Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) is a Polish MMA promotion that has its third event of the year on Saturday at the Radom Sports Center in Radom, Poland. The main event is a KSW Featherweight Championship bout pitting challenger Daniel Rutkowski against the champ, Salahdine Parnasse. The co-headliner is a catchweight fight between Michal Pietrzak and Tomasz Romanowski. We have the full fight card as well as some MMA betting thoughts on the event.
KSW 68: Parnasse vs Rutkowski
Fight Card
Salahdine Parnasse vs Daniel Rutkowski (KSW Featherweight Championship)
Michal Pietrzak vs Tomasz Romanowski (Catchweight)
Damian Janikowski vs Tomasz Jakubiec (Middleweight)
Ricardo Prasel vs Michal Kita (Heavyweight)
Patryk Kaczmarczyk vs Michal Domin (Featherweight)
Tommy Quinn vs Albert Odzimkowski (Middleweight)
Yann Kouadja vs Rafal Kijanczuk (Light Heavyweight)
Piotr Kacprzak vs Jose Marcos Lima Santiago Jr (Featherweight)
Marcin Trzcinski vs Adam Tomasik (Light Heavyweight)
Salahdine Parnasse (16-1-1) vs Daniel Rutkowski (13-2)
is Parnasse’s first defense since regaining the belt at KSW 65, when he took down Daniel Torres by a unanimous decision. Parnasse is just 24, but he has considerable experience at the top levels of European MMA, as he has beaten several former champions both in Cage Warriors and KSW. His main skills are in the striking game, as his footwork allows him to bring mobility while moving in for the kill once he has worn down his opponent’s defenses. When opponents try to take him down, though, he has shown elite takedown defense.Rutkowski may be the best wrestler that Parnasse has fought, though. Rutkowski is a former national champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, even though he does not always bring those skills into the cage with him. Rutkowski has tried to move toward striking, even moving into boxing briefly earlier in his career. Before he joined KSW, Rutkowski was already the Bailon MMA and FEN Featherweight champion, so if he can take down Parnasse, he would hold the division title in all three promotions. His high kick and boxing are fun to watch, and this will be an interesting pairing of strategies.
Final Prediction: Parnasse wins via decision
Michal Pietrzak (10-4-1) vs Tomasz Romanowski (14-8)
is an interesting co-main event. Pietrzak trains with Ankos MMA and brings both striking power and wrestling skills. He can absorb punishment while moving through his opponent’s defenses – which will set him up nicely for Romanowski, who started out as a jiu-jitsu fighter but has taken on more of a high-pressure approach, also looking to move forward and bring pressure. With two volume strikers who have quick hands, this will be an entertaining fight from start to finish. Neither one is likely to let the pace slow, so expect the first fighter whose defenses crack to suffer.Final Prediction: Pietrzak wins via decision
Damian Janikowski (6-4) vs Tomasz Jakubiec (10-3)
features an Olympic medalist, as Janikowski took the bronze in London back in 2012 in Greco-Roman wrestling. He moved to MMA and has added striking to his repertoire. His hands have gained speed, and his kicks provide power as well. He does have that wrestling base but has also worked hard to bolster his cardio, so he might be able to rely less heavily on the ground game and use it instead to bring things to a finish after his striking has worn down an opponent. Jakubiec is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with a strong striking game. This fight should go the full 15 minutes.Final Prediction: Jakubiec wins via decision
