Erko Jun | KSW
Tomasz ‘Strachu’ Oswiecinski took on the social media star at heavyweight in one of the European promotion’s famous ‘freak’ fights.
With a drastically reduced MMA schedule over the next few months expected, Bloody Elbow’s European MMA writer, Scott Lagdon, is diving down into the archives to highlight some of the most fun, most wild, and most weird fights from the continent that MMA fans may have missed out on. Whether it’s looking at the early careers of fighters who would go on to become international stars, or some hidden fight of the year candidates BE will have fans covered!
With a wealth of long-running promotions across Europe regularly putting on highly entertaining contests over the years, there’s tons to choose from. So, let us know if there’s anything that deserves a little extra attention.
Fight (with records at the time): Tomasz Oswiecinski (1-0) v Erko Jun (0-0) – Heavyweight
Event: KSW 44 in Gdansk, Poland
Date: June 9th 2018
KSW’s shows at Ergo Arena are usually stacked from top to bottom. And one of the biggest (literally) featured Polish actor Tomasz Oswiecinski taking on on former bodybuilder and social media star Erko Jun in one of the promotion’s famous ‘freak’ fights. Oswiecinski was coming off of a second round TKO victory in his MMA debut over the heavily-tattooed rapper Popek Monster while Jun moved from magazine covers to the cage in the first bout of his professional career.
‘Strachu’ hit the ground running early in round 1, but Jun immediately landed some solid punches in close. Jun followed this up with a low kick before Oswiecinski countered with his own right hand. Another kick from Jun, but ‘Strachu’ answered back with some hooks as his opponent circled back into space. Oswiecinski stalked Jun around the cage and constantly moved forward in an almost plodding motion.
When Jun’s back was to the fence, Oswiecinski threw a left hook followed by a right, dropping the social media star. However, Jun quickly recovered and got back to his feet. Jun continued to fire off the low kick in order to take away the base from ‘Strachu’. Oswiecinski moved in with his hands down and Jun connected with a perfect counter right, sending the huge actor to the canvas in a highlight-reel knockout. After his successful debut, despite a relatively short time training, Jun was immediately hooked to the sport.
“That was my first time stepping in the cage in front of 15,000+ people which was an unbelievable feeling,” recalled Jun. “I was definitely nervous as I had a lot of pressure on my shoulders coming from a different world. Oswiecinski was 15kg heavier than me and I was stepping in there after only four months of MMA training.”
“He started very aggressively and was rushing forwards to try and damage me,” continued Jun. “Oswiecinski did catch me with a left hook and that’s when my lights went out for a second. It was a crazy feeling in that moment. A feeling where you have to make a choice – fight back or give up. I chose to fight back and eventually knocked him out with a counter punch. Winning inside the cage made me fall in love with MMA and after a couple of days, the urge was back to have that feeling again, like a drug addiction!”
Jun went on to record two more TKO victories within the year, over Popek Monster and famous personal trainer Akop Szostak, before tasting the first defeat of his career against Polish superstar, Mariusz Pudzianowski. However, he had ‘Pudzian’ in trouble on the feet during that fight—which was also his first ever main event experience. Jun is looking forward to showing what he has learned from that loss when he hopes to fight again later this year.
Oswiecinski hasn’t competed since this defeat to Jun and it appears unlikely that he will ever return to the cage.