Another fight weekend is in the books, and even though there was no UFC show, there was still some good scraps in the cage all across the globe. This past weekend’s action was headlined by a ONE show on Friday and a KSW show on Saturday, giving us something to hold us over until the UFC returns for its February schedule next week.
So, as usual, let’s take a look at three fighters who boosted their stock over the past few days.
So yeah, after I spent all that time hyping up Salahdine Parnasse last week, Daniel Torres strolled into the KSW circle on Saturday and made me look like an asshole. But you know what, I’m happy for him. Torres entered KSW 58’s main event as a sizable underdog and walked away with a championship belt, having handed a hyped young star his first-ever loss.
Parnasse is a brilliant talent, he’s just 23 years old, and he still has an extremely bright future ahead of him. He was considered the next young KSW star to make the jump to the UFC before the fight, and he still is even after eating a first-round KO from Torres. Part of that might be because of how goddamn weird this knockout was – Torres swung a right hook but didn’t catch Parnasse with the fist, instead somehow hitting him with his bicep hard enough to put the champion down.
It goes down in the official record as a KO (Forearm Strike), but there was nothing forearm about it. Daniel Torres knocked a guy out with his bicep. That’s the kind of python action Hulk Hogan could have only dreamed about. Yeah, it seemed like kind of a fluke. But if you’re Daniel Torres, how are you not spending the rest of your life bragging about how you’re so jacked that you can put a man out by flexing really hard?
So yeah, Daniel Torres knocked Parnasse out by swinging his bicep, and now he’s the KSW featherweight champion. The odd nature of the knockout, plus Parnasse’s incredible talent and pedigree, would point towards there being an immediate rematch at some point. But for now, Torres can call himself a champion of a major organization, and life is only gonna get better from here.
Parnasse has gotten most of the attention as a star prospect, but don’t overlook Torres, who himself is just 26 years old, has won four straight against good competition, and has shown a penchant for being in exciting fights. Whatever happens, I’m looking forward to seeing where this all goes.
On Friday I introduced you all to the legend of Oumar “Reug Reug” Kane, a massive Senegalese wrestling champion making his ONE debut against veteran Muay Thai champ Alain Ngalani. It was just Reug Reug’s second pro MMA fight – in his debut in Dec. 2019, the 28-year-old showed his incredible explosion and strength in a second-round TKO win.
Reug Reug has now fought twice. He’s still unbelievably raw. But he overwhelmed another opponent last week, dumping Ngalani on the mat and finishing him with ground and pound inside the first. A few more of these and baby, you’ve got yourself a stew going.
Ngalani is, admittedly, 45 years old, but if you’ve followed his career you’ll know that the Cameroonian is something of an athletic marvel himself, with real elite striking bona fides and much more experience in MMA than Reug Reug. Ngalani carried with him a higher comfort level in the cage and the established knockout ability. But the second Reug Reug really committed himself forward, Ngalani was helpless.
After a tentative first few minutes, Reug Reug suddenly explodes toward him, swinging wildly and with power – it made me think for a moment of Francis Ngannou, and the absolute fear his opponents must feel when he rampages toward you swinging cinderblocks at your head – and then seemingly effortlessly took Ngalani down and bopped him with right hands until the referee stops it. Reug Reug’s strength and burst are really something to see from a man that size, and they’ll make him appointment viewing in the years to come.
At some point, Reug Reug will run into a fighter with a higher level of skill who will know better how to deal with the threat of his rushes and put the big guy to the test. But in a heavyweight division that is traditionally a shallower pond – especially outside of the UFC – those immense raw physical gifts, and that impressive wrestling acumen, can carry this guy a long way.
Hold onto your butts, ladies and gentlemen. REUG REUG is here.
KSW events usually provide some very good action, but outside of the shocking quick KO in the main event, Saturday’s offering was actually rather dull. It seemed like a lot of clinchfests, all in a row. And I’m not going to denigrate fighters who want to work in the clinch – it’s a perfectly valid method towards victory – but damn, let’s switch it up a little bit.
But one of the fighters on the undercard really stood out to me on Saturday. Robert Ruchala is a 22-year-old Polish featherweight who dominated his matchup with Czech counter-striker Daniel Bazant, going nonstop like the Energizer Bunny before grabbing an armbar late in the third round to run his pro record to 5-0.
Ruchala is very early in his development, but he really showed a lot to like in that win. Standing 5-foot-10, Ruchala is tall and lanky for the featherweight division – the fight on Saturday took place at a 150-pound catchweight – but he’s not there to stand on the outside and trade jabs. Ruchala is a very aggressive grappler who was on Bazant from the opening bell, taking him down numerous times, threatening submissions, and never giving the Czech a moment to breathe.
Ruchala dominated every position throughout the fight until the late minutes, when the Pole suddenly snatched an armbar out of a scramble and finished the bout. If he hadn’t scored that submission, he was well on his way to a lopsided unanimous decision, somewhere in the 30-26/30-25 range. It was a great display of his grappling acumen and great cardio, along with his physical dimensions, that look to make him an interesting prospect to watch.
Ruchala’s got a long way to go to really be a factor, but he’s got some tools. Keep an eye out.
The Big Fight 