Krzysztof Glowacki has kick-started his MMA career in the best way possible, with a knockout win in his first fight.
The former two-time WBO cruiserweight champion managed an insane first-round knockout win over Patryk Tolkaczewski at KSW 83: Colosseum 2 on Saturday night at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw.
Tolkaczewski had Glowacki in full mount, the most dominant position in MMA, piling strikes on the ex-boxer who seemed helpless.
It felt like Glowacki's MMA debut was just moments away from ending in terrible defeat, when he suddenly landed a single left hand from his back, knocking Tolkaczewski clean out.
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The fight was the first for Glowacki following his fourth-round KO loss to Richard Riakporhe on January 21st this year at AO Arena in Manchester, which was followed by a boxing retirement announcement in March.
In his prime, Glowacki boasted an impressive 26-0 record and was the WBO cruiserweight king after high-profile wins over Marco Huck and Steve Cunningham.
However, Glowacki was stopped in his tracks by none other than Oleksandr Usyk, who beat him over 12 gruelling rounds to win the first of four 200 lbs belts he picked up before moving up the heavyweight division and ultimately dethroning Anthony Joshua.
Glowacki initially bounced back with five back-to-back wins and recaptured the WBO title, originally winning the interim belt before being upgraded to full champion, by outpointing Maxim Vlasov over 12 rounds.
The Polish southpaw was then stopped in three rounds by Mairis Briedis in his next fight before being defeated by Lawrence Okolie inside six rounds in March 2021.
Glowacki walked away from the sport of boxing with an impressive 32-4 record, and is now techniclaly an undefeated MMA fighter following his astonishing debut KO.
On the same card, former heavyweight boxer Artur Szpilka extended his MMA record to 3-0 with a surprise knockout win over Mariusz Pudzianowski, who was crowned ‘The World’s Strongest Man’ five times during the noughties.
Since transitioning to MMA, Pudzianowski has amassed a 17-8 record and picked up wins over boxing legend Butterbean, MMA icon Bob Sapp and former UFC star Oli Thompson to become a popular figure in the sport.
Following this shock victory, Szpilka, who fought Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder during his boxing career, has become a genuine KSW heavyweight title contender, with the growing likelihood being that he could be matched up with Glowacki after both of their respective upset wins.
Joshua Nair