Fight Facts: KSW 78 ‘Materla vs. Grove 2’

𝗙𝗹𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗞𝗻𝗲𝗲!! 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁!! 🤯

🇲🇩🇮🇹 ValeriuMircea KNOCKS OUT 🇵🇱 BorysMankowski!!

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XTB #KSW78 pic.twitter.com/TJHn5NYNw4

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 21, 2023

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: 723
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 84

KSW set the stage for the new year by putting on what ended as a knockout-heavy card. Upsets filled the billing, but the main event delivered as a foregone conclusion. KSW 78 featured the most active fighter in company history netting one more finish, an especially expeditious armbar and a beautiful flying knee knockout.

Upset City in Szczecin: Five of the nine victors throughout KSW 78 closed as betting underdogs. This is the highest number of recorded upsets at a single KSW card, tied with KSW 70. Not every event or fight in its history featured betting odds, however, with only about 55% of all bouts getting action.

Washed Da Spyder Out: Atop KSW 78, Michal Materla clobbered Kendall Grove to go up 2-0 in their series. Materla’s finish rate lifted to 78% with his win.

Kompany Man: Once again, Materla holds the sole position for the most victories in company history with 21. His win over Grove breaks the tie held with Mamed Khalidov.

Catching Khalidov: Materla elevated himself to one shy of the promotion’s record for the most finishes when he unloaded on Grove. Sixteen of his 21 wins have come inside the distance. Khalidov and his 17 is the only name above his.

At His Own Expense: The knockout was Materla’s 11th on the roster, putting him within one of the leader, Mariusz Pudzianowski. “Pudzian” earned that 12th by flattening Materla in May 2022.

Don’t Look Up That Nickname: “Cipao” entered into his 28th KSW match when facing Grove for the second time. This extends his own record, with former foe Khalidov the next closest of 26 fights with the organization.

Side Attraction: Unlike many of his other KSW-based accolades, Materla is nowhere near the top for the most headlining appearances in league history. He has fought in eight main events, far beneath the two ahead of him of Pudzianowski (12) and Khalidov (19).

Roman Legion Training: In 65 seconds, Roman Szymanski landed an armbar on Raul Tutarauli. When including Daniel Dowda’s 18-second flying armbar in 2007, Szymanski’s is the third-fastest on record in KSW.

Less Wind Resistance: Valeriu Mircea drilled Borys Mankowski with a flying knee and finished the job with follow-up punches. His is the third knockout from this type of strike in KSW history, and the first for a lightweight.

Italy Might Not Claim Him: Italy resident Mircea holds an 86% finish rate after dispatching Mankowski, with first-round stoppages accounting for his last four wins. He celebrates an equal number of knockouts to submissions, with 12 apiece.

Kneedling: By getting splattered by Mircea’s flying knee, Mankowski suffered his eighth defeat on the roster. The only man with more KSW losses on his ledger is Artur Sowinski (10).

Not All Positive Materla Stats: Mankowski is now the second fighter to succumb to a flying knee knockout as a KSW fighter. While two happened before him, they were both against Materla in 2015 and 2019.

Brazil to Poland Direct Flight: Kleber Raimundo Silva introduced himself to the KSW brass by wiping out Lukasz Sudolski. The Brazilian light heavyweight sports an 81% stoppage rate in victory, with finishes in each of his last seven wins.

Doussis Me Now: Just after the two-minute mark, Rafal Kijanczuk put Marc Doussis away with strikes. The knockout rate of “Kijana” jumped to 92% with his first-round stoppage, and all but one of his finishes have taken place in the opening period.

Treading Water: Evening his KSW record back to .500, Lukasz Rajewski did so by pounding out Sahil Siraj in the first frame. Both he and Martin Zawada are tied with the fewest number of wins after at least 10 appearances with the promotion.

Borys Looked Bored: Borys Dzikowski earned the first decision win of his career by beating Andre Langen on the scorecards. The 3-0 fighter had combined for 2:58 of pro fight time prior to facing Langen.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 78, Radoslaw Paczuski had never been defeated (five fights), Doussis had never been knocked out (10 fights) and Siraj had never been finished (eight fights).