An injury has ruled the returning Borys Mankowski out of the KSW 46 card on December 1 and as a result his scheduled fight with Bruce Souto has been replaced with an 80kg (176lbs) catchweight bout between current KSW welterweight champion Roberto Soldic (14-3) and Brazil’s Vinicius Bohrer (16-6) – in a non-title bout.
“Losing the long awaited return of Borys Mankowski was a blow to the card but these things happen in MMA,” said KSW co-owner Maciej Kawulski. “The event itself is essentially sold out but we still worked hard on finding a suitable replacement for the KSW fans and we certainly have that in Roberto Soldic. Over the past year Soldic has emerged as one of the biggest stars in KSW and I am excited to see how this late notice fight with Vinicius Bohrer, who has an amazing opportunity right here, plays out.”
Soldic has made a huge splash in KSW since joining less than twelve months ago. The 23-year-old won the title in his very first fight at KSW 41 stepping in on late notice and dismantling then champion Borys Mankowski over the course of four rounds. He dropped the title in his next fight against Dricus Du Plessis but regained it in an immediate rematch at KSW 45 in London this past October and, in doing so, became the first man to KO the number one P4P ranked South African fighter.
The Croatian fighter is now on an 8-1 run with all of those wins coming by way of TKO or knockout. Now he faces a dangerous grappler in Vinicius Bohrer. The 30-year-old Brazilian, who has been in the ring against the likes of Francisco Trinaldo and Gilbert Burns, owns thirteen career wins by submission and has been competing professionally since 2006. He comes into this contest on a 6-1 run since 2014 and has not lost due to strikes in over a decade.
An injury has also ruled Gracjan Szadzinski from the KSW 43 fight card and he has been replaced by Grzegorz Szulakowski (9-2) in the fight against Marian Ziolkowski (19-7-1). This new match-up pits two of Poland’s top level grapplers against one another. Between them they own seventeen submission victories and have a finishing rate of 85%.
KSW 46 will be headlined by the much anticipated rematch between the legend Mamed Khalidov (34-5-2) and KSW light heavyweight champion Tomasz Narkun (15-2). The pair met earlier this year as we saw Narkun come from behind and end Khalidov’s twenty fight KSW unbeaten streak in what is a ‘Fight of the Year’ contender. The co-main will see undefeated lightweight champion Mateusz Gamrot (14-0) goes for a second title as he faces submission ace & former champ Kleber Koike Erbst (24-4-1) for the vacant featherweight title.
KSW 46 will be live around the world via online PPV on www.KSWTV.com.
KSW 46 Fight Card
Main Event – Superfight – 92kg Catchweight
Mamed Khalidov (34-5-2) vs. Tomasz Narkun (15-2)
Co-Main Event
Vacant Featherweight Title
Mateusz Gamrot (14-0) vs. Kleber Koike Erbst (24-4-1)
Featherweight: Marcin Wrzosek (13-4) vs. Salahdine Parnasse (11-0-1)
80kg Catchweight: Roberto Soldic (14-3) vs. Vinicius Bohrer (16-6)
Featherweight: Roman Szymanski (10-4) vs. Daniel Torres (8-3)
Lightweight: Grzegorz Szulakowski (9-2) vs. Marian Ziolkowski (19-7-1)
Lightweight: Artur Sowinski (18-10) vs. Kamil Szymuszowski (16-5)
Bantamweight: Antun Racic (21-8-1) vs. Sebastian Przybysz (4-1)
Welterweight: Krystian Kaszubowski (6-0) vs. Michal Michalski (6-3)