One of the most anticipated middleweight fights outside of the UFC will take place on Saturday afternoon when champion Michał Materla and superstar Mamed Khalidov place their friendship aside and finally collide at KSW 33 in Krakow.
Materla has held the KSW middleweight title since 2012 when he defeated Jay Silva to claim the Polish throne. Since then, he has amassed a four-fight win streak, including victories over Rodney Wallace, Kendall Grove, Jay Silva again. Most recently, he beat Polish MMA legend Tomasz Drwal.
Khalidov, a former KSW light-heavyweight champion, was sidelined since the start of the year because of a spinal injury that required surgery. Now healed and ready to return to action, Khalidov will begin his comeback with a title fight against his old friend. The Chechen-born Khalidov has compiled a nine-fight win streak that includes victories over James Irvin, Matt Lindland, Rodney Wallace, Melvin Manhoef and Brett Cooper.
Apart from the phenomenal main event, KSW 33 will also feature a heavyweight title fight between champ Karol Bedorf and Michal Kita. Bedorf is on a six-fight win streak that dates back to KSW 18 and won two out of his last three fights by technical knockout. Most recently, he defeated Pudzianowski vanquisher Peter Graham. His opponent, Kita, is on a 2-fight win streak that includes a victory over D.J. Linderman.
A third title fight will also take place on the KSW broadcast, albeit for a vacant featherweight title. The two contestants are Artur Sowinski and Japan’s Kleber Koike Erbst. This marks the Japanese fighter’s second professional appearance for KSW following his submission win against Anzor Azhiev at KSW:30 – Genesis. He is one a 14-fight win streak that includes a recent victory against UFC and WEC veteran Miguel Torres. His opponent will be the Polish standout who won two of his three fights under the KSW banner.
One of the more exciting fights on the card is actually a late setup, as Maiquel Falcao will step back in the KSW cage as a replacement for Polish veteran Tomasz Drwal against Germany’s Aziz Karaoglu. Falcao is on a three-fight win streak that includes a KO victory against Brett Cooper in his most recent fight at the last KSW show less than a month ago. Aziz is known as one of the more exciting fighters in the promotion, especially given that he won his last two fights by knockout. He upset Jay Silva in his most recent fight to earn his spot in the November fight card.
KSW 33 takes place Nov. 28 at the Tauron Arena in Krakow, Poland. The event can be purchased and viewed on KSWTV.com.
Fight Card
Michal Materla vs. Mamed Khalidov [MW Title Fight]
Karol Bedorf vs Michal Kita [HW Title Fight]
Maiquel Falcao vs Aziz Karaoglu
Artur Sowinski vs. Kleber Kolke Erbst [FW Title Fight]
Katarzyna Lubonska vs. Ariane Lipski
Lukasz Chlewicki vs. Bartlomiej Kurczewski
Kamil Szymuszowski vs David Zawada
Anzor Azhiev vs Vaso Bakocevic
Piotr Wawrzyniak vs Lukasz Blenkowski
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