First KSW Event in Croatia Draws Over 11,000 MMA Fans to Arena Zagreb

November 10, 2019 – KSW 51 took place Saturday night, November 9 at the Arena Zagreb in Croatia. It was the first-ever KSW event in Croatia and over 11,000 fans watched live as Mariusz Pudzianowski showed everyone he still has it, defeating the much younger and faster Erko Jun with a second-round TKO win.

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Sebastian Rudnicki/KSW

Former champion Borys Mankowski found his spot back on the winning sheet for the first time since 2016 with an impressive submission win over Vaso ‘The Psycho’ Bakocevic and Croatia’s very own Antun Racic became the first-ever KSW bantamweight champion with a decision win over Damian Stasiak.

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Sebastian Rudnicki/KSW

Other notable winners on the card were the undefeated Ivan Erslan and Cezary Kesik who move to 8-0 and 10-0, respectively, Daniel Torres achieved the biggest win of his career, and Ante Delija won the war of the giants with a second-round stoppage over Oli Thompson.

“This means everything to me in the world. After ten years in martial arts. I have to thank my team and you fans who have been great,” Delija said in front of the entire arena.

Main Event
Heavyweight
Mariusz Pudzianowski (13-7) def. Erko Jun (3-1) via TKO (punches), round 2, 1:42.

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Co-Main Event
Catchweight 161 lb
Borys Mańkowski (20-8-1) def. Vaso Bakocevic (39-19-1) via submission (anaconda), round 1, 1:42.

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Inaugural Bantamweight Title
Antun Racić (24-8-1) def. Damian Stasiak (11-7) via majority decision (47-47, 48-47, 48-46).

Featherweight
Daniel Torres (10-4) def. Filip Pejić (14-3-2) via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28).

Middleweight
Cezary Kęsik (10-0) def. Aleksandar Ilić (12-3) via submission (rear naked choke), round 2, 4:25.

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Heavyweight
Ante Delija (17-3) def. Oli Thompson (20-11) via TKO, round 2, 1:50.

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Light Heavyweight
Ivan Erslan (8-0) def. Darwin Rodriguez (9-5) via TKO, round 1, 1:30.

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