KSW 100 Preview; Khalidov v Bartosiński, 3 Title Fights, Wrzosek Returns

European MMA has been on a roll lately, and Saturday brings us the most compelling show of the year yet. KSW 100 is the biggest event in the calendar and will showcase a plethora of the best champions and challengers on the continent. Gliwice is the go to arena for Poland’s big shows, and the PreZero Arena will once again be filled full of excited fans. Four champions will be involved, one in a super fight and three others defending, as well as six other top ranked contests under KSW MMA rules.

There are few bigger moments in MMA than when the keyboard starts to play Dziwny Jest Ten Świat and Mamed Khalidov (37-8-2) makes the walk out to a sold out arena. Born in Grozny in Chechnya, he’s been a naturalised Pole for years and years, and is a hero to the entire country (his name is often using the Polish spelling  Chalidow). The 44-year-old has sold more tickets for KSW than most promotions could sell in a lifetime. This will be his 28th MMA appearance for them, a journey that began all the way back in 2007 at KSW 7. The 44-year-old is master of the arts, starting out with Taekwondo, adding wrestling and BJJ, excelling in each facet of a fight. The sixteen knockout wins on his record show his power, the seventeen submissions show his smarts and his highlight reel shows that he’s one of the best fighters Europe has ever seen. This is best illustrated by his stretch between 2010-2017 where he was untouchable, winning fourteen in-a-row against legit world level talent. In recent years he’s been making a point of taking big fights (no matter the weight) and testing himself, sometimes coming up short. The fact remains that he’s still Khalidov, he’s still the spectacle, he still has us in the palm of his hands and he’ll have every seat in that arena filled. Adrian Bartosiński (16-0) has a claim to be KSW’s most talented ever champion. The 29-year-old has dominated most opponents, great opponents, and also beat Salahdine Parnasse in a fascinating contest. The Łódź man is no stranger to hard work, putting everything into training in the Octopus team with the likes of KSW Middleweight king Paweł Pawlak, as well as spending time in Kill Cliff FC in Florida for this camp. The Pole has devastating power in his kickboxing and he’s a high level submission practitioner. His Fight IQ makes him hard to touch and he rarely makes the wrong decision. He’ll be the naturally smaller man in the cage, however he’s one of Europe’s best today. A win here should add tens of thousands of supporters to his fan club.

Phil de Fries (25-6) is the most dominant champion in KSW history, and this will be the KSW Heavyweight champion’s twelfth title bout for the promotion, nobody has defended more than him. The Sunderland man has been on top since 2018, dominating opponents primarily with his grappling. From there he usually finishes by submission or strikes. The 38-year-old is also good on the feet, which he uses to accentuate his ground game. This is a man that trains with UFC champion Tom Aspinall and UFC contender Mick Parkin. The rounds are tough and he’s always prepared, hanging with the top young names in the division. A familiar face awaits, someone he dominated over five rounds before a late retirement. Darko Stošić (21-6) got straight back on the horse after that defeat. The Serbian has devastated five opponents since, knocking all out within the distance. The 32-year-old isn’t a volume guy, he’s all about big movements. Heavy slams, bungalows thrown on the feet, hammers thrown in the ground and pound. When he hits you, you stay hit. It only takes one shot to end it with this man.

Rafał Haratyk (19-5-2) won the KSW Light Heavyweight Championship at KSW in this very arena back in February, a one-night tournament which included a semi-final knockout victory over Saturday night’s opponent. The 37-year-old is a perfect 3-0 since joining the promotion, and had a very respectable record in the likes of ACA, Babilon and EFC before that. “The Polish Tank” is a well rounded individual, and it’s been his striking that’s been most prominent of late. Six wins have come via knockout, five by submission. Bravery for days, he’ll stare down the barrel and still throw his shots. Marcin Wójcik (20-9) is a man looking to avenge that February loss, and has carried gold before in FEN. The 35-year-old is known for his exciting and action packed fights, going to a decision only three times in his storied career. “The Giant” is a powerful puncher who can bludgeon you if he lands clean, particularly dangerous when he’s downloaded the data and starts making his reads. That power lasts. The Pole trains at Ankos MMA where he works hard on his grappling, where he’s developed a nice choke game.

When we talk about big occasions, you want to see people who can get a crowd on their feet. There’s nobody I’ve seen make such an impact so quickly in MMA as Arkadiusz Wrzosek (5-0). The Pole is supported by a massive Legia army, following him shirtless into battle and lifting roofs off around the globe. The excitement starts with the opening note of his walkout song, and the light show that accompanies it. I can only describe it as painting the town green. KSW has existed for 25-years by delivering emotion and drama regularly, and I think Arek perfectly incapsulates that. A kickboxing expert, most notably performing for Glory and beating Badr Hari, he’s ultra attacking and picks off opponents at will, sometimes testing his fans’ hearts by getting a heavy one back in return. The Uniq Fight Club man has done wonders with his grappling game in such a short period. Make no mistake about this fight, it’s his huge step up in competition, and if he succeeds, the 32-year-old will have the entire MMA world at his feet. Matheus Scheffel (18-11) is a Contender Series and PFL veteran and picked up a notable win in August against former title challenger Szymon Bajor. The Brazilian rarely requires the judges and is offence minded. The 32-year-old is going to come in aggressive and will want to use his knockout power to end this early. That has seen him get into trouble himself on the counter in the past.

