Vitalii Yakymenko has made his 1st title defense. The KSW bantamweight champion submitted Marcello Morelli with a kneebar in round 5 on Saturday night in Rzeszow, in the KSW 122 main event. The Ukrainian moves to 12 wins and 2 losses. Earlier in the night, 2 of the 3 fighters penalized at the weigh-in won by round 1 KO despite their point deduction.
Key takeaways
- Vitalii Yakymenko submitted Marcello Morelli with a kneebar in round 5 (1:09) and retains the KSW bantamweight title. His record moves to 12-2.
- Adam Soldaev and Sergiusz Zajac, each docked a point at the weigh-in, each won by round 1 KO.
- Laid Zerhouni, also penalized, lost a majority decision to Andrzej Grzebyk (28-28, 29-27, 29-27).
Vitalii Yakymenko finishes in the last round
The finish
In round 5, with the fight back on the ground, Yakymenko caught Morelli’s leg and locked in a kneebar. The Venezuelan tapped at 1:09, MMA.pl reports.
How it went
The champion took round 1 with his boxing, according to InTheCage.pl. Morelli answered in round 2, then Yakymenko regained control with his takedowns, above all in round 4, where he controlled his opponent.
The record
Yakymenko, champion since February, now has 12 wins and 2 losses. Morelli drops to 8-5. It was his 2nd attempt at this title.
The weigh-in offenders: 2 KOs and a loss
Adam Soldaev
The lightweight, who came in 0.9 kg over, knocked out Mateusz Makarowski in round 1, at 4:17. His point deduction therefore never came into play.
Sergiusz Zajac
The light heavyweight, 2.6 kg over the day before, knocked out Salim El Ouassaidi in round 1, at 1:09.
Laid Zerhouni
The Frenchman lost to Andrzej Grzebyk by majority decision. 2 judges scored it 29-27 for Grzebyk, the 3rd had it a 28-28 draw. Zerhouni had started the fight a point down.
It is true that winning a belt is hard, but defending it, especially the 1st time, is even harder.
The other results
The rematch
Wilson Varela submitted Marian Ziolkowski with an armbar in round 1 (3:40) in their 2nd fight.
The decisions
Igor Wlodarczyk beat Welisson Paiva (30-25, 30-27, 30-26), Szymon Bajor beat Kacper Paczoski and Andrzej Karkula beat Kamil Korzeniowski, all by unanimous decision. Kristians Boguzs won by round 2 TKO.
Follow KSW
The next date is KSW 123 on November 21 in Szczecin. The fighters’ profiles and their updated records are in the FightHub app.
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