Daniel Torres Drops Salahdine Parnasse to Capture Featherweight Belt at KSW 58

Daniel Torres shocks the world with this knockout over Saladhine Parnasse!!! #KSW58 pic.twitter.com/cOpPUvOOjd

— KSW (@KSW_MMA) January 30, 2021

KSW’s first event of the year ended with a bizarre knockout shot that resulted in a title change.

The KSW 58 main event saw Salahdine Parnasse (14-1-1) put his featherweight championship on the line against Daniel Torres (12-4). After studying each other for a while, the contenders exchanged a few shots to test each other’s chin. Torres showed his long jab, to which the defending champion retaliated with a head kick that partially landed. After a wide swing from both contenders, Parnasse clipped the challenger with a kick to the body. “Tucanao” seemed comfortable on his feet as he counterpunched when the French fighter rushed forward.

After a minute and a half, Torres threw an inventive shot with his bicep that perfectly landed on the side of Parnasse’s head. The French fighter immediately dropped down, almost faceplanting himself into the canvas. While Parnasse looked to have immediately recovered from the shot, the referee thought the Frenchman was done. The official stoppage came 109 seconds into the first stanza. It might have come in an unusual fashion, but Torres claimed the promotion's 145-pound championship.

In the co-main event, Szymon Kolecki (9-1) clashed with Martin Zawada (29-16-1) in the 205-pound division. MMA veteran Zawada put his punches to work early in the fight, as he clipped Kolecki with sharper shots. Sensing the danger, the Olympic gold medal-winning weightlifter moved the action to the canvas, where he worked from the half guard. “King Kong” didn’t look to have a solution to his opponent's wrestling skills and kept suffering Kolecki’s initiative from his back.

The second stanza saw Zawada having some success on the feet, where his boxing skills proved to be far superior to his opponent’s. However, the fighter out of Germany could do nothing to prevent Kolecki from imposing his will and putting “King Kong” back on the canvas. After arguably dropping the second round to the opponent, Kolecki played safe in the third and kept his opponent down for most of the time, stopping short of finishing Zawada following a few heavy punches landed a few seconds before the end of the contest. Ultimately, Kolecki kept his promotional record unblemished, as all three judges rewarded him with a decision.

Earlier on the card, Michal Michalski (9-4) smashed Aleksandar Rakas (16-8) with elbows from the crucifix position in the opening stanza of their 170-pound battle. The referee jumped in to stop the action at the 4:35 mark of Round 1.

#KSW58 pic.twitter.com/kLZXh4QaMH

— El amigo de lo ajeno (@AjenoAmigo) January 30, 2021

Elsewhere, Shamil Musaev (14-0) did enough to edge former Titan Fighting Championships welterweight champ Uros Jurisic (11-1) via decision in their welterweight clash. At the end of the fight, a brawl broke out after Musaev slammed the Bellator MMA and "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 21 alum following the official decision. The KSW owners and officials announced that they would review the incident.

The final takedown. Both fighters sliding away from the pack to meet in the free area.#KSW58 pic.twitter.com/8MDxxQmaNl

— Dusty Andrews (@Fight_Expert) January 30, 2021

In other action, Michal Andryszak (22-9) submitted former Ultimate Fighting Championship and Strikeforce veteran Guto Inocente (8-6) thanks to an arm-triangle choke that ended the contest after 4:08 in the second stanza; Pawel Politylo (6-2) did enough to upend David Martinik (4-2) via unanimous decision at the end of their 135-pound clash; Robert Ruchala (5-0) dominated Daniel Bazant (4-2) before submitting him with an armbar that came out of nowhere at the 3:36 mark in the third round.

In the first fight on the card, Francisco Albano Barrio (8-2) scored his first promotional victory after outpointing Bartlomiej Kopera (9-7) via unanimous decision in the lightweight division.