Phil De Fries Crushes Todd Duffee at KSW 79 for Eighth Straight Title Defense

WOW!! Domination!!!

phildefriesmma finishes ToddDuffee in the first round!! #KSW79 pic.twitter.com/RFLaPOO2B0

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2023

Eleven years from their first meeting, Philip De Fries got one back on Todd Duffee.

In the headliner of KSW 79, the promotion’s first foray into the Czech Republic, KSW heavyweight champ De Fries (23-6, 1 NC; 9-0 KSW) met Duffee (9-4, 1 NC; 0-1 KSW) for a second time. Their first collision, at UFC 155 in December 2012, ended in a first-round TKO win for the American. This time, the result was a complete reversal for De Fries, who showcased his maturation as a mixed martial artist. Right out of the gate, De Fries scored a perfectly-timed takedown over a head kick from Duffee. De Fries then patiently worked to put his opponent in position for a submission attempt, occasionally adding punches to the mix. After taking his foe's back, the British fighter attacked with a neck crank. While Duffee escaped the submission attempt, he left his back exposed to De Fries’ strikes. The champ kept landing more and more punches until referee Michael Bell jumped in to save Duffee from further punishment. The official time indicated the 3:46 mark of Round 1. De Fries added the eighth notch to his title defense streak, the longest in KSW history.

The hometown hero remains undefeated!

🇨🇿 DominikHumburger! 🫡 #KSW79 pic.twitter.com/vjHn18HUAP

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2023

In the co-headliner, Dominik Humburger had to sweat on his way to defeat last-minute replacement Jorge Luiz Bueno Jr., who proved to be a tough bone to chew for the local favorite. The 5-foot-9 Bueno looked to move the action to the canvas several times in the opening frame, but Humburger refused to give his opponent any advantage. Bueno (6-2, 1 NC; 0-1 KSW) stuck to his strategy, which paid dividends in the second frame when the Brazilian took down his foe via double-leg takedown and quickly gained the mount position. Humburger got back on his feet in the subsequent scramble and ended the round defending Bueno’s takedown attempts. In the third period, 6-foot-1 tall Humburger attacked from afar with punches, making the most out of his longer reach. Right before the bout went the distance, Bueno scored a tardive last takedown and ended the fight on top of his foe. Ultimately, Humburger (6-0, 2-0 KSW) swept 29-28 nods on all three scorecards and a unanimous decision victory.

HEADKICK KNOCKOUT!!! 🔥

🇫🇷 @Ramzan_Jembiev 🐺 #KSW79 pic.twitter.com/Q4on5kcFg3

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2023

Elsewhere, former Glory kickboxer Arkadiusz Wrzosek (2-0, 2-0 KSW) outstruck Tomas Mozny (1-2, 0-1 KSW) en route to a unanimous decision (29-26, 29-27, 29-27) in an entertaining clash; Michal Kita (22-15-1, 4-6 KSW) overcame an exhausted Daniel Omielanczuk (26-14-1, 1 NC; 1-4 KSW) with punches at 2:06 of Round 3 in their heavyweight tilt; Brian Hooi (19-10, 1 NC; 2-1 KSW) crushed fellow 170-pounder Jivko Stoimenov (12-6, 1 NC; 0-2 KSW) with punches before punctuating his performance with an elbow, forcing the referee to stop the contest at 3:52 of the opening period; middleweight Andreas Gustafsson (8-1, 1-1 KSW) stopped David Hosek (8-4-1, 0-1 KSW) with punches at 2:33 of Round 1; in a 151-pound catchweight, Ramzan Jembiev (4-1, 1-0 KSW) rendered Murilo Delfino (3-1, 0-1 KSW) unconscious with a nasty head kick that halted the contest 19 seconds into the second frame; Natalia Baczynska-Krawiec (7-3, 1-2 KSW) scored her first promotional victory after outpointing Petra Castkova (6-6, 0-2 KSW) on all scorecards (30-27, 29-28, 30-27) in their 130-pound catchweight; in the middleweight opener, Matyas Viszlay (1-0, 1-0 KSW) upended Frederico Komuenha (2-1, 0-1 KSW) via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26) on all scorecards.