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Welcome to this week’s edition of MMA News’ Top 10 Finishes of the week! Every week there’s highlight-reel finishes all across the MMA world, and we’ve found some of the absolute best ones to showcase. This week’s list is a fairly diverse one that feat…
Welcome to this week’s edition of MMA News’ Top 10 Finishes of the week! Every week there’s highlight-reel finishes all across the MMA world, and we’ve found some of the absolute best ones to showcase. This week’s list is a fairly diverse one that features some impressive submissions and a few particularly unique knockouts, plus…
Continue Reading MMA News’ Top 10 Finishes Of The Week (8/14 – 8/20) at MMA News.
European MMA promotions have for years proved fertile breeding ground for some of MMA’s biggest stars. The likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Jan Blachowicz cut their teeth in the region’s top promotions prior to gaining mainstream success. And now more than ever, we’re seeing an increasing number of European fighters funnel through these…
Continue Reading Top 4 European MMA Promotions Right Now at MMA News.
European MMA promotions have for years proved fertile breeding ground for some of MMA’s biggest stars. The likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping and Jan Blachowicz cut their teeth in the region’s top promotions prior to gaining mainstream success. And now more than ever, we’re seeing an increasing number of European fighters funnel through these promotions into the UFC, Bellator and the PFL.
Here we rank the top 4 European MMA promotions right now.
No other European MMA promotion has produced such a star-studded list of fighters than Cage Warriors. The likes of Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, Joanna J?drzejczyk and Dan Hardy all rose through the promotion’s ranks prior to achieving global success. So too current UFC stars Paddy Pimblett, Ian Garry, Jack Hermansson and Molly McCann, among others. Bellator’s Gegard Mousasi also cut his teeth in Cage Warriors.
Since its founding in 2001, Cage Warriors has hosted over 150 events across the United Kingdom, Ireland and continental Europe. The Irish-owned, London-based promotion has even made its way onto US shores, having staged three events in San Diego, California in the past year.
Formally known as Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, which translates from Polish into “Martial Arts Confrontation,” KSW rose from the humblest beginnings to become one of the biggest European MMA promotions.
The Poland based outfit was founded in the early 2000’s by Martin Lewandowski, at the time a manager at the Hotel Marriot in Warsaw, and friend Maciej Kawulski. Back then, MMA was a little-known sport in Poland, and the duo quickly realized that there was an untapped opportunity to bring MMA to the Eastern European country.
“My personal goal was to find new sports which weren’t so well known and try to grow them in the country,” Lewandowski told Bloody Elbow in 2019. “I tried with Formula 1 and American Football, but those efforts didn’t really come to anything. Myself and Maciej thought we saw a gap in the market for MMA so that is when KSW was born.”
In 2004, KSW held its first event in a sports bar within the Warsaw Marriot Hotel, before just 300 fans. Fast forward to 2017, and the promotion broke the then record for the largest live attendance at a European MMA event, and achieved the second largest in history, with over 57,000 attending KSW 39 in Warsaw. KSW has now held over seventy events in Poland, the UK and even in the US.
Like other European promotions, KSW was also the old stomping ground for some of the best talent in the UFC. Former UFC light heavyweight champ Jan Blachowicz is the most famous KSW alum. Surging lightweight Mateusz Gamrot, middleweight Dricus Du Plessis, and women’s flyweight Karolina Kowalkiewicz also once plied their trade in KSW.
Even UFC heavyweight Alexander Gustafson once graced the KSW ring early in his career, so too all-round combat sports icon and TV personality Butterbean.
If you’re wondering why so much top talent from the former Soviet states has entered the UFC in recent years, part of the reason is M1-Global. Since 2018, the St. Petersburg, Russia based promotion has been in partnership with the UFC, serving as a farm league for the world’s premier MMA outfit to scout fighters.
Most recently, we’ve seen surging welterweight prospect Shavkat Rakhmonov and featherweight Movsar Evloev enter the UFC via M1-Global. Heavyweights Alexander Volkov, Marcin Tybura and Alexey Oliynyk also travelled the same path. And MMA greats Khabib Nurmagomedov and Fedor Emelianenko also briefly fought in M1-Global.
