Philip de Fries Quickly Dispatches Ricardo Prasel, Defends Heavyweight Title at KSW 74

He does it again!

KSW HW Champion
@phildefriesmma #AndStill #KSW74 pic.twitter.com/H4xvpDnPQh

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) September 10, 2022

Philip De Fries' dominant reign as the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki heavyweight champion continued on Saturday in Poland. 

In the KSW 74 headliner, De Fries (22-6, 1 NC; 8-0 KSW) notched his seventh title defense after overcoming Ricardo Prasel. After some quick exchanges, De Fries stuffed a timid takedown attempt from Prasel (13-4, 2-1 KSW), and from there, the Brazilian was more than willing to fight off his back. On the mat, De Fries landed several shots from half-guard as he controlled his foe. In turn, Prasel worked to close the guard from where he unsuccessfully attempted to sweep De Fries. Once he stabilized a dominant position, De Fries started hitting Prasel with heavy shots that left an immediate mark on the Brazilian’s face. During a scramble phase, Prasel left an opening for his back, which De Fries immediately seized to lock in a rear-naked choke attempt. Even though the defending champion never put the hooks in, he squeezed so much that Prasel was forced to tap within seconds. The official time indicated the 4:11 mark of Round 1. 

Was it a tap or not!?

Tom Breese is awarded the submission victory over Damian Janikowski! #KSW74 [pic.twitter.com/Hm8ia5jiVb](http://pic.twitter.com/Hm8ia5jiVb)

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) September 10, 2022

The co-main event included some controversy, as Tom Breese collided with Damian Janikowski in a 185-pound contest. The pair put on a technical fight that saw several entertaining striking exchanges. Janikowski (7-5, 7-5 KSW) worked better from a short distance while Ultimate Fighting Championship alum Breese (15-3, 1-0 KSW) made the most out of his longer reach. Overall, Breese looked to have an edge on the feet, forcing the Olympic bronze medalist to move the action to the mat early in Round 2. The Englishman was quick to counterattack Janikowski's slam with a guillotine choke that looked very tight. When referee Tomasz Bronder checked Janikowski's hand to see whether everything was all right, there was some miscommunication between the referee and Janikowski, who appeared to tap. Bronder called the end of the fight 1:54 into Round 2. In the post-fight interview, both contestants agreed to a rematch.

That's one bad man!!!

@DarkoStosic92 registers his th KO win! #KSW74 [pic.twitter.com/YYLcRXRINt](http://pic.twitter.com/YYLcRXRINt)

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) September 10, 2022

Elsewhere, former UFC contestant Darko Stosic (17-5, 4-1 KSW) destroyed Michal Kita (21-15-1, 3-6 KSW) with a series of heavy punches 2:54 into Round 2 of their heavyweight affair; middleweight Tomasz Romanowski (17-8, 1 NC; 5-1 KSW) wrecked Cezary Kesik (13-3, 3-3 KSW) with punches 3:54 into the opening period; Werlleson Martins Ribeiro (17-5, 1-1 KSW) upended Pawel Politylo (7-4, 4-4 KSW) on all scorecards, picking up three 29-28 nods from the judges in a 140-pound catchweight bout; UFC vet Emil Meek (10-6, 1 NC; 1-0 KSW) crushed Kacper Koziorzebski (8-5, 2-3 KSW) with punches 2:02 into the second frame at welterweight; Sofiia Bagishvili (6-1, 1-0 KSW) submitted Anita Bekus (6-3, 2-1 KSW) thanks to a scarf hold armlock 1:47 into Round 2 in a 118-pound catchweight affair; 145-pounder Wojciech Kazieczko (3-0, 2-0 KSW) outpointed Eduard Demenko (3-3, 1 NC; 0-1 KSW) on all three scorecards; and Borys Dzikowski (2-0, 1-0 KSW) started the night strong by smashing Arkadiusz Mruk (0-1, 0-1 KSW) with a head kick and punches 40 seconds into their 185-pound clash.