Fight Facts: KSW 79 ‘De Fries vs. Duffee 2’

WOW!! Domination!!! 🤯

🇬🇧 @phildefriesmma finishes 🇺🇸 Todd Duffee in the first round!! #KSW79 pic.twitter.com/RFLaPOO2B0

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) February 25, 2023

Fight Facts is a breakdown of all of the interesting information and cage curiosities on every card, with some puns, references and portmanteaus to keep things fun. These deep stat dives delve into the numbers, providing historical context and telling the stories behind those numbers.

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TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW FIGHTS: 732
TOTAL NUMBER OF KSW EVENTS: 85

KSW planted its flag in the Czech Republic for the first time as part of its gradual international expansion campaign, pushing just past its own southwestern border into the city of Liberec. The promotion treated these new fans to plenty of heavyweight violence, with no match more significant than that division’s title on display. KSW 79 featured the continuation of an unequaled run, a smelling salts-requiring head kick and a slow roll for a longtime vet.

Welcome to Czechia: Before Feb. 25, KSW had never hosted an event in the Czech Republic. In fact, it had only left Poland on four occasions: twice to London, once to Dublin and another time to Zagreb, Croatia.

Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Fried: In the KSW 79 main event, Philip De Fries exacted revenge on Todd Duffee by pounding him out in the first round. In his 30-fight career, the Brit has still never lost a rematch, finishing Darren Towler, Thomas Denham, Tomasz Narkun and Duffee when facing them a second time.

Give Him Tong Po: The major organization heavyweight championship defense record went up to eight when De Fries beat Duffee for the KSW strap. No heavyweight king in a major league has ever accomplished this feat.

A Seemingly Unending Run: De Fries became the first champion in KSW history to notch eight straight title defenses by wiping out Duffee. Before De Fries came around, the previous record was former foe Narkun’s five.

Titletacular: Since saddling up with the promotion in 2018, De Fries has won nine straight fights, all with championship stakes. This latest win breaks a tie with Narkun for the most wins in KSW title fights.

For the Queen: In his nine appearances with the organization, seven of the Britain native’s victories have come inside the distance. While that remains far behind the leading tally of 17 set by Mamed Khalidov, only seven fighters in company history have scored more finishes than De Fries.

The Duffman Cometh: Beyond his eye poke resulting in a no contest in 2019, every single one of Duffee’s pro outings has ended by knockout, win or lose. Just two of his 14 fights have gone beyond the first round.

Bah Humburger: After three rounds of action, Dominik Humburger collected a unanimous decision win over Jorge Luiz Bueno Jr. The Liberec native had never fought beyond 7:30 in any of his past pro fights.

Old on Old: In the third round, Michal Kita punched out Daniel Omielanczuk to spring the upset. The 42-year-old that made his KSW debut back at KSW 33 in 2015 successfully achieved his fourth win on the roster. It took him longer (10 appearances) than any active fighter to earn four victories.

Doesn’t Count Semi-Pro Trickery: It took Brian Hooi less than four minutes to wreck Jivko Stoimenov. Bulgaria’s Stoimenov, in his 19 professional matches, has still only fought out of the first round three times, and all three of those occasions he has lost.

Now Is Not the Time for Fear: Andreas “Bane” Gustafsson blew through David Hosek around the midpoint of Round 1 to earn his first win on the KSW roster. The Swede celebrates a finish rate of 87% after this win, which clocked in as his fastest.

Call the Truck: Across 732 professional fights under the KSW banner, an even dozen have ended by head kick. The latest came courtesy of Ramzan Jembiev, who starched Murilo Delfino early into the second frame.

Catch as Catchweight: Natalia Baczynska-Krawiec topped Petro Castkova on the scorecards to break a two-fight skid. Their matchup was scheduled at 130 pounds, making their encounter the fourth to take place outside of a standard women’s division, and the second-heaviest in KSW women’s divisional history.

Never Say Never Again: Coming into KSW 79, Humburger had never gone the distance (five fights), Hosek had never been knocked out (12 fights) and Delfino had never fought beyond the first round (three fights).