REGARDED BY MANY as the largest mixed martial arts promotion on this side of the Atlantic, KSW (Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki) debuted in Ireland over the weekend with a spectacular production at Dublin’s 3Arena.
While the five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski was victorious in the Polish promotion’s main event against ex-UFC fighter Jay Silva, the main talking point came from KSW 40′s penultimate bout.
KSW lightweight champion Mateusz Gamrot took on Antrim native Norman Parke, although Gamrot’s title was no longer at stake after Parke missed weight 24 hours earlier.
Would you like to see this two settling their rivalry in the 3rd clash? #KSW40 pic.twitter.com/FWGpVFUFZz
— KSW (@KSW_MMA) October 22, 2017
The bout was a rematch of their meeting in Warsaw back in May, when Gamrot earned a unanimous-decision win which Parke believed was contentious. His opportunity to make amends came yesterday in Dublin.
However, late in the second round of what had been a gripping encounter, the fight was brought to a premature end by referee Marc Goddard due to multiple eye pokes by Gamrot, which had a detrimental impact on Parke’s vision. The fight was therefore declared a no-contest.
During an ugly aftermath in the cage, Parke — a nine-fight UFC veteran — shoved well-known KSW welterweight Borys Mankowski, who was one of Gamrot’s cornermen. Marcin Bilman, another professional fighter who was in the champion’s corner, responded by landing a punch on Parke.
According to Marc Goddard, Gamrot was subsequently fined 30% of his purse and Bilman has been handed a two-year ban from KSW events.
Elsewhere at KSW 40, there were big wins for the Irish trio of Chris Fields, Paul Redmond and Paul Lawrence, all of whom delivered impressive performances over three rounds.
SBG veteran Fields got the better of Michael Fijalka, two-time UFC veteran Redmond overcame Lukasz Chlewicki and Lawrence picked up his fourth professional win at the expense of Dublin-based Pole Konrad Iwanowski.
KSW 40
- Mariusz Pudzianowski def. Jay Silva via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke ended in a no-contest (accidental eye pokes) in round two
- Michal Materla def. Paulo Thiago via TKO (strikes) after 4.10 of round two
- Ariane Lipski def. Mariana Morais via submission (rear-naked choke) after 4:01 of round one
- David Zawada def. Maciej Jewtuszko via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Chris Fields def. Michal Fijalka via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
- Paul Redmond def. Lukasz Chlewicki via split decision (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
- Paul Lawrence def. Konrad Iwanowski via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
- Antun Racic def. Pawel Politylo via split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
