Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (English: ''Martial Arts Confrontation'') better known by its initials KSW, is widely considered to be the premiere

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...

organization in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

and one of the leading in Europe.

History

Martin Lewandowski had been the manager of the Hotel Marriott in Warsaw when he met Maciej Kawulski in 2002. Kawulski was organizing one of the biggest sports expos in Poland at that time, and as both businessmen come from martial arts backgrounds, they quickly found a common subject. Eighteen months later the first KSW show was born. The promotion is famed for its four and eight-man tournaments, which until KSW X - Dekalog took place over the period of one night, but since KSW XI they are split, with the tournament final taking place on the next event. KSW XV is the first event without a new tournament, only with extra fights and finals from previous tournaments. Different from other bigger promotions such as the

UFC The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...

, KSW adopted the strategy of having events that are less frequent but bigger, focusing on creating big shows with stacked cards and with great spectacle. In 2017, KSW 39: Colosseum beat the record to largest live attendance to a MMA event in Europe, and second-largest in history with 57,776 fans, only after the

Pride Shockwave ''Pride Shockwave Dynamite!'' is the international PPV broadcast name for the mixed martial arts and kickboxing event co-promoted by the PRIDE Fighting Championships and K-1 on August 28, 2002. It was held at the Tokyo National Stadium in Tokyo, ...

in 2002 and ahead of

UFC 193 ''UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm'' was a mixed martial arts event held on 14 November 2015, at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the most attended UFC event in the history of the company at the time, with 56,214 people filling th ...

. Several fighters who have been successful in KSW have signed on to more well known promotions such as the

. KSW has its own fight team, the KSW Team, which consists of some of the promotion's elite fighters, such as

Mamed Khalidov Mamed Khalidov ( rus, Мамед Магомедович Халидов, Mamied Magomedowicz Chalidow, mɐˈmʲɛt maɣɔmʲɛdɔvʲit͡ʂ xɐˈlʲidəf; pl, Mamed Chalidow ; born 17 July 1980 in Grozny) is a Polish mixed martial artist of Chech ...

Jan Błachowicz Jan Maciej Błachowicz (; born 24 February 1983) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Cham ...

, Krzysztof Kulak, Łukasz Jurkowski or Antoni Chmielewski. KSW co-operates with many other promotions in Europe by exchanging fighters, for example WFC and The Cage. KSW runs the majority of its shows live on a variety of TV networks (

Polsat Sport Polsat Sport () is a Polish sports channel owned by Polsat. It launched on 11 August 2000 and is available via satellite on Cyfrowy Polsat. Polsat Sport HD Polsat Sport HD is a sports channel owned by Polsat, which broadcasts in High Definit ...

Polsat Sport Extra Polsat Sport Extra is a Polish television sports channel owned and operated by Polsat. Polsat Sport Extra HD Polsat Sport Extra HD is a second sports channel owned by Polsat, which broadcasts in HD. This channel have the same programming sched ...

) throughout Europe. Since KSW XI, the promotion runs its shows live on nationally available at private

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscripti ...

television network

Polsat Polsat is a Polish free-to-air television channel that was launched on 5 December 1992 by Zygmunt Solorz-Żak. , it is the most watched television channel in Poland with a market share of 11.30% Polsat belongs to Grupa Polsat Plus ( WSECPS, wh ...

. The KSW

ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bou ...

is Waldemar Kasta, a former rapper born in

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

Roster

Rankings

The rankings for the KSW's fighters are both recorded and updated when information has been obtained from the KSW's website.

List of KSW events

List of KSW events: * 2004 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2005 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki -

2006 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2006 is the third year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2006 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 2 events beginning with, ''KSW V: Konfrontacja''. List of events KSW V: Ko ...

2007 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2007 was the fourth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2007 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 3 events beginning with, ''KSW VII: Konfrontacja''. List of events KSW VII ...

2008 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2008 is the fifth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2008, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, ''KSW Elimination II''. List of events KSW Elimi ...

- 2009 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2010 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki -

2011 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2011 is the eighth year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. In 2011 Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki held 4 events beginning with, ''KSW Extra 2''. List of events KSW Extra 2 KS ...

- 2012 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2013 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2014 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2015 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2016 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki - 2017 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki -

2018 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2018 will be the 15th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2018 began with KSW 42. List of events Title fights KSW 42: Khalidov vs. Narkun KSW 42: Khalidov vs. Nark ...

