Bad blood to return as Mateusz Gamrot and Norman Parke prepare for trilogy fight at KSW 53

Polish promotion KSW returns to action on July 11 with a bonafide grudge match at the top of the card, as undefeated lightweight champion Mateusz Gamrot returns to action against interim champ Norman Parke.

The main event bout in Warsaw, Poland will complete a trilogy of fights involving the dueling 155-pounders in a rivalry that has been filled with bad blood.

Their first bout at “KSW 39: Colosseum” ended in a unanimous decision victory for Poland’s Gamrot (15-0 MMA, 11-0 KSW) after a highly-competitive clash that some observers felt Parke (28-6-1 MMA, 4-1 KSW) had done enough to win. The bout also featured a controversial incident where Parke accused Gamrot of biting his fingers during the fight. In response, Gamrot accused the Northern Irishman of pushing his fingers into his mouth.

The rematch at KSW 40 provided even more controversy when the second meeting was stopped after Parke suffered two eye pokes from the Pole. The result was deemed a no contest and, during the ill-tempered aftermath, Parke was punched by one of Gamrot’s cornermen.

Since then, Gamrot has moved on and defended his lightweight title with a fourth-round submission of Grzegorz Szulakowski at KSW 42, then added the promotion’s vacant featherweight title to his collection with a unanimous decision victory over Kleber Koike Erbst at KSW 46.

Now, after 18 months away from the cage, “Gamer” is back, and ready to renew his rivalry with Parke once again.

“I don’t like him at all. It’s not a secret, he doesn’t like me, I don’t like him,” said Gamrot.

“I won’t shake his hand. I will weigh in, enter the cage the next day, and punish him for every word he said. I don’t see him as a challenge. As I said earlier, it will be easy money for me.”

Following his controversial no contest with Gamrot, Parke has fought five times – four of them under the KSW banner – winning all five bouts by decision.

His most recent outing, at KSW 50, saw him edge a split decision against Marcin Wrzosek to capture the KSW interim lightweight title and reignite the Polish promotion’s most heated rivalry.

“If he wants to touch gloves, no problem,” said Parke. “I’m going to punch him in the face from Round 1 to Round 5. There is nothing that he can do to stop me. I’m just going to keep coming.”

“KSW 53: Reborn” takes place behind closed doors at an undisclosed venue in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday, July 11. The event will be streamed live on KSWTV.com.

The KSW 53 fight card includes:

• Champion Mateusz Gamrot vs. Norman Parke (for unified KSW lightweight title)
• Borys Mankowski vs. Marcin Wrozsek
• Artur Sowinski vs. Gracjan Szadzinski
• Lukasz Bienkowski vs. Tomasz Drwal
• Andrzej Grzebyk vs. Tomasz Jakubiec
• Filip Pejic vs. Roman Szymanski
• Sebastian Przybysz vs. Jakub Wiklacz
• Michal Pietrzak vs. Kamil Szymuszowski