Fight Facts: KSW 75 ‘Stasiak vs. Ruchala’

FRANKENSTEIN FRONT KICK!!

🇧🇷 LuisHenrique da Silva finishes former champ TomaszNarkun!!! #KSW75 pic.twitter.com/Qxs6lEptuJ

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) October 14, 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: 694
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 81

KSW continued its banner year of more fights than ever with KSW 75. Taking to the hometown of the eventual headliner, fans in the building were treated to decent action as they held up signs spelling their preferred victor’s name. This event featured the first front kick knockout in company history, an increasingly common eye-poke stoppage and (mostly) favorable results for unbeaten competitors.

Little Cities Need Fights Too: Just as it had for KSW 74 in September, the organization staged an event in a new Polish city for KSW 75. Posting up in Nowy Sacz, the league took to the second-smallest locale of any KSW numbered event – with a population roughly over 83,000, it tops that of the previous show’s 72,000 in Ostrow Wielkopolski.

No Russia, No Problem: With the headliner of Ibragim Chuzhigaev vs. Ivan Erslan falling through due to KSW’s ban on Russian fighters, Robert Ruchala took the helm of KSW 75 and won a decision over Damian Stasiak. The local fighter has now reached the third round in six of his eight pro outings, while winning in all eight appearances.

No Title…: No belt was on the line atop KSW 75, with the main event a non-title match. This marks the first time since KSW 38 in 2017 where the marquee matchup took place at featherweight with no championship up for grabs.

Splits Rarer in KSW: This event is the third to conclude with its headlining fight going to a split decision. KSWs 12 and 50 in 2009 and 2019, respectively, were the first two. Both of those previous bouts went to the championship rounds.

This Aggression Will Not Stand, Man: In the co-headlining affair, Daniel Omielanczuk swiped a contentious split decision over Michal Martinek. KSW has stated that it will still pay Martinek as if he won, and the organization has received an appeal to conduct an official independent review of the decision.

Edgar Winter Would Be Proud: Henrique da Silva clocked Tomasz Narkun with a front kick to lift his career knockout rate to 89%. The last five wins for “Frankenstein” have all ended via strikes.

Foot to Face-Fu: With the ball of his right foot 28 seconds into the second stanza, da Silva came back after a rough first round to land a highlight-reel knockout. His finish is the first of its kind in KSW history.

Reaching the Giraffe: Da Silva’s knockout of ex-champ “Giraffe” Narkun served as the biggest betting upset of the card, with the Brazilian clocking in at +375. He is the largest underdog to pull off the win since Ricardo Prasel tapped Daniel Omielanczuk in March, while serving as the ninth recorded KSW fighter to clock in at +375 or higher and still win.

Soldiering On: Needing three full rounds to defeat Oleksii Polishchuk, Adam Soldaev picked up just the second decision win of his career. All of his finishes materialized in the opening frame.

Madalin and the Bad Hat: Flattening Adam Tomasik in 83 seconds with a series of punches, Romania’s Madalin Pirvulescu lifted his spotless record to 5-0 as a pro. All five of his wins have come by first-round knockout, while never needing more than 2:46 to get the job done.

84 or Bust: Tomasik has suffered two knockouts in his career, first to Oumar Sy in October 2021 and then again at KSW 75. Those finishes have come at the 82- and 83-second marks of the first round.

Curve the Glove: At 2:38 of Round 1, an eye poke from Yann Liasse to Adrian Gralak forced a no contest ruling. It is the fifth no contest in KSW history, and the third to come from an accidental eye poke – Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke and Akop Szostak vs. Jamie Sloane were the first two.

Specified Matchmaking: Kamil Szkaradek and Adrianna Kreft came into KSW 75 undefeated and left the same by picking up decisions over David Martinik and Petra Castkova, respectively. The two were part of the crop of four competitors that fought at this event with unblemished records, and none of those four fighters – including Ruchala and Gralak – suffered a loss.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 75, no catchweight contest had ever resulted in a no contest (Liasse-Gralak), Narkun had never been cleanly knocked out (23 fights) and Martinek had never lost on the scorecards (13 fights).