KSW 43 results: Dricus Du Plessis stops Roberto Soldic to claim welterweight title

Soldic looked like he was on the verge of a stoppage when dropped the South African with a left hand just beyond the minute mark. Du Plessis rallied and brought the fight to the ground with a belly-to-back suplex and threatened with a rear-naked choke before the round ended.

“Robocop” continued to press forward in the second, but caught a left hook that sent him down. As the Croatian was still gathering his senses, Du Plessis followed up the stunning blow with a series of shots before the referee stopped the fight.

In the co-main event, former Olympic wrestler Damian Janikowski looked more like a kickboxing veteran as he improved to 3-0 with a first round TKO win over Yannick Bahati.

Janikowski blasted Bahati with a clean straight, following the shot up with a head kick. After getting his bell rung, Bahati attempted a takedown, but Janikowski stuffed it before moving towards the back where he landed unanswered blows. The referee stopped the action after just 18 seconds.

Philip De Fries upset the apple cart in his promotional debut to claim the vacant KSW heavyweight title with a first-round TKO over Michal Andryszak.

The Pole piled on the pressure early. De Fries managed to stay in the contest despite the frantic early exchanges, and took Andryszak down on his second attempt. “F-11” dropped heavy shots from top position before the referee stopped the action, snapping a six-fight win streak for the Polish goliath.

Salahdine Parnasse looked mature beyond his years as he cantered to a unanimous decision win over former KSW champion, Artur Sowinski.

Just 20 years old, the French featherweight orchestrated a symphony of strikes and proved too slippery to keep down during the coming-of-age performance. He oozed bravado as he landed effortless head kicks on the veteran, who was forced to defend himself for the majority of the 15-minute contest.

David Zawada was hanging on for dear life against promotional newcomer Michal Michalski as they entered the third round of their welterweight bout.

The German had a point deducted at the end of the second for losing his gum shield for the third time. Although Zawada appeared as though he was completely out of the fight after 10 minutes, he submitted the hometown underdog in the first minute of the third round with a rear-naked choke.

Norman Parke got back in the win column in dominant fashion with a one-sided decision win over Polish veteran Lukasz Chlewicki.

The Northern Irish fighter came close to finishing the fight in the second after hurting Chlewicki with a body shot and landing a number of powerful hooks. He dropped the Pole with a head kick in the third, but was unable to find a finish before the final bell.

Full results:

Dricus Du Plessis def. Roberto Soldic via TKO strikes at 1:37 of R2
Damian Janikowski def. Yannick Bahati via TKO (strikes) at 0:18 of R1
Phil de Fries def. Michal Andryszak via TKO (strikes) at 3:32 of R1
Salahdine Parnasse def. Artur Sowinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
David Zawada def. Michał Michalski via submission (rear-naked choke) at 0.48 of R3
Norman Parke def. Lukasz Chlewicki via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-25)
Antun Racic def. Kamil Selwa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)
Maciej Kazieczko def. Maciej Kalicinski via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)