KSW Boss Martin Lewandowski Talks Mamed Khalidov, Two Events Outside Of Poland And A KSW Feeder League

The announcement that Mamed Khalidov will fight Tomasz Narkun at KSW 42 in March came as a surprise to some, but KSW boss Martin Lewandowski yesterday provided some clarity on the KSW middleweight champion’s contract situation with the promotion.

Speaking to www.Sport.pl, Lewandowski explained Khalidov’s current contract situation and revealed what he expects him to fight in both ACB and KSW.

“Fighters who sign contracts with us usually sign four fight deal, but this does not apply to Mamed in this case,” Lewandowski said. “He is the history of KSW, our great star, and for these reasons he has a unique position with us in the federation. That is why we made a small concession and his contract only concerns the clash with Narkun

“I think that the result of the duel with Tomasz will explain a lot. Our offer has not changed. We can make an exception for Mamed to be a KSW and ACB player at the same time. In Poland he would fight for us and abroad for ACB. Mamed has many friends there, and we understand that. But the decision is on the side of the fighter.”

Lewandowski was latter asked for his reflections on 2017 and what KSW has planned for the next 12 months.

The KSW chief didn’t commit to dates or locations, but he did imply that the federation was planning to hold further events outside of Poland in 2018.

“There were four events, and there were supposed to be five,” Lewandowski said regarding last year. “We also failed to create KSW leagues, or MMA tournaments for slightly lesser known fighters. These will be a platform for less-recognizable fighters to promote themselves. Negotiations with Polsat are ongoing, but this is not easy.

“We also failed to return to England, but we did an event in Dublin. Overall, however, the year would have rated as 10 out of 10. The event at National Stadium (KSW 39) was historic. The second biggest event in the history of MMA in terms of the number of people. We had almost 60,000 fans came to PGE Narodowy.

“[In 2018] We want five events, maybe two can be done abroad. Maybe at the end we will also start the KSW league project, even if it would be a niche event. 2017 was so good that it would be difficult to break it, but we proved that nothing is impossible for KSW.”