Philip De Fries (born 21 April 1986) is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mixed martial artist 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, incorpo ...

currently competing in the Heavyweight division of

Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki 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. History Martin Lewandowsk ...

. A professional competitor since 2009, De Fries has formerly competed for 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 ...

, Bellator, and

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

. He is the current KSW heavyweight champion.

Background

Born in Sunderland, De Fries is of

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

origin through his paternal grandfather. He began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the age of 14. He worked as a drugs counselor before and during his professional mixed martial arts career.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Since the very beginning of his MMA career, De Fries has shown great submission skills, defeating the likes of Darren Towler and Stav Economou. He made his professional debut in 2009.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

After his win over Stav Economou, De Fries was scouted and signed a fight deal with the UFC. De Fries was expected to make his debut against

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) ...

at UFC 138. However, on 17 October 2011, it was revealed that Thompson had to pull out of the bout due to injury and was replaced by

Rob Broughton Rob Broughton (born 3 March 1983) is an English former mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor between 2004 and 2015, Broughton is a former British Cage Rage heavyweight champion and has also co ...

. De Fries won the fight via unanimous decision. In his second UFC fight, De Fries faced Stipe Miocic on 15 February 2012 at

UFC on Fuel TV 1 The year 2012 was the 20th year in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States. 2012 started with UFC 142: Aldo vs. Mendes and ended with UFC 155: dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2 ...

. He lost the fight via KO in the first round. De Fries faced former strongman

UFC on Fox 4 ''UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera'' (also known as ''UFC on Fox 4'') was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 4, 2012 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Background Chad Griggs was expected to fa ...

. He won the fight via submission in the second round. De Fries was expected to face

Matt Mitrione Matthew Steven Mitrione (born July 15, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist and former American football player, who competed for both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and most recently for Bellator MMA. Prior to embarking on an MM ...

on 29 December 2012 at

UFC 155 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 ...

. However, Mitrione stepped up to fight Roy Nelson at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Carwin vs. Team Nelson Finale and was replaced by

Todd Duffee Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporate ...

. De Fries lost via first round TKO due to punches. Mitrione vs. De Fries eventually took place on 6 April 2013 at

UFC on Fuel TV 9 ''UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi'' (also known as ''UFC on Fuel TV 9'' or ''UFC Sweden 2'') was a mixed martial arts event held on April 6, 2013, at the Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. The event was broadcast live on Fuel TV. Ba ...

. He lost the bout via knockout 19 seconds into the first round. Following the loss De Fries was released from the promotion.

Post-UFC

Following his release from the UFC, De Fries returned to action on 31 December 2013 in Japan as he faced Strikeforce veteran

Brett Rogers Brett Charles Rogers (born February 17, 1981) is an American former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the Heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 2005, Rogers has fought in EliteXC, Strikeforce, and Bellator. Ba ...

at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013. He won the fight via rear-naked choke in the first round. He then faced Judo specialist

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 ...

on the IGF 1 card which took place on 5 April 2014. De Fries lost this fight via unanimous decision.

Bellator MMA

De Fries made his Bellator MMA debut on 15 December 2017 at Bellator 191 against

Pride FC PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

vet James Thompson. He won the fight via submission in the first round.

KSW

On 8 February 2018 it was announced that De Fries had signed a four-fight contract with Polish MMA promotion

Heavyweight Championship reign

In the promotional debut De Fries faced Polish prospect Michał Andryszak for the vacant KSW Heavyweight Championship at KSW 43: Soldić vs. Du Plessis on 14 April 2018. De Fries won the fight via technical knockout in the first round and claimed the championship. On 6 October 2018 De Fries made his first title defense against Karol Bedorf at KSW 45: The Return to Wembley, retaining his championship via keylock submission in the second round. De Fries successfully defended his title against reigning KSW Light Heavyweight champion

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 ...

at KSW 47 on 23 March 2019, winning the fight via unanimous decision. De Fries was initially expected to make his next title defense against

Damian Grabowski Damian Grabowski (born May 12, 1980) is a Polish mixed martial artist who last competed in 2019. A professional since 2007, he has fought in the UFC, Bellator, Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW), and M-1 Global. Biography Grabowski is a multiple Bra ...

at KSW 50 on 14 September 2019. However, Grabowski was forced to withdraw from the bout due to an injury, and was replaced by Luis Henrique. De Fries won the fight by split decision. In his 4th defense, De Fries faced Michał Kita on 19 December 2020 at KSW 57: De Fries vs. Kita. He won the fight via second-round TKO finish one minute into the second round. De Fries rematched with

on 24 April 2021 at KSW 60: De Fries vs. Narkun 2. The pair previously met on 23 March 2019 in the main event at KSW 47: The X-Warriors, where De Fries defeated Narkun by unanimous decision and defended his KSW heavyweight title. He won the bout via ground and pound resulting in a TKO. De Fries faced

Darko Stošić Darko Stošić ( sr, Дарко Стошић; born February 9, 1992) is a Serbian mixed martial artist currently fighting for Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki (KSW) in the Heavyweight division. He is the former Final Fight Championship (FFC) heavyweigh ...

at KSW 67 on 26 February 2022. He defended his title and won the bout via TKO after Stošić tapped due to combination of exhaustion and damage in the fifth round. De Fries faced Ricardo Prasel on 10 September, 2022 at KSW 74. He defeated Prasel at the end of the first round, choking him out via rear-naked choke.

