KSW assembles another collection of fine European talent to collide in Warsaw.
KSW has always made some compelling events on large and small scales, and this upcoming event should be very satisfying from an action standpoint.
Heavyweight champ Phil De Fries (20-6) has been unstoppable since 2017, running on an eight fight win streak, three of them being by decisions. It seems he’s finally reached his final form and continues to use his striking blitzes and savvy submission game to excellent results.
And he’s facing another very serious threat to his title reign, as he meets Darko Stosic (16-4). While his UFC run didn’t go as planned, he’s shown some further growth and development in his overall game. His counter game and massive power against veteran Micha? Kita was particularly impressive. He’s going to need to ensure his skillset is more rounded out to deal with De Fries’ pressure and durability.
Welterweight Adrian Bartosi?ski (11-0) appears to be primed for big things with his trajectory, and his KSW run has been pretty amazing. While a bit rough around the edges, he’s been a strong talent with a lot of aggression. He’s up against Andrzej Grzebyk (18-4), who has a slew of finishes including this extraordinary bounceback win against Marius Zaromskis after Grzebyk broke his leg in their first encounter. They’re both hard hitters with a ton of finishes between them, and this ought to be pure dynamite.
Dawid ?mie?owski (8-0) keeps racking up finishes as he remains undefeated as a pro, and his highlight reel is very impressive. He’ll be across the cage from Filip Peji? (15-6, 2 draws), who has one of the fastest knockouts in KSW history.
Also in action will be Yann Liasse (5-1), one of the most exciting prospects on the European circuit. He faces Oskar Szczepaniak, who is only 2-0 as a pro but has an extensive amateur record with a ton of submissions on it.
Despite the positives, this card was snakebitten due to three fighters missing weight, as well as a fight getting scrapped altogether.
Ivan Erslan was scheduled to fight Caio Bittencourt, but the bout was cancelled after Bittencourt fell ill and was not medically cleared to fight. It should be noted that Bittencourt was taking the fight on short notice.
Andrzej Grzebyk and Filip Peji? both missed weight, both were fined 30% of their purse. Suarez, the most egregious offender, was fined a full 50% of his purse.
Of course, the promo packages are still top-notch:
Andrzej Grzebyk vs Adrian Bartosi?ski:
Filip Peji? vs Dawid Smie?owski:
You can check out the weigh-ins here:
Fight card is as follows:
Philip De Fries (265) vs. Darko Stosic (232)
Andrzej Grzebyk (172)* vs. Adrian Bartosinski (171)
Filip Pejic (152)*** vs. Dawid Smielowski (151)
Igor Michaliszyn (176) vs. Lionel Padilla Suarez (183)****
Adam Soldaev (146) vs. Pascal Hintzen (146)
Shamil Banukayev (136) vs. Zuriko Jojua (136)
Borys Borkowski (185) vs. Arkadiusz Kaszuba (185)
Oskar Szczepaniak (160) vs. Yann Liasse (160)
KSW 67: De Fries vs Stoši? takes place this Saturday starting at noon EST for those of us here in the US. The event will be streaming live over at KSW’s media site.