Robert Ruchała (10-1) accompanied Bartosiński for the Kill Cliff training camp in Florida. The two-time interim KSW Featherweight champion is one of the top talents in his country, and the only man to beat him was the prodigy Salahdine Parnasse. The Nowy Sącz man joined the company as a promising 22-year-old and impressed with back-to-back armbars. It has been off to the races since then. The now 26-year-old has shown he’s no one trick pony by developing a great kickboxing game. He’ll hit you with any sharp point of the body and deal out the punishment. Every time we see him, he goes up a level. Kacper Formela (18-4) was a long time FEN champion and is looking to repeat that in his new home. The Iława man earned the shot with a decision victory over Ahmed Villa in May. The 28-year-old is the training partner of former bantamweight champion Sebastian Przysbyz in Mighty Bulls Gdynia. He’s won his last nine on-the-bounce and he mostly uses a technical kickboxing game to get the job done. 25-minutes should come easy to him with his experience.

Big occasions such as KSW 100 can be intimidating to fighters, however there’s few that will do it with the style and aura of Andrzej Grzybyk (21-6). Fashionable outside the cage, and a magnifico inside it, few have a more attractive MMA kickboxing game than the former FEN double champ. The 33-year-old has won his last three and will be due a title shot with a win. An exciting knockout will be the goal, something he’s done twelve times already in his career. If you don’t get fifteen minutes of excitement out of him, you’ll usually have seen something spectacular. Wiktor Zalewski (5-0) is one of the leaders of the next wave of Polish MMA. The Płock man will roll into Gliwice with a large following, particularly from his motorcycle club, Bad Company MC. The 25-year-old has won all three of his KSW fights so far and he has shown he has that “IT” factor. His kickboxing is magnetic viewing, and he’s developing quite the mean streak and using every limb to knock opponents senseless. It would be quite the statement if he was to knock off Grzebyk.

Damien Janikowski (10-6) is a recent title challenger and a national Olympic hero, winning bronze at the 2012 London games in Greco-Roman wrestling. The 35-year-old is the definition of hard work and gets every ounce out of himself. The Wrocław man has put thousands of hours of blood and sweat into this and leaves nothing on the table. We know he has the wrestling chops, and he has been known for a spectacular suplex, although we’ve seen less of that due to energy conservation of late. He can be drawn into a brawl and he loves throwing big bombs at opponents, remarkably picking up five knockouts. Not bad for a grappler. The strength of opposition is also very high, which is a testament to his work rate. Piotr Kuberski (14-1) has been flawless as a pro save for one guillotine choke that derailed him in 2019. The 36-year-old has won eleven since, including a pair of knockout wins over top Polish talents Bartosz Leśko and KSW legend Michał Materla. “Q-Bear” was the FEN champion so is no stranger to the big stage. The Ankos MMA man is a knockout machine, finishing twelve opponents with his strikes. The first two rounds are his playground and he’s aiming his punches to take your head clean off.

Igor Michaliszyn (11-3) is another former title challenger and is a highly touted fighter out of the Silesian Cage Club under Polish MMA legend and KSW head official Tomasz Bronder. The 28-year-old is a fantastically well rounded fighter who has only come undone to very talented opponents. He’s won six of his last seven, is a powerful striker, particularly in the clinch, and he trains with one of the best BJJ players in Adam Niedźwiedź. Madars Fleminas (13-5) is a man who’s made many opponents’ lives miserable in Europe’s top promotions. “The Latvian Express” is a train that smashes through station after station. The 36-year-old is a very competent wrestler, however it’s on the feet that he shines. He’s tough, he’s brave and is always equipped to go to war. Seven wins have come via knockout.

Dawid Śmiełowski (11-1) is a man who just knows how to win fights, no matter how bleak it may seem. The 28-year-old is one of the best kickers in the division and works the levels beautifully. The Ankos MMA man is not averse to throwing in some flying attacks. 73% of his wins have been via stoppage due to strikes. It won’t be long before he’s knocking on the door at the top of the division. Aymard Guh (18-13-1) was one of the guys brought in for the last Paris card, picking up a good win against the always tough Francisco Albano Barrio. The Bellator veteran is in the form of his life, winning six of his last seven. The 36-year-old is at his most dangerous in grappling exchanges, having good judo and submissions, as well as being able to land damage with ground and pound.

Adam Brysz (3-1) is another Silesian Cage Club man and he is the owner of perhaps the best MMA story of 2024. Cast back to July at KSW 96, Hugo Deux was pencilled in to fight Nicolae Bivol, but missed weight and the fight got scrapped. As well as other cancellations, this left matchmaker Wojsław Rysiewski with the nightmare of saving the card. A couple of hours before the show, Adam Brysz finishes eating Spaghetti on his couch at his Silesian home, then picks up the phone to stand in at the latest notice. He threw the kitchen sink at Deux, used just about every striking technique imaginable, and produced a memorable knockout victory capped off with his elbow. It included those things the Polish fans love, all the drama and all the emotion. The 37-year-old is a high level black belt judoka with the heart of a lion. Nicolae Bivol (4-1) was the man who missed out in that story, probably harshly as he made the weight. The 28-year-old is a product of Heroes MMA in Romania. The Moldovan was born in Belgium and fights out of Paris, France. The first notable part of his game is his good guillotine choke, already winning half his fights by that technique. He does have a decent kickboxing game as well.

KSW 100 is live from Gliwice at 18:00 Dublin time this Saturday night and the PPV can be purchased at KSWTV.com. If you’re looking for a taste of what’s to come, the first two fights will air for free on Youtube, as well as the infamous KSW opening ceremony.