Personal life

De Fries has two daughters (born 2016 and 2018).

Championships and Accomplishments

** KSW Heavyweight Championship (1 time, current) ***Seven successful title defenses **Submission of the Night (two times)

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 22–6 (1) , Ricardo Prasel , Submission (rear-naked choke) , KSW 74: De Fries vs. Prasel , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:10 ,

Ostrów Wielkopolski Ostrów Wielkopolski () (often abbreviated ''Ostrów Wlkp.'', formerly called simply ''Ostrów'', german: Ostrowo, Latin: ''Ostrovia'') is a city in west-central Poland with 70,982 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship; ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 21–6 (1) ,

, TKO (submission to punches) , KSW 67: De Fries vs. Stošić , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 3:44 ,

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 20–6 (1) ,

, TKO (punches) , KSW 60: De Fries vs. Narkun 2 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:37 ,

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 19–6 (1) , Michał Kita , TKO (punches) , KSW 57: De Fries vs. Kita , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 0:59 ,

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 18–6 (1) , Luis Henrique , Decision (split) , KSW 50: London , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 17–6 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) , KSW 47: The X-Warriors , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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 ...

, , - , - , Win , align=center, 16–6 (1) , Karol Bedorf , Submission (americana) , KSW 45: The Return to Wembley , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:26 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 15–6 (1) , Michał Andryszak , TKO (punches) , KSW 43: Soldić vs. Du Plessis , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:32 ,

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 ...

, , - , - , Win , align=center, 14–6 (1) , James Thompson , Submission (guillotine choke) , Bellator 191 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 ,

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 13–6 (1) , Anton Vyazigin , Decision (majority) , M-1 Challenge 84: Kunchenko vs. Romanov , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, , - , Loss , align=center, 12–6 (1) , Ivan Shtyrkov , TKO (elbows and punches) , RCC Boxing Promotions: Day of Victory 72 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:51 ,

Yekaterinburg Yekaterinburg ( ; rus, Екатеринбург, p=jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg and formerly known as Sverdlovsk ( rus, Свердло́вск, , svʲɪrˈdlofsk, 1924–1991), is a city and the administra ...

, , - , Win , align=center, 12–5 (1) , Thomas Denham , TKO (punches) , M4tC 22: Warriors , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:37 ,

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newc ...

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 11–5 (1) , Thomas Denham , TKO (punches) , M4tC 16: Invasion , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:01 ,

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 11–4 (1) , Łukasz Parobiec , Submission (rear-naked choke) , M4tC 15: Bad Blood , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:03 ,

, England , , - , Loss , align=center, 10–4 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) , Inoki Genome Fight 1 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan , , - , Win , align=center, 10–3 (1) ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2013 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:45 ,

, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–3 (1) ,

, KO (punches) , UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:19 , Stockholm, Sweden , , - , Loss , align=center, 9–2 (1) ,

, TKO (punches) ,

, , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:04 ,

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–1 (1) ,

, Submission (rear-naked choke) , UFC on Fox: Shogun vs. Vera , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:16 ,

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, United States , , - , Loss , align=center, 8–1 (1) , Stipe Miocic , KO (punches) , UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs. Ellenberger , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:43 ,

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–0 (1) ,

, Decision (unanimous) , UFC 138 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 5:00 ,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 7–0 (1) , Stav Economou , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Ultimate Warrior Challenge 16 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 3:56 ,

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, England , , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 (1) , Colin Robinson , Submission (armbar) , Supremacy Fight Challenge 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:33 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 (1) , Andy Spiers , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Supremacy Fight Challenge 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:14 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , NC , align=center, 4–0 (1) , Dave Wilson , NC (punches to the back of the head) , Tyneside Fighting Challenge , , align=center, 1 , align=center, N/A , Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Darren Towler , Submission (D'Arce choke) , Strike and Submit 14 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:37 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Grant Hocking , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Strike and Submit 13 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:35 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jamie Sheldon , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Strike and Submit 12 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Darren Towler , Submission (rear-naked choke) , Strike and Submit 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:48 , Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:De fries, Phil 1987 births Living people English male mixed martial artists Heavyweight mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing Brazilian jiu-jitsu People from Cleethorpes Ultimate Fighting Championship male fighters English practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu