KSW 43 results: Dricus Du Plessis, Philip De Fries take titles with knockouts in Poland

In a night that featured a few comebacks, Dricus du Plessis had to take some dangerous-looking shots from Roberto Soldic before making sure his own hand prevailed at the end.

Du Plessis (12-1) made his KSW debut a title-winning one as he dispatched defending welterweight champ Roberto Soldic (13-3) in the main event of tonight’s KSW 43 at Centennial Hall in Wroclaw, Poland. The entire card streamed on pay-per-view at KSWTV.com.

Du Plessis has added a third belt to his collection, which contained titles in two different divisions at EFC. He’s made sure all of the eight wins on his current streak come via finish. Croatia’s Soldic, in turn, had his own seven-fight, all-finish winning streak snapped.

While it was his left hand that sealed the deal in the second round of the affair, Du Plessis also put on a tight grappling display and landed a beautiful takedown before getting there.

Soldic was the one unleashing powerful shots early, as Du Plessis slowly starte answering. Soldic’s power was noticeable, with Du Plessis seemingly flinching at every shot. Even on the ground, Soldic made sure to weight heavy on stop, applying nonstop pressure as the two got back on their feet. Again, Soldic unleashed, but du Plesses managed to get Soldic on the ground.

Soldic wouldn’t slow down until Du Plessis forced him to, wearing the then-champ out against the cage before landing a picture-perfect takedown in the final two minutes. He started locking in a body triangle, as Soldic did his best not to create any more openings.

Du Plessis was patient, though, and managed to complete the transition to the back. As Soldic tried to both cover up from punches coming from his back an avoid getting himself in further trouble, Du Plessis managed to get him to the ground. He kept Soldic’s back and landed blows, eventually transitioning back to the body triangle from there. As he rolled Soldic over and locked in a dangerous-looking rear-naked choke, the bell signaled that Soldic had survived.

Du Plessis came out more adventurous on the feet for Round 2, but once more Soldic had the advantage when it came to sheer hand power. Du Plessis’ effective response were some leg kicks, which at least messed with Soldic’s balance. Soldic kept on loading up his hand, though, which made it all the ore interesting when it was Du Plessis’ own hand that landed big. After a massive short left, Soldic fell dazed on the ground. He wasn’t entirely out, but it didn’t take long for Du Plessis’ follow-up shots to prompt the ref to call it.

Damian Janikowski wins via 18-second demolition

“Perfect” is a strong word, but it’s hard to think of another descriptor for Damian Janikowski’s home display over Yannick Bahati in the second co-main event of KSW 43.

Bahati (8-4) was helpless against Janikowski’s aggression (3-0). While one could have reasonably assumed grappling would be the key for the Olympic wrestling medalist, it was his on-point stand-up game that had  Bahati helplessly backed up against the cage early in Round 1.

Janikowski was able to seal the deal in less than 20 seconds, after overwhelmed Bahati made the mistake of going for a desperate takedown. As Janikowski unleashed punches to the side of a crumpled-up Bahati’s head, the referee stepped in to call it a night for the middleweights.

Poland’s Janikowski, who was loudly cheered by his home fans, had enough energy to do a few flips afterward. He remains perfect in his budding MMA career, while Bahati suffered his second knockout loss in a row.

Phillip De Fries overcomes early onslaught to take heavyweight title

Michal Andryszak (20-7) was the early aggressor in KSW 43’s first co-main event, but fellow vacant heavyweight title challenger Philip De Fries (15-6) was smart and patient enough to survive the onslaught en route to a TKO win of his own.

With the first-round stoppage, UFC veteran De Fries made his KSW a title-wining one. Andryszak, in turn, had a six-fight streak snapped.

Andryszak charged early in the heavyweight encounter, pressuring De Fries to move backwars with hands and knees. De Fries quickly realized that he didn’t want to stand, and shot for a takedown. After a brief scramble, though, the two were back on their feet. Andryszak resumed th action with the same aggression, and De Fries looked in a bit of trouble before landing a takedown to get the fight were he wanted. Andryszak remained active there, immediately trying to gain control of De Fries’ arm. But De Fries never looked in trouble, and eventually broke free.

Momentum swiftly changed, and De Fries started landing short blows on Andryszak’s half-guard. While Andryszak managed to defend them with his forearms at first, the punches get stronger and stronger until the referee had no option but to step in.

Official KSW 43 results include:

• Dricus Du Plessis def. Roberto Soldic via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:37 – Won welterweight title
• Damian Janikowski def. Yannick Bahati via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 0:18
• Philip De Fries def. Michal Andryszak via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:32 – Won vacant heavyweight title
• Salahdine Parnasse def. Artur Sowinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• David Zawada def. Michal Michalski via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 0:48
• Norman Parke def. Lukasz Chlewicki via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
• Antun Racic def. Kamil Selwa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
• Antun Racic def. Kamil Selwa via unanimous decision

For more on KSW 43, check out the MMA Events section of the site.