Fight Facts: KSW 61 ‘To Fight or Not To Fight’

What a way to introduce yourself to the KSW featherweight division!!

@StasiakMMA with the triangle!! #KSW61 pic.twitter.com/pujoJzB30e

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) June 5, 2021

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: 571
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 67

KSW returned to a venue with fans in the building, as KSW 61 took place in a half-filled Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. Although no belts were on the line, the results were largely explosive, with a majority of the bouts ending by violent stoppage. This event featured two of the most seasoned KSW vets squaring off to produce a knockout record, as well as a women’s divisional milestone and a heavyweight contender on the rise.

The Legendary Pudzianowski Cardio: In the third round, Mariusz Pudzianowski rallied to finish Lukasz Jurkowski with punches from the crucifix position. In doing so, Pudzianowski eclipsed the KSW record for the most knockouts with 10, passing Michal Materla.

Welcome to the Club: The win for Pudzianowski was his 15th on the KSW roster, and he becomes the fifth fighter in organizational history to prevail that many times. He ties opponent Jurkowski for this tally, while Jan Blachowicz (16) and Mamed Khalidov and Materla (19 each) hold more.

See You at the Reunion: Both Pudzianowski and Jurkowski made their 22th appearance under the KSW banner, moving them into a third-place tie together. Khalidov (24) and Materla (25) are the only two with more KSW bouts.

He Should Fight Fedor: At 44 years of age, Pudzianowski is now one win shy of tying his career record for his longest winning streak. “Pudzian” has knocked out Erko Jun, Nikola Milanovic and Jurkowski on this stretch.

KSW OG: Jurkowski won the inaugural KSW tournament at KSW 1 in 2004. By competing at KSW 61, he remains the longest tenured member of the roster.

What a Jurk: As he suffered a knockout at the hands of Pudzianowski, Jurkowski fell short for the seventh time as a KSW fighter. He ties Artur Sowinski and Krzysztof Kulak for the second most losses in KSW history, and they all trail Antoni Chmielewski (eight).

Donnie Darko Stosic: Darko Stosic pounded out Michal Kita to earn his second win with KSW, and handed Kita his third KSW loss due to strikes. Kita is now tied for the second-most knockout losses in company history, behind Materla (five).

Three-Quarter Kincl: Like Stosic, Patrik Kincl too picked up his second win in the KSW cage, and his second due to strikes by smashing Tomasz Romanowski. Kincl celebrates a career finish rate of 75 percent, with half of his wins coming by knockout now.

What a Catch: The match officially taking place at a 118-pound catchweight, Karolina Owczarz vs. Monika Kucinic is the first catchweight bout among female fighters in company history.

Small Pond Power: Owczarz notched her fourth career win and fourth victory inside the KSW cage by defeating Kucinic on the scorecards. Owczarz is one triumph shy of the promotion’s all-time win record for women, and she trails Ariane Lipski and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

The ‘K’ in KSW: Women with the given name of Karolina account for 52.4 percent of all wins in KSW women’s divisional history, between Kowalkiewicz, Owczarz and Karolina Wojcik.

PM Shift: In the first round, Ivan Erslan put Przemyslaw Mysiala away with punches. Throughout Mysiala’s 36-fight career that began in 2004, “Misiek” has only gone the distance three times. He has not reached the judges since a 2015 draw with Anatoli Ciumac.

Is It ‘Alex Karras in Webster?’: After suffering a knockdown, Damian Stasiak rebounded to tap Andrey Lezhnev in the first round with a triangle choke. The submission was the 10th for “Webster,” who holds 77 percent of his career wins from subs.

The Owczarz Connection: There have now been 11 triangle chokes in KSW history, following Stasiak tapping Lezhnev. It is the first since KSW 52 in 2019, when Owczarz submitted Aleksandra Rola with one.

Head and Arm Doctor: In the opening bout on the card, Adam Niedzwiedz submitted Jakub Kamieniarz with an arm-triangle choke in Round 2. Keeping his 100 percent finish rate intact with the stoppage, each of his last five victories have come via arm-triangle.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 61, Pudzianowski had never earned a stoppage beyond Round 2 (nine finishes), Jurkowski had never competed above 224 pounds (he weighed 249 at KSW 61) and Lezhnev had never been submitted (29 fights).