Croatian MMA stars in action at KSW 58

by croatiaweek
January 25, 2021
in Sport

KSW’s first event of 2021 takes place this Saturday, January 30, from Lodz, Poland, and will feature a trio of Croatian stars.

Aleksandar Rakas (16-7) is back and will finally make his long-awaited promotional debut this weekend. The Team Cro Cop fighter was originally scheduled to compete at KSW 51 in Zagreb at the end of 2019, however, an unfortunate late injury forced him from that card and he has not been in action since.

After representing Croatia all over the world in MMA, Rakas will now make the walk into the KSW Arena this Saturday against Poland’s Michal Michalski (8-4) in a potential ‘fight of the night’.

Croatian Stars in Action this Saturday at KSW 58

Aleksandar Rakas (Photo: KSW)

Making his second appearance in KSW will be Francisco ‘Croata’ Barrio (7-2). The Croatian-Argentinian is a Pan Am wrestling medalist and almost qualified for the Olympics before switching to MMA. Training out of ATT Zagreb, the 31-year-old stepped in on late notice at KSW 56 last November and, despite being out of his weight category, pushed the undefeated Mateusz Legierski the distance in a hard fought decision loss. Now Barrio is back in his natural weight class and meets Bartłomiej Kopera (9-6) in an important fight for both athletes.

Francisco Barrio (Photo: KSW)

Finally, Pula’s Daniel Bazant (4-1) will make his KSW debut this Saturday. A student of Croatian MMA legend Zelg Galešić, Bazant has the biggest opportunity of his young career this Saturday when he faces the undefeated Robert Ruchała (4-0).

(Photo: KSW)

Croatian fans can watch KSW 58 live this Saturday on RTL (please check local listings) and online on www.KSWTV.com and the KSW App available now on iOS & Android.

KSW 58 will see undefeated French sensation Salahdine Parnasse (14-0-1) defend his KSW featherweight title against exciting Brazilian Daniel Torres (11-4) in the main event while Olympic gold medalist in weightlifting Szymon Kolecki (8-1) meets German veteran Martin Zawada (29-15-1) in the co-main.

KSW 58 Fight Card

Main Event
Featherweight Title
Champion Salahdine Parnasse (14-0-1) vs. Daniel Torres (11-4)

Co-Main Event
Light Heavyweight
Szymon Kolecki (8-1) vs. Martin Zawada (29-15-1)

Welterweight
Michal Michalski (8-4) vs. Aleksandar Rakas (16-7)