KSW’s second big “Colosseum” show needed some big moments to match the event’s scale, and the fighters delivered the goods on a wild night in Warsaw.
The Polish national stadium, PGE Narodowy, played host to KSW Colosseum 2, with the promotion’s two biggest names experiencing contrasting fortunes in the two featured bouts of the night.
The main event saw former middleweight champions Mamed Khalidov and Scott Askham settle their fighting trilogy, with Khalidov taking the spoils in the rubber match with a spectacular finish in the final round.
The third round saw Askham connect hard with an accidental shin to Khalidov’s groin that sent the Polish fan-favorite straight to the canvas in clear agony. The foul forced the action to be paused as Khalidov took time to recover. But, mere seconds after the restart, another misplaced kick from Askham caught Khalidov’s cup. This time, after a quick grimace, Khalidov assured the referee he was good to continue and, after the two fighters high-fived in respect, the action resumed.
Khalidov then measured Askham and connected with a thumping side kick to the body that sent the Englishman across the cage and down to the canvas. Then, as Askham looked to scramble back to his feet – and with the Brit no longer a grounded fighter – Khalidov launched into a flying switch-kick, which caught Askham flush and sent him crashing back to the mat once again.
Khalidov immediately followed up with ground strikes to force the TKO finish as he settled the trilogy in spectacular fashion.
Szpilka TKOs Pudzianowski
In the night’s co-main event, KSW legend and five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski was stopped in the second round by former world heavyweight boxing title challenger Artur Szpilka.
Bizarrely, Szpilka’s first strike attempt of the bout was a flying knee, which gifted Pudzianowski a takedown opportunity. A big slam followed, as “Pudzian” quickly established a dominant position, and eventually secured mount on the taller man.
But, despite holding such a favorable position, Pudzianowski was unable to do too much with it, as Szpilka tied him up effectively until the final minute of the round. Pudzianowski eventually managed to posture up, but his ground and pound efforts fell short as he struggled to find his mark with his punches.
It meant that Szpilka survived the round relatively unscathed and, crucially, gave him the opportunity to return to the feet at the start of Round 2. And with the former boxer operating in more familiar territory, it didn’t take him long to find the former strongman’s chin as he dropped him with a big punch, then followed up with strikes to force the stoppage as he claimed the biggest scalp of his fledgling MMA career.
Pawlak wins vacant middleweight title with fifth-round stoppage
Pawel Pawlak kept his composure and paced himself well to earn final-round TKO win over Tomasz Romanowski and capture the vacant KSW middleweight title.
Romanowski started well and arguably shaded the opening round, using his controlled aggression as he looked to land big shots on the taller, rangier Pawlak. But, by the time the second round started, the former UFC veteran appeared to have the measure of his opponent.
Pawlek fought smart as he kept Romanowski on the end of his strikes as he kept his opponent chasing him with a solid back-foot performance.
An accidental clash of heads in the third round left Romanowski with a nasty cut on his forehead, and he turned up the pressure in the fourth round as he looked to catch Pawlak with big shots.
But, despite Pawlak carrying his chin very high and his hands low, Romanowski was unable to land clean on the taller man, who bobbed and weaved effectively to avoid Romanowski’s big power shots. Pawlak then started to tee off on the tiring Romanowski and came close to finishing his man as time ran out at the end of the round.
Pawlak eventually earned the stoppage win when the fight went to the floor in the fifth round. A barrage of elbows from top position forced referee Marc Goddard to step in and wave off the bout as Pawlak deservedly captured the vacant 185-pound strap.
Wrzosek pulls a shock with submission finish
The heavyweight bout between kickboxers Arkadiusz Wrzosek and Bogdan Stoica was expected to deliver plenty of fireworks on the feet, but Wrzosek pulled something of a surprise when he immediately shot for, and landed, a takedown in the opening seconds of the matchup.
Stoica, a short-notice opponent, seemed like a fish out of water on the mat as he tried to wrap up Wrzosek and avoid the worst of his ground strikes. But, in the end, it was a submission that ended the fight in the first round, as Wrzosek forced the tap with some heavy forearm pressure to Stoica’s throat. It wasn’t the way people expected the victory to come, but it certainly was effective as Wrzosek moved to 3-0 under MMA rules with the first submission of his career.
Materla stuns Paczuski with comeback KO
The main card kicked off with a stunning come-from-behind knockout from former champion Michal Materla, who finished slick striker Radowlaw Paczuski in the opening round of their middleweight clash.
The majority of the action was dominated by Paczuski, who lit up the KSW fan-favorite with sharp, swift strikes that appeared to have the former champ in trouble early.
But, with Paczuski’s confidence seemingly soaring from his early successes on the feet, Materla struck with a huge right hand that dropped his man to the canvas. Materla followed Paczuski to the ground and finished him with heavy ground strikes that knocked out his man to a huge roar from the Warsaw crowd.
“They said I was too old to fight, but I’m too ambitious to retire,” he said after his win, as he hinted at making one more run towards the KSW middleweight title.
Former boxing world champ scores stunning knockout
“Former boxer scores knockout” isn’t exactly a shocker of a headline, but the manner of former WBO cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Glowacki’s knockout of Patryl Tolkaczewski was something we’ve rarely seen before.
Glowacki had been taken down and was trapped, flat on his back, with Tolkaczewski in mount and raining down punches on the former boxer. It seemed as if Glowacki was on his way to a first-round TKO loss, but the Pole, who holds boxing wins over the likes of Steve Cunningham and Marco Huck
KSW Colosseum 2: Official results
MAIN CARD
- Mamed Khalidov def. Scott Askham via TKO (flying switch kick and punches) – Round 3, 1:03
- Artur Szpilka def. Mariusz Pudzianowski via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:31
- Pawel Pawlak def. Tomasz Romanowski via TKO (elbows) – Round 5, 3:25 – for vacant middleweight title
- Arkadiusz Wrzosek def. Bogdan Stoica via submission (forearm choke) – Round 1, 2:09
- Michal Materla def. Radoslaw Paczuski via knockout (ground strikes) – Round 1, 1:37
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Valeriu Mircea def. Roman Szymanski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Daniel Rutkowski def. Adam Soldaev via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
- Leo Brichta def. Maciej Kazieczko via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Krzysztof Glowacki def. Patryk Tolkaczewski via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 1:33
- Mariusz Joniak def. Sebastian Romanowski via majority decision (29-28, 29-27, 28-28)
The scheduled lightweight title unification bout between Marian Ziolkowski and Salahdine Parnasse was scrapped less than an hour before the fight due to a warm-up knee injury sustained by Ziolkowski, who later took to the cage and relinquished his title.