Fight Facts: KSW 68 ‘Parnasse vs. Rutkowski’

HUGE KNOCKOUT!!

@d_janikowski #KSW68 pic.twitter.com/quSUeLq8BJ

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) March 19, 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: 626
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 73

KSW took a trip to the Polish city of Radom for the first time in its illustrious tenure, and the participants made sure to put on a show for the masses. The featherweight champion looked to cement his legacy atop the billing, capping off a card heavy on action. KSW 68 featured one of the latest stoppages in company history, an aging heavyweight who may be taking too much damage lately and an unheard of Cher walkout song.

Try Your Middle Name: Throughout the card, three men named Michal entered the KSW cage: Michal Pietrzak, Michal Kita and Michal Domin. None of them won, with the latter two sustaining knockout losses.

French Fried: Early into Round 4, Salahdine Parnasse dropped and then submitted challenger Daniel Rutkowski to successfully defend his featherweight strap. The Frenchman is now the second undisputed featherweight beltholder to notch a title defense, after Artur Sowinski in 2016.

I’ll Stick Around: France’s Parnasse coaxed the tap 67 seconds into the fourth frame by rear-naked choke, earning just the fourth finish beyond the third round in KSW history. The latest came at the previous KSW card when Philip De Fries made Darko Stosic surrender at 3:44 of Round 5.

Two-Division Intentions Loom: Parnasse officially recorded his eighth win as a KSW featherweight when he topped Rutkowski, further extending his lead as the winningest fighter in divisional history. The closest active fighter is Artur Sowinski (five), although “Kornik” moved up to 155 pounds in 2018.

Kompany Man: With one punch, Damian Janikowski rebounded from his first decision setback by laying waste to Tomasz Jakubiec. The 32-year-old’s entire career has taken place under the KSW banner, and his finish rate resides at a solid 86% while only going the distance twice as a pro.

From Contender Series to KSW: Coming in as a +350 underdog, Ricardo Prasel put Kita away with punches and elbows on the ground. The upset is the second-greatest in KSW heavyweight history, trailing De Fries winning as a +383 underdog against -577 favorite Michal Andryszak for the vacant belt.

You Hate to See It: At the hands and elbows of Prasel, Kita suffered his 10th career knockout loss at this event. In comparison, the other eight losing competitors on this card had only succumbed to five combined knockouts leading up to KSW 68.

Zlot Receiver: Ending his three-fight skid, “Zloty” Albert Odzimkowski put Tommy Quinn away before the midpoint of the first round. As a pro, the Radom native has seen 92% of his victories end inside the distance, while earning his ninth stoppage win in Round 1.

Even Pudz Was Impressed: Rafal Kijanczuk stopped Yann Kouadja after a wild 143 seconds of combat. As a professional, 91% of the wins for “Kijana” have come by knockout, with all but one taking place in the first round.

No Issues with the Gas Tank: After three rounds, Adam Tomasik picked up a unanimous decision win over Marcin Trzcinski. Tomasik had never before gone the distance in his young MMA career, let alone even reach the third stanza.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 68, Rutkowski had never been finished (16 fights), Jakubiec had never dropped consecutive bouts (13 fights) and Domin (six fights) and Quinn (13 fights) had never been knocked out.

He Did Turn Back Time: Ahead of his light heavyweight matchup with Kouadja, Kijanczuk made the unusual choice of walking out to Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time.” The Polish fighter won by knockout.