Eye pokes, low blows and cheap shots!!
KSW 40‘s lightweight bout between champion Mateusz Gamrot and challenger Norman Parke were supposed to settle their feud after a controversial bout in the summer. However, after Parke missed weight and even more mid-bout shenanigans resulted in the fight being called as a no contest, it has only served to muddy the waters further.
KSW 40 took place on Sunday, October 23 at the 3Arena in Dublin, Ireland and although a heavyweight main event between Mariusz Puzianowski and Jay Silva took top billing, most of the attention was on the lightweight co-main event featuring Northern Irishman Parke.
From the opening bell, the bad blood was clear to see as both fighters launched themselves fervently into the action. Neither could get a rhythm going as the fight was stopped twice in the opening round, due to first a low blow, and then an eye poke to Parke.
Gamrot's eye poke on Norman Parke which caused the fight to be declared a no contest. Looks very intentional.. #KSW40 #mma pic.twitter.com/eA0yNBT4v0
— SmackTalkFighting (@SmackTalkmma) October 22, 2017
In the second round, Parke was poked in the eye once again which dropped him instantly to the mat. Referee Mark Goddard had seen quite enough by this point and proceeded to call off the fight, much to the chagrin of the baying crowd. With no satisfactory outcome, scuffles broke out in both the crowd and the cage with one of Gamrot’s cornermen suckerpunching Parke however order was restored in time for the official no contest decision.
With animosity between the two at an all-time high, an inevitable third fight on neutral ground would seem to make sense for the two fiery lightweights.
Pudzianowski fights to majority decision over late replacement Silva
In the evening’s main event, Polish strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski made it three wins on the bounce with a sluggish majority decision win over former Bellator and UFC heavyweight Jay Silva.
Drafted in as an extremely late replacement, Silva would save the main event after SafeMMA still hadn’t cleared Pudzianowski’s original opponent, James McSweeney the day before the bout.
The Pole came flying out the traps in the opening stages, threatening with big overhand rights and looking for the takedown. Capitalizing on a mistake by Silva, Pudzianowski got the Brazilian to the mat and was looking for a rear-naked choke as the round came to a close.
Impeccable reaction time from Pudz converting Silva's flying knee into a takedown #KSW40 pic.twitter.com/ibX0ig2kFv
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) October 22, 2017
Continuing to dominate his opponent physically, “Pudzian” would enjoy long spells of top pressure in the next few rounds. Silva would claw his way back into the fight though as the Pole started to visibly tire. As well as a strong couple of minutes in the third, the Brazilian veteran managed to work his way into top position in the closing minutes of the fight. From there, he rained down heavy ground and pound almost got the stoppage until Pudzianowski swept him and remained on top to see out the win.
Irish MMA enjoys prosperous night at KSW 40
Although Parke fought to a no contest with Gamrot, it was a successful night across the board for Irish MMA as every other home fighter chalked one up in the win column.
Kicking off the main card, SBG Ireland light-heavyweight Chris Fields dispatched of Polish regional talent Michal Fijalka in a unanimous decision victory. Despite over 18 months on the sidelines, Fields showed no signs of rust as he controlled all three rounds and was never in trouble against the Pole.
Also, Tean Ryano’s Paul Redmond impressed in an exciting stand-up battle with KSW veteran Lukasz Chiewicki as he got the better of the Pole in all three rounds however was only awarded a split decision. One of the judges awarded the fight to Chiewicki much to the amusement of the Irishman and his team.
Finally, hometown hero Paul Lawrence secured a deserved and hard-fought split decision win over Ireland based Pole, Konrad Iwanowski.
KSW 40 Results
Heavyweight Main Event: Mariusz Pudzianowski def. Jay Silva via Decision (Majoriry)
Lightweight Co-Main Event: Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke ends in a No Contest (Eye injury caused by accidental eyepokes) (Round 2)
Middleweight Bout: Michal Materla def. Paulo Thiago via TKO (Strikes) (Round 2 – 0:50)
Womens Flyweight Title Bout: Ariane Lipski def. Mariana Morais via Submission (Rear-naked Choke) (Round 1 – 0:58)
Welterweight Bout: David Zawada def. Maciej Jewtuszko via Decision (Unanimous)
Light-Heavyweight Bout: Chris Fields def. Michal Fijalka via Decision (Unanimous) (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Lightweight Bout: Paul Redmond def. Lukasz Chiewicki via Decision (Split) (30-27, 30-27, 28-29)
Welterweight Bout: Paul Lawrence def. Konrad Iwanowski via Decision (Split) (28-29, 29-28, 30-27)
Featherweight Bout: Antun Račić def. Pawel Politylo via Decision (Split) (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)