Salahdine Parnasse is just 21 but showed the poise of a true veteran en route to a second-round TKO win that earned him KSW’s interim featherweight title.
Despite a brave effort, especially in the first round, there simply wasn’t much that Roman Szymanski (11-5) could do against Parnasse (13-0-1), who remained calm and collected on the feet, on the ground, and through Szymanski’s ill-fated takedown attempts.
The featherweight bout capped off a finish-rich KSW 48 event, which took place Saturday at Globus Sports Hall in Lublin, Poland. The main card streamed live on DAZN.
The headliner was Parnasse’s first finish in the KSW cage, four fights into his stint with the promotion. He remains unbeaten in his MMA career, while Szymanski is back on the loss column after a win over Daniel Torres at KSW 46.
Szymanski was the more mobile fighter to start, while Parnasse opted for a more studious approach. When Parnasse started throwing, though, he found Szymanski, especially with his left hand. A good uppercut by Parnasse was the first strike to land emphatically, but Szymanski quickly shook it off. Szymanski went for a takedown shortly after, but Parnasse was able to stuff it and counter. Szymanski was quick to get back up, though, and Parnasse was left pressing Szymanski against the cage. Szymanski was able to reverse, and after a few seconds against the fence the two were back to the center of the cage in the final minute. Szymanski threw good kicks, but Parnasse eluded them.
Szymanski shot for a takedown early in Round 2, but Parnasse sprawled and wrapped Szymanski’s neck in the process. Nothing came of it, though. Szymanski insisted on the takedown, but failed and found himself in trouble on the ground, as Parnasse controlled him from the top in side control and threw punches relentlessly. Szymanski survived and Parnasse briefly relented, standing up in pursuit of a different position as Szymanski stayed on his back. Szymanski was somewhat active on the ground, using his legs to try to halt Parnasse’s attempts to better his position, but Parnasse just wouldn’t let him off the hook. Parnasse once more launched a flurry from the top. Szymanski was still conscious, but didn’t do much other than survive, and it was enough for the ref to intervene and call off the bout.
KSW 48 results include:
MAIN CARD
- Salahdine Parnasse def. Roman Szymanski via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:40 – to win interim featherweight title
- Lukasz Jurkowski def. Stjepan Bekavac via TKO (injury) – Round 1, 1:06
- Marian Ziolkowski def. Gracjan Szadzinski via unanimous decision
- Filip Pejic def. Filip Wolanski via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:56
- Michal Michalski def. Savo Lazic via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:24
PRELIMINARY CARD
- Cezary Kesik def. Jakub Kamieniarz via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 3:04
- Shamil Musaev def. Hubert Szymajda via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:52
- Sebastian Przybysz def. Bogdan Barbu via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:00
For more on KSW 48, check out the MMA Events section of the site.
