Philip De Fries Mauls Michal Kita, Marian Ziolkowski Folds Roman Szymanski at KSW 57

GNP finish for Phil de Fries. And still KSW heavyweight champ #KSW57 pic.twitter.com/0MlJLc5ARn

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) December 19, 2020

Philip De Fries closed out Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki’s 2020 schedule with a dominant display against Michal Kita.

De Fries (19-6) retained his heavyweight crown with a technical knockout victory over Kita (20-12-1) in the KSW 57 headliner at Wytwornia Club in Lodz, Poland, on Saturday. Following an early sequence that saw “Masakra” catch De Fries with a couple of heavy combinations, “F-11” shifted gears and took his opponent down. De Fries punished the Polish fighter with many shots of ground-and-pound, and it didn’t take long before Kita’s face started bearing the marks of De Fries’ offense. At the end of the first stanza, the referee and the physician checked Kita’s condition very carefully, but the Polish fighter insisted on continuing.

In the second stanza, “F-11” immediately took his opponent to the canvas once again and mauled him like in the previous round. After many unanswered shots, the referee stepped in to stop the action 50 seconds into the second round. In addition to his heavyweight belt, De Fries took home his seventh consecutive victory.

With that finishing body kick, Marian Ziółkowski wins the vacant KSW lightweight belt! #KSW57 pic.twitter.com/FLheTddGB0

— Will (@ChillemDafoe) December 19, 2020

In the co-main event, KSW crowned a new lightweight champion as Marian Ziolkowski (22-8-1) smashed Roman Szymanski (13-6) and earned the vacant title. Following a few minutes in which both contenders tested each other’s reactions, it became pretty clear that Ziolkowski’s reach advance would be the determining factor of the clash. “Golden Boy” danced around Szymanski for the majority of the time, teasing him with his surgical jab and blocking his opponent’s offense on all fronts. As the clash entered into the championship rounds, Ziolkowski was arguably ahead of his opponent. Sensing the urgency, Szymanski pressured Ziolkowski early in the fourth stanza. Shortly after landing an involuntary low blow, Ziolkowski caught his opponent with a liver kick that immediately dropped Szymanski on the canvas. “Golden Boy” finished him off with a few follow-up punches. The official time indicated 4:01 in Round 4.

Earlier that night, Antun Racic (25-8-1) notched the first defense of his bantamweight title after overcoming Bruno Augusto dos Santos (9-2). The first round was competitive and could have gone either way, and Racic appeared to drop the second frame to the challenger, but from there, “Killer” started pushing the pace and controlling “Gafanhoto” from the third round onward. Racic’s well-known cardio made the difference in the championship rounds, as “Killer” kept clipping his foe with many combinations and taking him on the canvas. At the end of the contest, all three judges scored the fight 48-47 in favor of the defending champion.

Elsewhere, Borys Mankowski (21-8-1) dominated Artur Sowinski (21-12) in a lightweight tilt that saw “The Tasmanian Devil” take home a well-deserved unanimous decision victory; Professional Fighters League vet Abusupiyan Magomedov (24-4-1) made a successful KSW debut by rendering Cezary Kesik (12-1) unconscious thanks to a slick guillotine choke that ended the contest at the 1:53 mark in the second round; in a middleweight affair, Patrik Kincl (23-9) smashed UFC alum Tomasz Drwal (22-6-1) with a one-two combination that forced the referee to stop the action 4:23 into the opening stanza; Marcin Krakowiak (10-3) submitted Kacper Koziorzebski (7-3) thanks to a guillotine choke at the 4:07 mark in the third round of their welterweight affair; in a 170-pound clash, KSW newcomer Christian Eckerlin (13-5) edged Albert Odzimkowski (11-5) via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29).