Fighters Only : KSW 71: Marian Ziolkowski looks to complete hat trick of title defences

Fighters Only

Jul 21, 2022

Polish promotion KSW is back in Torun, Poland for its latest spectacular fight card, with the organisation’s reigning lightweight champion set to headline the fight card.

Current 155-pound champ Marian Ziolkowski will put his championship on the line against Sebastian Rajewski in the main event of KSW 71 on Saturday night, with Ziolkowski looking to complete his third straight title defence.

Ziolkowski captured the vacant lightweight title back at KSW 57 with a TKO finish of Romas Szymanski, then cemented his status as the promotion’s premier lightweight with victories over Maciej Kasieczko and Borys Mankowski.

Now he’s set to face the challenge of Rajewski, who heads into the bout riding a three-fight win streak. Decision victories over Savo Lazic, Artur Sowinski and Niklas Backstrom have positioned the 30-year-old at the top of the contenders’ list at 155 pounds, and he’ll step up to face Ziolkowski on Saturday night.

The co-main event features a battle of heavy-handed strikers, as Polish fan-favourite and former KSW heavyweight champion Marcin Rozalski returns to KSW to take on kickboxing legend Errol Zimmerman in a special mixed-rules matchup as they compete under K-1 rules, but in four-ounce MMA gloves, over three five-minute rounds.

The striking theme continues further down the fight card, as former WBC heavyweight title challenger Artur Szpilka makes his professional MMA debut against former boxing rival Sergey Radchenko.

Szpilka edged a controversial decision victory when they met in the boxing ring, but now the pair will meet in four-ounce gloves looking to claim a statement victory inside the KSW cage.

Also on the card, former KSW welterweight champ Borys Mankowski takes on former KSW featherweight champ Daniel Torres in a lightweight bout.