M1-Global is one of the oldest European MMA promotions, with a history stretching back to 1997. It’s also one of the more unconventional. In 2015, the promotion debuted M1-Medieval, which features full-contact jousting matches between “knights” dressed in chain mail and wielding swords. Surely there can’t be a more European take on MMA than this.
The talent that has sprung forth from Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACB) over the years surely warrants its inclusion among the top European MMA promotions. However, the Russian based outfit is also notorious for its close ties to one of the region’s most ruthless dictators, the MMA-obsessed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
Petr Yan, Askar Askarov and the recently retired Zabit Magomedsharapov were all ACB champions prior to entering the UFC. The promotion also boasts Artem Lobov and UFC light heavyweight contender Magomed Ankalaev as alums.
Since 2012, ACB has held over 140 MMA, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu events in Russia, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, Australia and the US. But since late 2020, the promotion has been forced to remain within Russia due to US sanctions imposed on Kadyrov. Russia’s pariah status since its invasion of Ukraine also hasn’t helped ACB’s cause.
In years past, the promotion stuck to a regular schedule of monthly events, but it’s now been over a year since its last. It’s likely that difficulties securing visas for foreign fighters, and the reluctance of international partners willing to do business, are key contributors to ACB’s present troubles.
What do you think? Are there any other top European MMA promotions worthy of a mention?
Continue Reading Top 4 European MMA Promotions Right Now at MMA News.
British bodybuilder, Martyn Ford has confirmed that he plans to pursue a run in professional mixed martial arts under the banner of European promotion, KSW – after a scheduled boxing match against fellow bodybuilder, Sajad Gharibi, otherwise known as the ‘Iranian Hulk’ was shelved recently. Ford, a native of Minworth, who turns 40 years of […]
British bodybuilder, Martyn Ford has confirmed that he plans to pursue a run in professional mixed martial arts under the banner of European promotion, KSW – after a scheduled boxing match against fellow bodybuilder, Sajad Gharibi, otherwise known as the ‘Iranian Hulk’ was shelved recently.
Ford, a native of Minworth, who turns 40 years of age later this month, was scheduled to fight Gharibi in a boxing matchup, with the two engaging in a face-off prior to the bout, which included in a pre-fight scuffle – before the planned pairing was ultimately cancelled.
Prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ford intended to embark on a professional mixed martial arts run with KSW – and is still hoping to land a fight under the Polish-based banner, later this year, in fact.
“One hundred per cent I am planning on getting involved in MMA,” Martyn Ford told Mirror Fighting during a recent interview. “I am already speaking to KSW. This is something that was set pre-COVID. I have still been doing pieces of Jiu-Jitsu and stuff. They (KSW) are looking at coming to London in October, and that is an event I would love to get involved with.”
As far as potential opponents are concerned, Ford insisted that any potential fight would have to come against the right calibre of fighter for him.
“It just needs to be the right person and right time, my feelers have been put out there to try and get this set up as soon as possible,” Martyn Ford said. “I understand the frustration from people about not yet seeing me fight. I am still training, (the) only thing I am not doing is active sparring. I have switched back into its resistance and explosive power.”
“If something does happen which I am hoping I can sign up too soon, I have been training and dedicating so much time and effort to it,” Martyn Ford said. “I need to do it for my own mental state, to be honest, anyone will understand the frustration I am going through at the moment.”
Croatian striking standout, Roberto ‘RoboCop’ Soldic can now mint himself as the undisputed KSW middleweight champion — adding to his welterweight spoils, courtesy of a stunning knockout win over the veteran titleholder, Mamed Khalidov to close out tonight’s KSW 65 card in Gdansk, Poland. Soldic, the promotion’s undisputed welterweight champion entered tonight’s middleweight title clash […]
Croatian striking standout, Roberto ‘RoboCop’ Soldic can now mint himself as the undisputed KSW middleweight champion — adding to his welterweight spoils, courtesy of a stunning knockout win over the veteran titleholder, Mamed Khalidov to close out tonight’s KSW 65 card in Gdansk, Poland.
Soldic, the promotion’s undisputed welterweight champion entered tonight’s middleweight title clash with Khalidov off the back of six consecutive victories, improving his professional record to 19-3.
