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TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW FIGHTS: 496
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 58
KSW on Saturday in Gliwice, Poland, ended the year by going full speed ahead with a card that blazed off the starting line. KSW 52 “The Race” featured an explosive start that has not been seen since the promotion’s sophomore offering, the first spinning backfist knockout in organizational history and multiple undefeated fighters who kept it rolling.
52 BODIES PICKED UP: KSW 52 started with six consecutive finishes, including five in the first round. The only other event with a finish streak of this nature beginning with the opening bout came at KSW 2 in 2004, when all eight bouts ended inside the distance.
MORE FROM MAMED: Emerging from a short-lived retirement, Mamed Khalidov appeared in the main event against middleweight champ Scott Askham in a non-title catchweight affair. The fight was Khalidov’s 23rd under the KSW banner, tying former opponent Michal Materla for the most KSW fights all-time. Khalidov lost by decision.
KOURAGEOUS KHALIDOV: Khalidov has competed in upwards of nine separate catchweight contests throughout his KSW career, far more than any other fighter in company history. His first took place at KSW 15 in 2011, when James Irvin missed the middleweight limit by nearly 15 pounds.
SZYMON SAYS, KNOCKOUT: After stopping Damian Janikowski with punches in Round 2, Szymon Kolecki has collected all eight of his career victories by knockout within two rounds. This victory was his first that came out of the opening period, with his lone defeat coming by decision to Michal Bobrowski in 2018.
SPOTLESS SALAHDINE: Salahdine Parnasse successfully defended his interim featherweight strap over five rounds when he beat Ivan Buchinger by decision. With his win, Parnasse is now 14-0-1. He has gone the distance in nine of his last 12 outings dating back to 2016.
SPIN SHAMIL SPIN: Remaining unbeaten at 14-0, Shamil Musaev demolished Grzegorz Szulakowski to earn the first spinning backfist knockout in KSW history. The only other spinning strike finish of any kind came when Lukasz Jurkowski stopped Ilja Skondric with a spinning back kick at KSW 5 in 2016.
RICK ROLLAED: By submitting Aleksandra Rola in the second stanza, Karolina Owczarz pulled off the first triangle choke in KSW women’s divisional history. As it stands, 46.2 percent of all women’s flyweight matches in KSW have ended by tapout. Fighters in the division sport a finish rate of 61.5 percent -- higher than the organization’s average stoppage rate.
‘WIN’ IS IN HIS NAME: Artur Sowinski leveled Vinicius Bohrer with a head kick and follow-up punches to earn his 10th KSW win. He is now the 11th fighter to record at least 10 victories with the promotion and only the second as a lightweight, joining current two-division champ Mateusz Gamrot.
SOWING HIS WILD KICKS: Sowinski became the second lightweight to get the finish with a head kick in KSW. The first was authored Maciej Gorski against Kazuki Tokudome at KSW 14 in 2010.
ONE-PUNCH MACIEJ: By scoring a one-punch knockout in 24 seconds over Michael Dubois, Maciej Kazieczko earned the fasted finish in KSW lightweight history. The previous record came when Sowinski stopped Maciej Jewtuszko at KSW 17 in 2011.
WLOADING UP ON HIS PUNCHES: Michal Wlodarek needed 34 seconds to dispatch Srdjan Marovic in the opener and in doing so earned the fifth-fastest knockout in KSW’s heavyweight division. Wlodarek also holds the third-fastest KO, with that coming when he smashed Michal Andryszak in 27 seconds at KSW 28 in 2014.
NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN: Coming into KSW 52, Khalidov had never lost more than two straight bouts (41 fights), Rola (three fights) and Marovic (four fights) had never been defeated and Albert Odzimkowski had never been knocked out (14 fights).