Oh no!! Kick to a downed opponent!!
Fight is over!! What is going to happen!? #KSW86 pic.twitter.com/XQIEsWk4Ts— KSW (@KSW_MMA) September 16, 2023
Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.
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TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW FIGHTS: 797
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 92
KSW was not the only event this weekend that concluded with a draw, although its result came from poor strike selection and a perfectly aligned math. While the fight card saw ample action from start to finish, all eyes were on the thrilling championship tilt on its aftermath. Due to an illegal strike in the fourth round, the main attraction ended via an unexpected technical decision. KSW 86 featured an ultra-rare tetralogy rivalry destined to become a pentalogy, a pair of prospects losing their valuable “0” and two men that shared a surname and one-punch power.
Fight Five is Coming: Across major organizations, tetralogies are an extreme rarity, with a few examples in history including Brandon Moreno vs. Deiveson Figueiredo, Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson and Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia. Although their first bout took place in ACB, the last three encounters between Jakub Wiklacz and Sebastian Przybysz all occurred in the KSW cage.
Tip of the Hat to MMA Decisions: Due to the soccer kick that lost Wiklacz two points, his match with Przybysz was scored 37-37 by all three judges. This marks the first technical decision scored as a draw in major MMA promotional history. In other noteworthy organizations, one took place at Cage Warriors 138 in 2022 between Scott Pederson and George Tanasa.
Different Rules, Same Result: The championship battle between Wiklacz and Przybysz is just the second in company history to be scored a draw. This first took place back at KSW 13 in 2010 between Mamed Khalidov and Ryuta Sakurai, where the organization ran three full rounds and a three-minute overtime stanza that still resulted in a draw.
Bah Humburger: In the largest betting upset on the billing, Michal Michalski captured a decision over then-unbeaten Dominik Humburger. The Czech fighter came into KSW 86 with a perfect 7-0 record, while only going the distance on one previous occasion.
Krolicked: Lom-Ali Eskiev needed less than a round to shatter the undefeated record of Dawid Smielowski. “Krolik” has still yet to go to decision in 11 pro fights, with the lion’s share of his own victories coming by knockout.
Fading Herculeez: Bouncing back from his first pro knockout loss, Artur Szczepaniak punched out Henry Fadipe late into the second frame. The Team Mixfighter Genk representative now sports a career finish rate of 80%, with stoppages in his last seven triumphs.
Wicked Wiktor: Early into his young career at 6-0, Wiktor Zalewski dispatched Kacper Koziorzebski with a barrage of punches. The 23-year-old has notched 83% of his wins via strikes.
Piwow Continuing to Wow: Evening his distribution of victory to three knockouts opposite three submissions, Damian Piwowarczyk put himself on a win streak by decking Lukasz Sudolski. “Damsyn” has earned six of his seven victories before the final bell.
Made Pesto Out of Him: Making his debut with KSW, well-traveled veteran Viktor Pesta strangled Filip Stawowy with a first-round rear-naked choke. In his last 10 outings, Pesta has either won or lost by stoppage, and he elevated his overall finish rate to 79%.
Feels Like a Miljan Bucks: In his own first trip to the KSW cage, Miljan Zdravkovic put away Mariusz Joniak in the opening period. With six wins on his ledger since debuting in 2021, the Serbian bantamweight has performed half of those via strikes.
House of Paniak: The aforementioned Szczepaniak was not the only man with that name to notch a victory at KSW 86. On the card opener, Oscar Szczepaniak – no relation – sparked Adrian Gralak in under a round. Both men named Szczepaniak prevailed at this event by one-punch knockout.
Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 86, Sudolski (12 fights) and Gralak (seven fights) had never dropped consecutive bouts, Stawowy had never been submitted (13 fights) and Joniak had never been knocked out (15 fights).