For renowned Russian finisher, Khalidov, the 41-year-old reclaimed the middleweight title with a Knockout of the Year candidate against UFC alum, Scott Askham at KSW 55 back in October of last year — stopping the Hemsworth native with a spectacular switch kick knockout.
Suffering just the second knockout loss of his 45 fight career tonight, Khalidov rushed forward and engaged in a firefight with kickboxing ace, Soldic in the second round, before finding himself on the receiving end of a thunderous left hook counter upon entry to range, and subsequent ground strikes, which put him out cold.
Below, catch the highlights from Roberto Soldic’s stunning knockout win over Mamed Khalidov
Earlier in the night, French featherweight, Salahdine Parnasse reclaimed the featherweight title against the Brazilian-born Daniel Torres in a unanimous decision victory, after the champion had missed weight at yesterday’s official weigh-ins, resulting in his stripping of the title. The 24-year-old Aubersvillers native improved to 16-1-1 with his rematch victory over Torres in the co-headliner.
KSW will be ending 2021 with a bang after the promotion officially confirmed the main and co-main events of KSW 65, which is set to take place on December 18 at the Gliwice Arena in Gliwice, Poland. Headlining the card will be a mouth-watering champ vs. champ clash between KSW’s middleweight king Mamed Khalidov and […]
KSW will be ending 2021 with a bang after the promotion officially confirmed the main and co-main events of KSW 65, which is set to take place on December 18 at the Gliwice Arena in Gliwice, Poland.
Headlining the card will be a mouth-watering champ vs. champ clash between KSW’s middleweight king Mamed Khalidov and welterweight champion, Roberto Soldic. The 26-year-old Soldic is riding a six-fight winning streak and will be looking to take Khalidov’s crown when the pair face off in their middleweight bout.
The Croatian fighter dipped his toe into the middleweight division previously when he took on and defeated Micha? Materla at KSW 56. However, taking on Khalidov, one of the biggest names in KSW is an altogether different proposition.
The 41-year-old recaptured his middleweight title with a stunning first-round KO of Scott Askham at KSW 55. Khalidov unleashed a mid-air switch kick which caught Askham flush on his jaw, instantly ending his night. It was the type of performance that reminded everyone why he is one of the most exciting middleweights in MMA.
In Soldic, Khalidov will square off against a known KO artist, with 90% of his wins coming via stoppage. The bout looks set to be one of those encounters where fireworks are almost guaranteed.
Austria’s Daniel Torres will defend his featherweight title against former champion Salahdine Parnasse in the co-main event. Torres stopped Parnasse in the opening round of their title fight at KSW 58, and Parnasse will be looking to avenge the first loss of his career and reclaim his featherweight strap.
KSW 65 will be available to watch online at www.KSWTV.com. There will be more announcements about the card in the coming weeks.
Will you be watching KSW 65?
KSW 58 gave fight fans something they wouldn’t have been expecting last night when Shamil Musaev and Uros Jurisic had a brawl after the decision had been read out from their three-round welterweight fight. (H/T MMA Mania.) Both fighters came into KSW 58 as undefeated prospects, both with a lot to lose and both eager […]
Wow this is crazy! Never seen fighters for at it after the decision has been read
pic.twitter.com/Hm2dDPIqvb
— Jim (@MMA_Jim) January 30, 2021
KSW 58 gave fight fans something they wouldn’t have been expecting last night when Shamil Musaev and Uros Jurisic had a brawl after the decision had been read out from their three-round welterweight fight. (H/T MMA Mania.)
Both fighters came into KSW 58 as undefeated prospects, both with a lot to lose and both eager to start the new year with a win.
The fight at KSW 58 was itself memorable but it will be the action afterwards that will be remembered amongst fight fans. Musaev was ruled the winner via a unanimous decision but afterwards both fighters began to wrestle on the canvas and pure chaos followed.
You can view the video at the top of this article.
Another video below shows Musaev picking Jurisic up and slamming him to the canvas.
The main event of KSW 58 resulted in Daniel Torres capturing the featherweight title by defeating Salahdine Parnasse via TKO.
What do you think the punishment should be for Shamil Musaev and Uros Jurisic after their scrap after the final bell?
