Tag: Mateusz Gamrot

After two controversial fights built his feud with [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] into one of the most heated rivalries in Polish promotion KSW, [autotag]Norman Parke[/autotag] is determined to make a statement in their third meeting and walk away with the undisputed lightweight title.

Parke (28-6-1 MMA, 4-1 KSW) won the interim lightweight belt with victory over Marcin Wrzocek last year at KSW 50 in London to put himself in pole position to face old rival and undefeated lightweight champ Gamrot (15-0 MMA, 11-0 KSW) for a third time. Now the Northern Irishman says there’s plenty to settle when they face off behind closed doors in Warsaw at KSW 53 on Saturday.

“I think it’s the biggest fight that KSW could make,” he told MMA Junkie ahead of the fight. “Given how the last two fights went, there’s nothing really decisive. He’s got his say on what he thinks went down in those two fights, and I’ve had my opinion as well. So you’ve got his fans and my fans and I think this could be the decisive one. Hopefully, there’s no drama after it and I can shake the man’s hand after the fight, no problem.”

The first meeting between the pair was a closely-contested battle that saw Gamrot claim a narrow unanimous decision wins, with 29-28 scores across the board after a grueling encounter. But the fight was shrouded in controversy after Parke accused Gamrot of biting his finger during a grappling exchange. In response, Gamrot accused Parke of shoving his finger into his mouth.

“The first fight was close, a very close fight,” Parke recalled. “But in that fight we all know he bit my finger, and we all know that if this had happened anywhere else he would have been disqualified. I’ve said some things about KSW in the past – I’ve said they were corrupt, I did say that – and said if they’re going to move their promotion forward they’ve got to be fair to the foreign fighters. But we can see they’ve changed. They’ve expanded to include more international fighters and most of their champions are non-Polish now.”

After the bad blood of the first fight, tempers flared once again in the rematch five months later at KSW 40 in Dublin. After Parke sustained two eye pokes from Gamrot, the fight was waved off and declared a no contest. Tempers flared after the announcement and, during the chaos, one of Gamrot’s cornermen punched Parke in the face.

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It means there’s plenty of unfinished business between the pair ahead of their matchup at KSW 53 on Saturday, where the two fighters will compete in a near-empty arena in Warsaw, Poland. It’ll be a marked contrast from the large-scale arena shows KSW is known for, but for Parke, who won the lightweight tournament during “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” back in 2012, it’s a scenario he expects will feel pretty familiar.

“It’s going to feel like being on The Ultimate Fighter when we’re fighting,” he said. “There’s going to be some people there, but not the 10-15,000 people they usually have. That’s the way KSW do it. People know their promotion work is next to none. But at the end of the day, when the cage door shuts it’s just me and him.

“It’s going to feel like a heavy spar on a Friday in the gym. You can hear the breathing, you can hear the smacks, you can hear pretty much everything! I think it’s going to be similar to The Ultimate Fighter, but I think how tense the fight is and how much we don’t like each other means it won’t play a factor whatsoever.”

With his last finish coming way back in July 2014 against Naoyuki Kotani at UFC Fight Night 46, Parke admitted that reputation as a decision-winner rather than a knockout artist is a warranted one. But, nonetheless, he said he’d love to end his streak of decision wins with a stoppage on Saturday in one of the biggest fights of his 35-bout career.

“I would love to finish a fight. If I could get the finish that might set me up to get more finishes,” he said. “But people know me as a grinder and I just accept that role and I’ll keep on going. I just want to go in there and keep punching him for five rounds until he gives up. I’m just so stubborn, I won’t back down, and I’ll go in there, Matt Brown style, and just put it on him.”

Polish promotion KSW returns to action on July 11 with a bonafide grudge match at the top of the card, as undefeated lightweight champion [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] returns to action against interim champ [autotag]Norman Parke[/autotag].

The main event bout in Warsaw, Poland will complete a trilogy of fights involving the dueling 155-pounders in a rivalry that has been filled with bad blood.

Their first bout at “KSW 39: Colosseum” ended in a unanimous decision victory for Poland’s Gamrot (15-0 MMA, 11-0 KSW) after a highly-competitive clash that some observers felt Parke (28-6-1 MMA, 4-1 KSW) had done enough to win. The bout also featured a controversial incident where Parke accused Gamrot of biting his fingers during the fight. In response, Gamrot accused the Northern Irishman of pushing his fingers into his mouth.

The rematch at KSW 40 provided even more controversy when the second meeting was stopped after Parke suffered two eye pokes from the Pole. The result was deemed a no contest and, during the ill-tempered aftermath, Parke was punched by one of Gamrot’s cornermen.

Since then, Gamrot has moved on and defended his lightweight title with a fourth-round submission of Grzegorz Szulakowski at KSW 42, then added the promotion’s vacant featherweight title to his collection with a unanimous decision victory over Kleber Koike Erbst at KSW 46.

Now, after 18 months away from the cage, “Gamer” is back, and ready to renew his rivalry with Parke once again.

“I don’t like him at all. It’s not a secret, he doesn’t like me, I don’t like him,” said Gamrot.

“I won’t shake his hand. I will weigh in, enter the cage the next day, and punish him for every word he said. I don’t see him as a challenge. As I said earlier, it will be easy money for me.”

Following his controversial no contest with Gamrot, Parke has fought five times – four of them under the KSW banner – winning all five bouts by decision.

His most recent outing, at KSW 50, saw him edge a split decision against Marcin Wrzosek to capture the KSW interim lightweight title and reignite the Polish promotion’s most heated rivalry.

“If he wants to touch gloves, no problem,” said Parke. “I’m going to punch him in the face from Round 1 to Round 5. There is nothing that he can do to stop me. I’m just going to keep coming.”

“KSW 53: Reborn” takes place behind closed doors at an undisclosed venue in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday, July 11. The event will be streamed live on KSWTV.com.

The KSW 53 fight card includes:

• Champion Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke (for unified KSW lightweight title)
• Borys Mankowski vs. Marcin Wrozsek
• Artur Sowinski vs. Gracjan Szadzinski
• Lukasz Bienkowski vs. Tomasz Drwal
• Andrzej Grzebyk vs. Tomasz Jakubiec
• Filip Pejic vs. Roman Szymanski
• Sebastian Przybysz vs. Jakub Wiklacz
• Michal Pietrzak vs. Kamil Szymuszowski