KSW – The Emergance of an MMA Powerhouse

The world of mixed martial arts is a crazy one, dominated mainly by the UFC. However, around the world there are few rising promotions that are making their respective marks on the landscape. One such promotion is the European based powerhouse KSW.

With a blend of spectacle, top international fighters, rising prospects, their branded ‘freak fights’, and production values, KSW has grown to become the premier European MMA organisation. The promotion began small in 2004 in Poland and was the brainchild of co-owners Maciej Kawulski and Martin Lewandowski. Those humble beginnings saw the first few events take place in a hotel function room but with media attention and interest from national TV stations the promotion quickly gathered steam and moved to bigger venues.

In 2009 KSW jumped to the next level with the signing of Mariusz Pudzianowski. Coming into MMA off the back of winning his fifth ‘World’s Strongest Man’ title, Pudzianowski was a national hero, an international star and drew millions of people to the promotion. To this day ‘Pudzian’ is still one of the promotion’s biggest stars and is headlining their next event – KSW 44 – this Saturday, June 9 opposite former heavyweight champ Karol Bedorf.

Along with Pudzianowski the promotion has Mamed Khalidov, a fighter many consider one of the greatest ever that never competed in the UFC. These two fighters have been the foundation for KSW in terms of their growth. Thanks to them as well as Lewandowski & Kawulski’s promotional genius, KSW has become the entity it is today.

2017 was a breakout year for them. With the ambitious KSW 39 event they broke records. 57,766 people attended the historic show in Warsaw, Poland last May in what was the largest MMA event ever in Europe and the second largest MMA event of all time, second only to an an old Pride card in Japan and larger than any event staged by the UFC. Their follow-up card saw their debut in Ireland and they capped off the year with a huge and diverse event that saw a massive crossover heavyweight fight involving Polish action movie star Tomasz Oswiecinski and infamous rapper Popek Monster.

As a result Forbes listed Lewandowski & Kawulski among the most powerful names in Polish sport, Fighters Only nominated KSW for ‘Promotion of the Year’ and the KSW brand has grown to be on of the hottest properties in the MMA world.

This growth has continued into 2018 and so far it has been the promotion’s most diverse yet. International stars like Dricus Du Plessis, Salahdine Parnasse, Roberto Soldic have all emerged as some of the top prospects in the sport. UFC veterans like Phil De Fries and Scott Askham have made new homes in KSW and the promotion has incredible domestic talent like Mateusz Gamrot, Tomasz Narkun, Michal Materla, and Damian Janikowski, who earned an Olympic medalist in wrestling.

Along with the above mentioned names KSW has also recently signed internationally recognised bodybuilder and fitness model Erko Jun, who will also compete at KSW 44 this Saturday, and Polish fitness guru Akop Szostak as well as having bodybuilder Robert Burneika and strongman Tyberiusz Kowalczyk on their roster of impressive heavyweight specimens.

Stay tuned to Generation Iron all week as we bring you some exclusive content and interviews from KSW 44. You can check out the trailer below for the event taking place on June 9.

You can buy the PPV right here.

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