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The tiebreaker between Mamed Khalidov and Scott Askham has been booked.
KSW has paired up the former middleweight champions for their trilogy bout. The matchup is scheduled to take place at the promotion’s second Colosseum event, which will go down in Warsaw, Poland on June 3.
The middleweights have a score to settle
Khalidov and Askham have each won a fight respectively in their rivalry.
They first met in late 2019, when Askham picked up a unanimous decision win after three rounds. Khalidov started the fight strong, although Askham’s work on the ground in the second and third rounds allowed him to walk away with the victory after three rounds.
Notably, both fighters also drove their way to the cage in sports cars at that event.
Their second bout was scheduled for five rounds but ended up significantly shorter than their first meeting. Khalidov bounced back in emphatic fashion, flooring Askham in 36 seconds with a switch kick knockout.
That matchup also made Khalidov the KSW Middleweight Champion. He later dropped the belt to Roberto Soldic.
The matchup this summer will be a return to action for Askham. The six-time UFC vet has been out of action since suffering his quick loss to Khalidov in 2020.
KSW plans to follow up on big first ‘Colosseum’ event
KSW 83 will be at the PGE Narodowy, the same venue where the first Colosseum event was held at in 2017.
The venue, which is the home of Poland’s national football team, played host to an impressive turnout the first time that KSW was there. The promotion reported selling over 56,000 tickets before the event took place.
Three big matches are now set for KSW 83. Artur Szpilka, a former opponent of boxer Deontay Wilder, will meet promotional star Mariusz Pudzianowski in a heavyweight tilt. Szpilka won his MMA debut at KSW 71 last year and has picked up another victory since then.
The sole title fight of the show is currently set to be a contest between Marian Ziolkowski and Salahdine Parnasse. This lightweight title bout was first set to happen in November of last year but was delayed due to an injury to Ziolkowski.
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