There’s a late change to the fight card at KSW 51 weekend, as the Polish promotion picked up the phone to a British heavy hitter in order to keep their fight card intact.
With Denis Stojnic (13-3) forced off the card during fight week due to an undisclosed injury, KSW officials have drafted in reinforcements from the U.K., with seasoned strongman-turned-martial arts star Oli Thompson agreeing to take on Ante Delija on just three days’ notice in Zagreb, Croatia.
Former UFC and Bellator campaigner Thompson (20-11) is no stranger to the KSW cage, having appeared for the promotion four times earlier in his career, earning a 2-2 record. And this weekend, after a four-year absence from the promotion, he’ll look to turn his promotional record into a winning one by shocking Delija (16-3) on the main card in Zagreb.
Thompson is currently enjoying a solid run of form, having won three of his last four fights over the last two years, with all three wins coming inside the distance
The fight completes a 10-bout lineup for the event, which represents KSW’s debut show in Croatia. The night will be headlined by familiar KSW faces as Poland’s five-time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski takes on Bosnian bodybuilder and social media star Erko Jun in a musclebound heavyweight contest.
The amended KSW 51 fight card now features:
Mariusz Pudzianowski vs. Erko Jun
Borys Mankowski vs. Vaso Bakocevic
Antun Racic vs. Damian Stasiak
Filip Pejic vs. Daniel Torres
Aleksandar Ilic vs. Cezary Kesik
Ante Delija vs. Oli Thompson
Ivan Erslan vs. Darwin Rodriguez
Roman Szymański vs. Milos Janicic
Krystian Kaszubowski vs. Aleksandar Rakas
Sebastian Przybysz vs. Lemmy Krusic
KSW 51: British heavyweight Oli Thompson gets short-notice call for KSW's Croatia debut