A clash of champions is set for KSW’s end of year show as Borys Mańkowski (19-6-1, 3 KO, 7 Sub) will defend his KSW welterweight title against P4P top South African fighter Dricus du Plessis (11-1, 3 KO, 8 Sub) in the main event of KSW 41 in Katowice, Poland on December 23rd.
Mańkowski won the title back at KSW 27 in 2014 and has successfully defended it against the likes of Jesse Taylor, John Maguire and David Zawada and is on a 11-1 run at welterweight. In May the 28-year-old stepped up to middleweight to challenge all-time great Mamed Khalidov for his title in the main event of KSW 39 in front of almost 58,000 people in Warsaw, Poland. Mańkowski pushed the much bigger Khalidov to the distance and gave him his toughest fight in years but lost out on the judges’ scorecards.
Now he steps back down 170lbs to defend his title against arguably his toughest challenge to date. Dricus du Plessis is a two-weight champion in the EFC Worldwide promotion and is ranked as the number one P4P fighter in South Africa. “Stillknocks” made his MMA debut in 2013 and after a string of first round finishes he was quickly challenging for titles within the promotion. He finally secured his first belt at welterweight when submitted veteran Martin van Staden in 2016 and then in August of this year he stopped dangerous UK fighter Yannick Bahati in the first round to be crowned the middleweight champ.
“I’m very happy to be part of KSW. The shows are amazing and I believe I’m a great addition to the KSW roster, I have a record of 11-1 and all of them are finishes and I can’t wait to put on a massive performance for the KSW fight fans.” – says Du Plessis. “I’m really looking forward to the fight with Borys. Even though we are fighting on his home turf that doesn’t bother me at all. I already have two major titles and after December I’ll have three. I simply can’t wait to give the fans a spectacular and dominant show come December 23rd.”
Also already announced for KSW 41, Kleber Koike Erbst (22-4-1, 2 KO, 18 Sub) will defend his featherweight title in a rematch against Artur Sowiński (18-8, 6 KO, 7 Sub) and internet rap sensation Popek Monster (3-2, 3 KO) will square off against famous Polish actor and former judoka Tomasz Oświeciński (0-0) in the heavyweight super attraction.