KSW Announces Return to Gdansk, Poland, with KSW 49 in May

The KSW is returning to the city of Gdansk, Poland, for KSW 49, with a huge card headlined by a battle between Scott Askham and Michal Materla for the vacant middleweight belt.

The KSW stated in their official press release their plans to return to Gdansk on May 18 for KSW 49. Serving as the main event will be a rematch of Askham (17-4) and Materla (27-6), who will both vie for the middleweight strap vacated by Mamed Khalidov upon his retirement. The two first met at KSW 42, and in a stunning upset Askham knocked out the former champ in 69 seconds with body kicks.

Askham is the only fighter in KSW history to finish multiple opponents with body kicks, as in his last two bouts he stopped Materla and most recently Marcin Wojcik with body kicks in a combined two minutes and 46 seconds. A six-time competitor for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Askham suffered four decision losses in those six fights that ultimately ended with his release. Since leaving the UFC, Askham has won three dating back to September 2017.

Materla will have competed in seven of the nine middleweight championship bouts throughout KSW history when he takes on Askham. The longest defending middleweight king, Materla defended his belt four times before losing it to Khalidov -- the most of any champion tied with Borys Mankowski at welterweight. The most active fighter in company history, he is also the winningest, with 18 victories inside the promotion, along with former foe Khalidov.

The organization also announced a welterweight title fight between the champ Roberto Soldic (15-3) and unbeaten Krystian Kaszubowski (7-0). With 14 of his 15 victories coming by stoppage, including all three of his wins inside the KSW cage, Soldic will be defending the belt he won back at KSW 45 for the first time. The undefeated Kaszubowski will be putting that record on the line when he faces Soldic, and both he and Soldic were the only two fighters to finish their opponents at KSW 46 last December. Their finishes each earned them "Knockout of the Night" bonuses, with Soldic putting away Vinicius Bohrer and Kaszubowski flattening Michal Michalski.

Additionally, the promotion announced that former heavyweight champ Karol Bedorf (15-4) will be facing off against KSW debutant and former UFC competitor Damian Grabowski (21-5).

KSW 49 will take place on May 18 at the Ergo Arena in Gdansk, Poland. Headlining the event will be rematch between Scott Askham and Michal Materla for the vacant middleweight championship. Serving as the co-main event will be a welterweight title clash between Roberto Soldic and Krystian Kaszubowski.