Fight Facts: KSW 77 ‘Khalidov vs. Pudzianowski’

𝐌𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐃 𝐊𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐕 just beat 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐈𝐔𝐒𝐙 𝐏𝐔𝐃𝐙𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐖𝐒𝐊𝐈!!! XTB #KSW77

The King of the KSW Legends 👑 pic.twitter.com/RLqhKipBLr

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) December 17, 2022

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: 714
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 83

KSW went all-out for its year-end fight card, putting a stamp on a banner year that has staged far more events than ever before. With two belts on the line and a veritable superfight between Polish legends on top, the event largely delivered across the board. KSW 77 featured a former champ that fears no obstacle, multiple displays of beautiful body work and a choke-out not seen in the company’s cage before.

More KSW = Good: At year’s end, KSW has run 12 fight cards, accounting for one in every month of 2022. This is the most in the promotion’s history by a wide margin, as 2021 set the record with eight, and no prior year had seen more than six KSW shows.

Fun for the Whole Family: Throughout the event, 11 fights in seven different weight categories littered the card with violence. This tally is the most of any single KSW show since its blowout KSW 39 event in 2017 which also put on 11 fights, including five championship bouts and one champ vs. champ superfight.

He Did the Darn Thing: By finishing Mariusz Pudzianowski in the first round, Mamed Khalidov lodged his 20th victory inside the KSW cage. This accounts for the most in company history alongside former opponent Michal Materla.

Killer Khalidov: Of those 20 wins for Khalidov, a whopping 17 of those have come inside the distance. This extends his record for the most in organizational history, one in which only four other competitors including the aforementioned Materla as well as Pudzianowski have more than 10.

Speed Kills, and So Does Mamed: Under the KSW banner, Khalidov holds 17 stoppage victories. With his Round 1 drubbing of Pudzianowski in the books, 15 of those have come in the opening frame, far and away the most of any fighter with the promotion.

He Made Him Say ‘Matte’: Khalidov performed his 10th knockout as a KSW fighter by making Pudzianowski tap to strikes. He does not hold that record in the promotion, but he does celebrate the second-most. The man with the most? Pudzianowski (12).

Shines Brightest Under the Spotlight: An incredible 14 of Khalidov’s 20 wins under the KSW lights have come in main events. No other fighter comes close to that tally, with Pudzianowski’s nine the second-highest total.

Did My Time, Took My Chances: Officially weighing 206 pounds to make him a heavyweight competitor, Khalidov wrecked Pudzianowski in the latter’s own weight class. He is one of a very small number of KSW competitors to win in three weight categories – middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight – not counting his catchweight triumphs at 180 pounds, 192 pounds and 201 pounds.

Get Out While the Getting’s Good: Khalidov became the third competitor to force a foe to tap to strikes in the headliner of a KSW card. The first two: Lukasz Jurkowski at KSW 1 in 2004, and Pudzianowski at KSW 14 in 2010.

Wicked: In the co-featured attraction, Jakub Wiklacz wrested the bantamweight belt from Sebastian Przybysz in their rematch. Wiklacz is now the third fighter in organizational history to hoist the 135-pound title.

It Happens: Wiklacz needed the full 25 minutes to claim the throne held by Przybysz. The division, which also had a submission earlier on the card, posts the lowest finish rate of any men’s weight category. Only 36.3% of the fights scheduled at men’s bantamweight have ended inside the distance, well below the company’s overall stoppage rate of 59.4%.

‘The Chuzhigaev Era’ Is Hard to Say: Ibragim Chuzhigaev staved off Ivan Erslan to keep hold of his light heavyweight strap, winning a unanimous decision. He becomes the third 205-pound champ to register a successful defense – not including retaining after a draw – joining Jan Blachowicz and Tomasz Narkun.

Champ of What? Late into the first round, Andrzej Grzebyk blasted Oton Jasse with a punch to the body. The knockout advanced the finish rate of “Double Champ” to 79%, with each of his last eight victories coming by stoppage.

Pascal’s Knockout: Needing only 63 seconds to dispatch Pascal Hintzen, Patryk Kaczmarczyk flattened his foe with knees. The fighter out of Radom, Poland, had never before recorded a finish this quickly, with only one past first-round victory to his credit at 2:35 against Hubert Sulewski.

Paid by the Second: Bogdan Gnidko leveled Madalin Pirvulescu with a head kick and follow-up punches in 38 seconds to get his hand raised. Still unbeaten as a professional, all nine of the 21-year-old’s victories have come in the opening frame in three minutes or less.

Mad Madalin: Win or lose, Pirvulescu has still yet to see a second round as a professional. Losing in 38 seconds, four of his six pro fights have concluded in under a minute, with no match going any later than 2:46.

Dominant Squeeze: With 27 seconds left in the match, Michal Domin snared Patryk Likus with a triangle choke and put him to sleep. The maneuver is the first technical submission via triangle choke to take place in the KSW cage, as all of the previous triangle had elicited taps.

If You Ain’t First, You’re Liassed: Running their October fight back just over two months later, Yann Liasse left no doubt by throttling Adrian Gralak with a rear-naked choke. Liasse earned his ninth win as a pro – and possibly holding more than any other fighter specifically from Luxembourg – while boosting his career tapout rate to 67%.

Children Fighting in the Big Leagues: At the age of 18, Wiktoria Czyzewska made her promotional debut and battered Aleksandra Karasaeva in 72 seconds. Their match took place at 135 pounds, making it the first women’s bantamweight clash in KSW history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 77, Khalidov had never fought at heavyweight (45 fights), Erslan had never lost on the scorecards (14 fights) and Pirvulescu (five fights) and Gralak (six fights) had never been defeated.