May 24, 2022 - KSW 70 takes place this Saturday, May 28, at the Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland, and will feature two of Croatia's most popular fighters.

Ivan Erslan (11-1) has a massive opportunity to take a step back towards a title shot in the KSW light heavyweight division as he faces Polish power-puncher Rafał Kijańczuk (11-4). The 30-year-old was originally scheduled to fight at KSW 67 in February, however, two opponents pulled out due to injury and now the ATT Zagreb fighter is raring to go.

An impressive win for either fighter could signal a potential title shot against new KSW light heavyweight champion Ibragim Chuzhigaev.

KSW 70: Erslan vs. Kijańczuk Trailer

Erslan's teammate Francisco 'Croata' Barrio (9-2) will kick off the KSW 70 fight card by taking on popular Polish fighter Łukasz Rajewski (11-7). The Argentine-Croatian is currently 1-1 in KSW and comes into this fight with just over one week's notice.

Five-time world strongest man Mariusz Pudzianowski (16-7) headlines KSW 70 in a Legend vs. Legend match-up with former KSW middleweight champ Michal Materla (31-8) and we will also see the debut of former Glory middleweight champ Jason Winis (2-0) as he faces fellow kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter Radosław Paczuski (3- 0).

KSW 70 is available to watch for Croatian fans live on www.KSWTV.com this Saturday starting at 6 pm CET.

KSW 70 Fight Card
Live on www.KSWTV.com

Main Event
Heavyweight
Mariusz Pudzianowski (16-7) vs. Michal Materla (31-8)

Co-Main Event
Heavyweight
Ricardo Prasel (12-3) vs. Daniel Omelianczuk (25-12-1)

Light Heavyweight
Ivan Erslan (11-1) vs. Rafał Kijańczuk (11-4)

Heavyweight
Marek Samociuk (3-2) vs. Izu Ugonoh (1-1)

Light Heavyweight
Damian Piwowarczyk (5-0) vs. Bartosz Leśko (11-2-2)

Middleweight
Radosław Paczuski (3-0) vs. Jason Wilnis (2-0)

Strawweight
Anita Bekus (5-2) vs. Roberta Zocco (3-3)

Middleweight
Albert Odzimkowski (11-6) vs. Tommy Quinn (9-5)

Catchweight 74kg
Lukasz Rajewski (11-7) vs. Francisco Barrio (9-2)

KSW, or Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, is the premier mixed martial arts organization in Poland and one of the leading MMA organizations in Europe, founded back in 2004. Many KSW fighters have signed on to globally known promotions such as the UFC, making the organization an admirable stepping stone to the world's biggest stage. 

Photo Credit: Sebastian Rudnicki/KSW

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

February 8, 2022 - Croatia's Ivan Erslan (11-1) and Filip 'Nitro' Pejić (15-6-2) will be back in action at KSW 67 in Warsaw on February 26.

Erslan will take on the undefeated Hasan Mezhiev (12-0) of Latvia in what is a very important fight in the KSW light heavyweight division. The 30-year-old challenged for the title at KSW 56 but lost to then-champion Tomasz Narkun. He has since bounced back with two stoppage wins in a row and could be back in the title picture with a win at KSW 67. Mezhiev will be making his promotional debut and arrives as one of the top light heavyweights in Europe.

Joining Erslan on the KSW 67 fight card is his ATT Zagreb teammate Filip Pejić. The man known as 'Nitro', due to his exciting fighting style, steps in to face Poland's Dawid Śmiełowski (8-0). Pejić has become a fan favourite in KSW since joining the promotion in 2019 and has been involved in some of the most thrilling fights in the promotion in recent years. However, the 29-year-old will need to be in top form for KSW 67 as he welcomes the debuting Dawid Śmiełowski, one of Poland's top prospects.

KSW 67 will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between champion Phil De Fries (20-6) and Serbia's Darko Stošić (16-4) and will be available to watch for Croatian & Balkan fans live on www.KSWTV.com.

KSW, or Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki, is the premier mixed martial arts organization in Poland and one of the leading MMA organizations in Europe, founded back in 2004. Many KSW fighters have signed on to globally known promotions such as the UFC, making the organization an admirable stepping stone to the world's biggest stage. 

The best of luck to our Croatian mixed martial arts fighters at the next KSW! All info can be found on the official website www.KSWTV.com.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

November 15, 2020 - On Saturday night, Roberto Soldic made his debut in the middle category of KSW and achieved the 18th victory in his 21st professional fight by a knockout in the first round against Polish veteran Michal Materla.

Index.hr reports that the Croatian fighter seemed to feel remorse after beating the local legend. In the ring after the victory, he said that he would not celebrate and that he had great respect for his opponent, which he repeated in an interview for inthecage.pl.

"I did not celebrate after the victory, I respect him very much, and I thank him for allowing me to fight against the great local legend," said Soldic.

"I feel strong, I didn't have to lose a lot of weight, I had more fitness and I hit more, like in training. I believe in my hands, fitness, team, and sponsors. This is my life, I'm moving on, regardless of victories or defeats, I will always fight," the 25-year-old from Vitez continued.

The journalist asked him why he did not finish the fight on the ground when he had the opportunity and when Materla invited him to do so. Soldic preferred to wait for the Pole to get up before finishing him off standing up.

"I wasn't afraid, but why would I grapple when I could finish him standing up? I didn't want to get into that situation. I'm a complete MMA fighter; I'm not afraid of jiujitsu or wrestling," Roberto 'Robocop' explained, then spoke about his plans, considering that he is still the current champion of KSW in welterweight. With this victory, he showed that he really has a place in the upper, middle category.

"I may return to the lower category to defend the title, but we will see what the future holds. I need to talk to my manager and team. I will rest a bit, but I have training again from Monday," said Soldic and thanked Materla in Polish and said he was a real fighter.

Ivan Erslan also competed for the KSW 56 title fight, though he was unlucky against Tomasz Narkun. However, Filip Pejic made sure that the Croatian team did not take home just one victory. It took Pejic just 12 seconds to win against Sebastian Rajewski at the KSW 56 event.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

November 4, 2020 - Croatia's Ivan Erslan (9-0) will challenge KSW champion Tomasz Narkun (17-3) in the co-main event of KSW 56 scheduled to take place on November 14 in Lodz, Poland. 

Fighting out of the ATT Zagreb gym, Erslan made his promotional debut at KSW 51 last November in his native Croatia. The entire Arena Zagreb jumped to their feet with excitement as Erslan defeated Spain's Darwin Rodriguez with an emphatic first-round TKO. The 28-year-old then scored another first-round stoppage win this past July at FNC 3 in Croatia, cementing his position as the number one contender for the light heavyweight title. 

Tomasz Narkun is the longstanding KSW champion and has defended his title four times. Regarded as the best light heavyweight fighter in Europe, Narkun has had career wins over the likes of Goran Reljic, MMA veteran Sokoudjou, Przemysław Mysiala, and became the first man ever to beat Mamed Khalidov in KSW.

Both Narkun and Erslan are known for their finishes, making this contest exciting and unpredictable. 

In the main event of KSW 56, Roberto Soldic (17-3) jumps up to the middleweight division to face former champion & KSW legend Michal Materla (29-7) in an explosive contest and one of Soldic's toughest fights to date.

This event promises to be one of the biggest nights ever for Croatian MMA.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.