KSW 49: Materla vs. Askham 2 - May 18 (OFFICIAL DISCUSSION)

KSW will return to the magnificent Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland on May 18 with a huge KSW 49 card.

In the main event Michal Materla (27-6) and  Scott Askham (17-4) will lock horns once again but this time the winner will be crowned the new KSW middleweight champion.
 
The pair first fought at KSW 42 with Askham scoring an early first round finish with his now patented body kicks. Then at KSW 45 in London last October both Askham and Materla competed in the opening round of the middleweight grand prix tournament after Mamed Khalidov vacated the title. Askham won his semi-final with another first round finish due to a body kick while Materla also won his fight with a first round TKO finish of Olympian Damian Janikowski.
 
KO machine and human highlight reel Roberto Soldic (15-3) will defend his welterweight title against the undefeated Krystian Kaszubowski (7-0). Despite being only 24-years-old, Roberto Soldic has earned himself a reputation in Europe as being one of the most fearsome fighters around at welterweight. Over the course of his young career he has amassed fourteen stoppage wins with eight coming in the first round. He made his KSW debut with a demolition of former champ Borys Mankowski at KSW 41 and followed this up with a pair of fights against Dricus Du Plessis and, most recently, he scored a truly devastating KO win over Vinicius Bohrer at KSW 46.
 
Kaszubowski signed with KSW in 2018 after a 5-0 run on the local scene in Poland. Two first round stoppage wins in his debut year in KSW over the previously undefeated Christophe Henze and the tough Michal Michalski secured Kaszubowski’s place as the number one contender in the division. 
 
Also announced for the card is an all-Polish heavyweight collision between two of the nations’ most formidable grapplers in Karol Bedorf (15-4) and Damian Grabowski (21-5).
 
Bedorf is the former and longest reigning KSW heavyweight champ and is truly focused on getting his title back after losing it at the end of 2016. Since then he has went 1-1 with a submission win over Mariusz Pudzianowski and then falling short when challenging Phil De Fries for the title at KSW 45. 
 
Damian Grobowski has competed almost everywhere. Three fights in the UFC, a stint in Bellator, he won the heavyweight title in M-1, and now Grabowski will finally make his KSW debut. The 38-year-old has eighteen career stoppage wins with eleven via submission. Most recently he finished Brazilian veteran Jose Rodrigo Guelka with a first round TKO on the local in scene in Poland in what was his first post-UFC fight and now he has his sights set on challenging in the KSW heavyweight division starting with Karol Bedorf on May 18.

Materla lost by flying knee KO. Soldic retained the title.