Fight Facts: KSW 65 ‘Khalidov vs. Soldic’

The scariest fighter on the planet!!!

@Soldic_MMA KO's the legendary Mamed Khalidov to become KSW Double Champ!! #KSW65 pic.twitter.com/HL5o9yjbz1

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) December 19, 2021

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: 608
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 71

KSW staged its own year-end show to preempt the final Ultimate Fighting Championship card, only to run up against it during the broadcast. Two belts changed hands after a litany of drama and wild results from top to bottom. KSW 65 featured the crowning of KSW’s second simultaneous two-division champion, a brilliant buzzer-beating knockout and a slick pretzel-like maneuver.

More:
Blowing away the past total of any previous year, KSW put on eight fight cards in 2021. The past record of shows was six in any calendar year, with the organization doing so in 2019.

Ten Fights to Freedom:
Ten fights took place at KSW 65, the most of any of its cards this year. KSW 51 in 2019 marked the last KSW event to stage at least this many bouts, where 10 took place and exactly half went the distance as well.

Slaying a Hero:
By putting middleweight champ Mamed Khalidov away in the second round, 170-pound titleholder Roberto Soldic became the second fighter in company history to hold belts in two weight classes at the same time. The first was Mateusz Gamrot, who won later that night on the UFC card, also by knockout.

His Robocop Remake:
Soldic scored his 20th career victory, and his 18th by stoppage, by knocking Khalidov out. “Robocop” celebrates a finish rate of 90 percent, with all but one coming due to strikes.

Give Him Narkun:
Through his KSW tenure, Soldic has secured seven knockouts. His drubbing of Khalidov broke a tie with Khalidov for the third-most in promotional history. Only Michal Materla (nine) and Mariusz Pudzianowski (11) have earned more.

He Was the One Who Knocked:
Khalidov suffered a knockout defeat for only the second time in his career. The first came in his MMA debut in 2004 to Nerijus Valiukevicius, spanning 44 fights. When Khalidov was last knocked out, his opponent Soldic was only 9 years old.

Reclaiming the Throne:
Exacting revenge on Daniel Torres, Salahdine Parnasse won the briefly-vacant featherweight title by decision. With five decision wins under his KSW belt, the Frenchman is tied for the sixth-most in organizational history.

Fail on the Scale:
Defending champ Torres surrendered his belt on the scale the day before the fight, missing the championship limit by a pound. He is the third fighter to miss weight for a KSW title fight, joining Kleber Koike Erbst and Norman Parke.

Building the Roman Legion:
As he stopped Mateusz Legierski in the second round with a barrage of punches, Roman Szymanski recorded just the third knockout of his career. Two of his last three victories have come due to strikes.

No Torch Passed Here:
Michal Kita ended a losing streak by knocking out a man 16 years his junior in Marek Samociuk in the first round. A whole 86 percent of the longtime vet’s career victories have come inside the distance with 17 of 21 concluding in the opening frame.

Poor Cardio Management:
With two judges scoring the bout 28-28, Adam Niedzwiedz and Miroslav Broz fought to a majority draw. The draw is the seventh bout scored even in company history, and the second since 2015.

Damien’s Pretzel Stand:
Tying Marc Doussis up with a triangle armbar submission, Damian Piwowarczyk landed the first submission of its type in KSW history while lifting his young unbeaten record to 5-0.

Grasping for More Straws:
Both Anita Bekus and Magdalena Sormova stepped in the KSW cage as strawweights, competing in the seventh 115-pound tilt in league history. It is the first bout at this weight category to involve a fighter other than Karolina Kowalkiewicz, Aleksandra Rola or Karolina Wojcik. Bekus won on the scorecards.

Lights Out Likus:
At the tail end of the second round, Patryk Likus lamped late replacement Piotr Olszynka with a spinning back elbow. His knockout is the first of its kind in KSW history, and only the third to come from a spinning strike.

Never Say Never Again:
Coming into KSW 65, Torres has never competed beyond the third round (17 fights), Legierski (seven fights) and Doussis (eight fights) had never been defeated and Olszynka (14 fights) had never been knocked out.