Wild KSW 86 Main Event Ends With Illegal Soccer Kick

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

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki bantamweight kingpin Jakub Wiklacz can’t get rid of former champion Sebastian Przybysz and despite duking it out for a fourth time in the KSW 86 main event, it doesn’t look like the two’s rivalry will end anytime soon.

Wiklacz and Przybysz’s four-round war was scored a technical draw after Wiklacz was deducted two points from referee Marc Goddard due to an illegal soccer kick. Pryzbysz was unable to continue and the point deduction closed the gap in a very competitive fight.

What may be the most absurd fact is that most fans tuned into the live stream lost sight of the feed early into the fourth round. By the time the feed came back Goddard was waiving off the fight and fans were left in shock of what happened.

The fight was a barnburner that kicked off with a first-round knockdown from the challenger. Since losing the belt to Wiklacz last December, Przybysz had stayed busy with a pair of finishes over Filip Macek and Islam Djabrailov.

Przybysz looked destined to regain his belt but the champion showed excellent poise and even ended the first round in mount. Shaking off his slow start, Wiklacz upped his aggression in round two and took the fight to the challenger.

Wiklacz nearly paid dearly in round 3 after falling into a rare Peruvian necktie by Przybysz. The grip was tight and Wiklacz’s hold on the belt looked lose, but he managed to escape and dominate the rest of the round on the ground. Heading into round four, the champion looked confident and Przybysz showed signs of fatigue.

Fans only saw a few moments of the fourth round but when the feed returned, pandemonium broke out in the cage. Przybysz was visibly shaken and unable to continue from an illegal soccer kick from Wiklacz. Seasoned vet Marc Goddard deducted two points and the fight went to decision. Due to Wiklacz’s dominance over rounds two and three, he was ahead on the scorecards, but Goddard’s point deduction was the great equalizer. Now with a record of 2-1-1 against his greatest foe, it looks like a fifth fight is the only way to settle the rivalry.

Middleweights Michal Michalski and Dominik Humburger left it all in the cage in a three round war that left both men exhausted.

Humburger came in confident with an undefeated record but seasoned vet and hometown favorite Michalski showed early that he had the chin to withstand a whopper of a right hand. Humburger took an early lead with sharp elbows and knees in Round 1 but it was clear that he’s was in for a battle on the ground.

Michalski grinded out Humburger on the ground over the last two rounds and landed some thudding shots of their own. Despite going to the scorecards after seven straight finishes, the fans at Hala Orbita were in awe of the co-main event. In the end, the hometown hero Michalski’s hand was raised in victory by way of unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).

Dawid Smielowski came into his 11th pro fight with an undefeated record and left with a nasty gash and a first round TKO loss. Lom-Ali Eskiev (21-7) dominated from start to finish after catching a high kick and inside tripping Smielowski near the fence. During the scramble, Eskiev tied up his man in a crucifix and proceeded to beat him down with punches and elbows before the fight was mercifully stopped with 40 seconds left in the first round.

Artur Szcepaniak looked to put behind his disastrous attempt at welterweight gold last April with a win over Ireland’s Henry Fadipe in a 179-pound catchweight bout. Early on, Fadipe’s speed, agility and hands down style made Szczepaniak look slow and off rhythm. Unfortunately for Fadipe, Szcezpaniak’s tank knew no bounds and the former title challenger refused to take his foot off the gas. Every takedown attempt was harder to stuff than the last and Fadipe remained on his backfoot.

By Round 2, the Pole was having his way on the ground, exhausting Fadipe with pressure. By the time Fadipe got back to his feet, he lacked the pop to keep Szczepaniak honest and was floored by a huge right hand. After nearly 10 minutes of frantic action, Fadipe waved off referee Goddard before Szczepaniak could follow up with even more punishment.

There was bound to be a fight that made it out of the first round, but that doesn’t mean undefeated welterweight Wiktor Zalewski was shy about the violence.

The 23-year-old had his four-fight knockout streak broken in his KSW debut win over Robert Maciejowski back in May and looked hesitant against seasoned scrapper Kacper Koziorzebski in the first round of their three-round bout. But Zaleski would eventually come out of his shell and let his hands go before connecting with a left cross to Kiziorzebski’s chin, dropping him.

Zaleski wasted little time pummeling his victim until referee Tomasz Bronder halted the action 55 seconds into the second round.

With three straight first-round finishes to open KSW 86, no fighter wanted to be the one to break the streak. Certainly not Damian Piwowarczyk (7-2), who notched his second knockout in a row against Lukasz Sudolski in light heavyweight action. Piwowarczyk demonstrated his devastating power by walking down Sudolski (10-3) to the fence and dropping “Pchela” with two rear uppercuts that would’ve made “Iron” Mike Tyson proud.

Viktor Pesta struggled to make a run in the Professional Fighters League heavyweight standings but he may have found himself a home in the premier Polish promotion. Pesta (19-8) dominated KSW’s No. 5 ranked heavyweight Filip Stawowy (10-4) after taking his back and pummeling him with punches. While Stawowy managed to block a few thudding left hands, he failed to protect his neck from a rear-naked choke that ended the bout midway through the first round.

Despite coming in with an undefeated record, Miljan Zdravkovic entered his bantamweight contest with Mariusz Joniak as one of the biggest underdogs on the card. That meant no difference to the Serbian slugger. Zdravkovic (6-0) gave Joniak (11-5) the first knockout loss of his career with a right hook to the chin at the 4:16 mark of the first round.

Welterweight Oskar Szczepaniak (5-1) opened KSW 86 with a bang after putting Adrian Gralak (5-2) to sleep with twin left crosses at the 4:30 mark of the first round. Szczepaniak nearly ended Gralak’s night in the first two minutes of the bout, but Gralak showed great poise to get back to his feet. Szczepaniak wouldn’t lose another chance at a highlight reel KO after switching from orthodox to southpaw and dropping a shot from Szczecin right on the chin.