. A stiff jab from Jurkowski appeared to rock Pudzianowski. Jurkowski was having more and more success with his strikes, but he overcommitted to a body kick that Pudzianowski intercepted before shooting for a successful takedown. Once on the canvas, “Pudzian” dominated the rest of the round.

After locating the weakness in his prey’s game, Pudzianowski landed another takedown early in the second frame and spent the rest of the round on top of his opponent, who had no answers. “Juras” displayed a lot of heart in taking some hard shots and surviving to hear the bell. In the third stanza, Jurkowski dropped his opponent with a spinning back kick, but he couldn’t capitalize on it. Pudzianowski retaliated with a single leg that led to him jumping into the crucifix position. Once there, he mauled away with punches until the referee stopped the contest. The official time was 1:32 of Round 3.

In the co-main event, former divisional champion Salahdine Parnasse (15-1-1, 6-1 KSW) submitted Ultimate Fighting Championship vet Filip Pejic (15-5-2) in a featherweight contest that saw Parnasse showcase a marvelous sweep to take Pejic's back, putting one hook in to attempt a rear-naked choke. “Nitro” tapped seconds later at the 4:14 mark of Round 2. The Frenchman then called out 145-pound champ Daniel Torres for a rematch.

UFC vet Darko Stosic (15-4, 2-0 KSW) wrecked Michal Kita (20-13-1, 2-4 KSW) with punches at 4:05 in Round 1 at heavyweight, and then called out divisional kingpin Phil De Fries in the post-fight interview. At welterweight, Patrik Kincl (24-9, 2-0 KSW) snapped Tomasz Romanowski's (13-8, 1-1 KSW) impressive eight-bout winning streak by smashing his opponent with punches on the ground at the 3:36 mark of Round 2.

Elsewhere, Roman Szymanski (14-6, 6-3 KSW) upended former Cage Warriors title challenger Donovan Desmae (14-8, 0-1 KSW) in their lightweight clash. In a 118-pound catchweight bout, Karolina Owczarc (4-1, 4-1 KSW) outgrappled Monika Kucinic (1-1, 0-1 KSW) for most of the fight en route to a unanimous decision victory. Ivan Erslan (10-1 1NC, 2-1 KSW) stopped Przemyslaw Mysiala (24-11-1, 1-2 KSW) with punches at 4:02 in Round 1 of their light heavyweight contender. UFC alum Damian Stasiak (13-7, 2-1 KSW) extended his momentum by tapping promotional debutant Andrey Lezhnev (19-10, 0-1 KSW) with a triangle choke at the 2:41 mark of the opening stanza. Also, Adam Niedzwiedz (8-4, 1-1 KSW) scored his first victory under the KSW banner by submitting Jakub Kamieniarz (9-8, 0-2 KSW) with an arm-triangle choke at 4:34 of the second frame in a welterweight tilt.