2019 in Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki The year 2019 was the 16th year in the history of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, a mixed martial arts promotion based in Poland. 2019 began with KSW 47. List of events Title fights KSW Middleweight Championship Tournament bracket KSW 47: T ...

Current champions

Men's divisions

Women's divisions

Championship history

Heavyweight championship

Light heavyweight championship

Middleweight championship

Welterweight championship

Lightweight championship

Featherweight championship

Bantamweight championship

Women's flyweight championship

Women's strawweight championship

KSW fighters

List of current KSW fighters Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (English: Martial Arts Confrontation) better known by its initials KSW, is widely considered to be the premiere mixed martial arts organization in Poland and one of the leading in Europe. This list is an up-to-date roster ...

Notable fighters

Daniel Acácio Daniel Acácio (born 27 December 1977 in Botucatu) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, also current Superior Challenge Welterweight Champion and 100% Fight Middleweight Champion. He is most notable for his fights in PRIDE Fighting ...

Houston Alexander Houston Alexander (born March 22, 1972) is an American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in 2017. A professional competitor since 2001, he has fought for the UFC, Bellator, Shark Fights, the RFA, and KSW. He currently comp ...

Scott Askham Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Saskat ...

Roberto Soldić Roberto Soldić (; born 25 January 1995) is a Croatian mixed martial artist and professional boxer, competing in ONE Championship. Before turning 26, Soldić won five belts in five different European MMA promotions including Middleweight and We ...

Mateusz Gamrot Mateusz Gamrot (born December 11, 1990) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Lightweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gamrot is a former KSW Featherweight Champion and KSW Lightwei ...

Francis Carmont Francis Carmont (born October 10, 1981) is a French professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Light Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2004, Carmont has competed for Bellator MMA, the UFC, and KSW. Mixed mart ...

Jasminka Cive Jasminka Cive (born ) is an Austrian female kickboxer and mixed martial artist, based in Austria. She competes professionally since 2005 and is the current ISKA Flyweight champion and mixed martial artist. Biography Born in Serbia, Jasminka C ...

* Brett Cooper *

Phil De Fries Philip De Fries (born 21 April 1986) is a British mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki. A professional competitor since 2009, De Fries has formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, an ...

Tomasz Drwal Tomasz is a Polish given name, the equivalent of Thomas in English. Notable people with the given name include: *Tomasz Adamek (born 1976), Polish heavyweight boxer *Tomasz Arciszewski (1877–1955), Polish socialist politician and Prime Minis ...

Damian Stasiak Damian Stasiak (born February 20, 1990) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing in the Featherweight division of the Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). A professional competitor since 2011, he formerly competed for the Ultimate Fightin ...

* Yasubey Enomoto *

Eric Esch Eric Scott Esch (born August 3, 1966), better known by his nickname "Butterbean", is an American retired professional boxer, kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler who competed in the heavyweight division. He is also a televis ...

* Maiquel Falcao *

Kalindra Faria Kalindra Walquiri de Carvalho Faria (born July 23, 1986) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist competing in the Women's Strawweight division. Faria most recently competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Mixed martial arts career Early care ...

Sheila Gaff Sheila (alternatively spelled Shelagh and Sheelagh) is a common feminine given name, derived from the Irish name ''Síle'', which is believed to be a Gaelic form of the Latin name Caelia, the feminine form of the Roman clan name Caelius, meani ...

Andrey Gerasimchuk Andrey Gerasimchuk (born February 7, 1987) is a Belarusian Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the heavyweight division. He is a three time Kunlun Fight Tournament winner. He was ranked as a top ten heavyweight by Combat Press from October 20 ...

* Konstantin Gluhov *

Rodney Glunder Rodney Glunder (born as ''Rodney Faverus'', March 1, 1975) is a retired Dutch professional kickboxer, mixed martial artist, professional wrestler and boxer, current actor, entrepreneur and bodybuilder. He has fought for M-1 Global, Cage Rage, K- ...

Rolles Gracie Jr. Rolles Gracie (born July 14, 1978) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, and professional wrestler. As the son of Rolls Gracie, he is a third generation martial arts member of the Gracie family, an ...

* Peter Graham * Sergej Grecicho *

Kendall Grove Kendall Grove (born November 12, 1982) is an American mixed martial artist who is currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, he has also competed for the Bellator MMA, UFC, KSW, ProElite, King ...

Jason Guida Jason Guida (born August 4, 1977) is a former American professional mixed martial artist who last competed for Bellator. A professional competitor from 2003 until 2014, he also fought for EliteXC, the WEC, KSW, Adrenaline MMA and World Extre ...

Alexander Gustafsson Alexander Gustafsson (born 15 January 1987) is a Swedish professional mixed martial artist. Gustafsson currently competes in the light heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Gustafsson spent a major part of his MMA ...

* Mike Hayes *

Matt Horwich Matthew Peter Horwich (born October 2, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Horwich has fought in BAMMA, Strikeforce, Bellator, the UFC, and for ...

* James Irvin *

Satoshi Ishii is a Japanese-born judoka, mixed martial artist, kickboxer and submission grappler who has held Croatian citizenship since 2019. Ishii won the gold medal in Olympic Judo at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics, a silver medal at the ...

* Rafal Jackiewicz *

Damian Janikowski Damian Janikowski (born June 27, 1989 in Wrocław) is a Polish mixed martial artist and former wrestler who won the Bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the Greco-Roman 84 kg category. He is currently ranked #8 in the KSW Middleweight ra ...

Maciej Jewtuszko Maciej Jewtuszko (born January 31, 1981) is a Polish mixed martial artist who most recently competed in 2019. A professional since 2005, he has fought in the UFC, WEC, and KSW. He is the former KSW Lightweight Champion. Background Jewtuszko c ...

* Yusuke Kawaguchi *

* Szymon Kołecki *

Karolina Kowalkiewicz Karolina Kowalkiewicz (born 15 October 1985) is a Polish mixed martial artist. She currently fights for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). She is the former KSW Women's Flyweight Champion. Mixed martial arts career Early career Kowalki ...

Matt Lindland Matthew James Lindland (born May 17, 1970), also known as The Law, is an American retired mixed martial artist, Olympic wrestler, speaker, actor, coach, entrepreneur and politician. He won the Oregon Republican Party's nomination for t ...

Melvin Manhoef Melvin Manhoef (born 11 May 1976) is a retired Surinamese-born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime Middleweight Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion. In mixed mar ...

* John Maguire *

Sean McCorkle Sean McCorkle (born July 17, 1976) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist who last competed in the Super Heavyweight division. A professional from 2005 until 2014, he competed for the UFC, Bellator, KSW, and King of the Cage ...

James McSweeney James Adam McSweeney (born 24 October 1980) is a British kickboxer and retired mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, McSweeney is well known for being a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights'' ...

Mario Miranda Mário João Carlos do Rosário de Brito Miranda (2 May 1926 – 11 December 2011), popularly known as Mario Miranda or Mario de Miranda, was an Indian cartoonist and painter based in Loutolim in the Indian state of Goa. Miranda had been a ...

Christian M'Pumbu Christian M'Pumbu (born June 2, 1977) is a French-Congolese professional mixed martial artist. He was the inaugural Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. Background M'Pumbu was born in Kinshasa, Zaire (now known as the Democratic Republic of ...

Tomasz Narkun Tomasz "Giraffe" Narkun (born December 3, 1989) is a Polish mixed martial artist currently competing for KSW. A professional MMA competitor since 2009, he is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion and has also competed for M-1 Global, wher ...

Pawel Nastula Pavel ( Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pav ...

Oleksiy Oliynyk Aleksei Alexeyevich Oleinik (born June 25, 1977, as Oleksíy Oleksíyovych Olíynyk) is a Russian mixed martial artist and combat sambo fighter who fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, competing in their heavyweight division. He be ...

Daniel Omielańczuk Daniel Omielańczuk (born August 31, 1982) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently competing in the Heavyweight division of Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW). A professional MMA competitor since 2009, he has competed ...

* Wojciech Orłowski *

Valentijn Overeem Valentijn Overeem (; born 17 August 1976) is a retired Dutch professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed with United Glory. A professional competitor since 1996, he has previously fought for the PRIDE Fighting Championships, ...

Rousimar Palhares Rousimar Christian Palhares (;, born February 20, 1980) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, he has competed for the UFC, World Series of Fighting, and KSW. His nickname ''Toquinho'' (), Portuguese f ...

Norman Parke Norman Parke (born 22 December 1986) is a Northern Irish mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2006, Parke has fought for the UFC, Absolute Championship Berkut, KSW, and BAMMA. He was also a competitor for Team UK on The ...

* Łukasz Parobiec *

Igor Pokrajac Igor Pokrajac (born 2 January 1979) is a Croatian mixed martial artist, who formerly competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2003, Pokrajac has also formerly competed for K ...

Wagner Prado Wagner Prado (born December 30, 1987) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the light heavyweight division of Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA). A professional competitor since 2009, he has formerly competed for the UFC an ...

Mariusz Pudzianowski Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski (; born 7 February 1977), also known as "Pudzian" and "Dominator", is a Polish entrepreneur, mixed martial artist and former strongman competitor. With 43 international victories at a record 70% winning percenta ...

* Paweł "Popek" Rak *

Goran Reljic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups * Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa * Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East * Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses * Göran, a Sw ...

Ryuta Sakurai Ryuta Sakurai (born September 8, 1971) is a Japanese mixed martial artist who currently competes in the middleweight division. A veteran who fought for many companies such as Shooto, Pancrase and PRIDE. Nicknamed Mr. DEEP, he is best known for ...

* Bob Sapp * Przemysław Saleta *

Jay Silva Jay Silva (born May 25, 1981) is an Angolan-born American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2008, Silva has also formerly competed for the UFC, Bellator, the MFC, KSW, and T ...

Thiago Silva Thiago Emiliano da Silva (born 22 September 1984) is a Brazilian professional Association Football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and captains the Brazil national football team, Brazil national team. Con ...

Paul Slowinski Paul "The Sting" Slowinski (born 24 September 1980) is a Polish kickboxer, a four-time World Muay Thai Council (WMC) Muay Thai World champion and two-time K-1 World GP 2006 in Auckland and K-1 World GP 2007 in Amsterdam champion. After two y ...

Peter Sobotta Peter Sobotta (born January 11, 1987) is a retired Polish-born German professional mixed martial artist, who fought in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2004, Sobotta has also f ...

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua (; born April 18, 1984), mostly billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Sokoudjou is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, and h ...

* Simona Soukupova *

Artur Szpilka Artur Szpilka (; born 12 April 1989) is a Polish professional boxer and mixed martial artist. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2016. He holds a notable win over former two-weight world champion Tomasz Adamek. Profession ...

Jesse Taylor Jesse Marcus Taylor (born January 2, 1983) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) and 10th Planet Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt fighter currently competing in the Welterweight division. A professional competitor since 2006, he was ...

Paulo Thiago Paulo Thiago Alencar Antunes (; born January 25, 1981) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Middleweight division of KSW. A professional competitor since 2005, he has also competed for the UFC and Jungle Figh ...

* James Thompson *

Oli Thompson Oli or OLI may refer to: Places * Oli-ye Jonubi, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran * Oli-ye Shomali, a village in Bushehr Province, Iran People * Óli, a Faroese and Icelandic given name * Oliver (given name), nickname * Oli (footballer) ...

Kazuki Tokudome is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of ONE Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he has also competed in Pancrase, Sengoku Raiden Championships and the Ultimate Fighting ...

* Attila Végh * Rodney Wallace *

Jim Wallhead Jim Wallhead (born 14 March 1984) is an English professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Welterweight division. He has competed for BAMMA, Bellator, and M-1 Challenge and the UFC . Wallhead is a member of Team Rough House and Le ...

Curt Warburton Curt Warburton (born 1981) is an English mixed martial artist from Coundon, County Durham. He formerly trained at Wolfslair MMA Academy in Liverpool, England. Mixed martial arts career Early career Warburton's most notable achievement in the do ...

Andre Winner Andre Badi Winner (born 9 November 1981) is a Grenadian-born English mixed martial artist. He was a cast member of Spike TV's '' The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom'', reaching the final. Winner is also a member of Team Roug ...

* Arkadiusz Wrzosek *

Virgil Zwicker Virgil Zwicker, (born June 26, 1982), is an American professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2003, Zwicker has formerly competed for Bellator MMA, Strikeforce and KSW. B ...

References

External links

Konfrontacja at Sherdog

KSW Official Site

European MMA Rankings
{{MMA organizations Organizations established in 2004 Mixed martial arts organizations Sports organisations of Poland Mixed martial arts events lists 2004 establishments in Poland