After two controversial fights built his feud with Mateusz Gamrot into one of the most heated rivalries in Polish promotion KSW, Norman Parke is determined to make a statement in their third meeting and walk away with the undisputed lightweight title.
Parke (28-6-1 MMA, 4-1 KSW) won the interim lightweight belt with victory over Marcin Wrzocek last year at KSW 50 in London to put himself in pole position to face old rival and undefeated lightweight champ Gamrot (15-0 MMA, 11-0 KSW) for a third time. Now the Northern Irishman says there’s plenty to settle when they face off behind closed doors in Warsaw at KSW 53 on Saturday.
“I think it’s the biggest fight that KSW could make,” he told MMA Junkie ahead of the fight. “Given how the last two fights went, there’s nothing really decisive. He’s got his say on what he thinks went down in those two fights, and I’ve had my opinion as well. So you’ve got his fans and my fans and I think this could be the decisive one. Hopefully, there’s no drama after it and I can shake the man’s hand after the fight, no problem.”
The first meeting between the pair was a closely-contested battle that saw Gamrot claim a narrow unanimous decision wins, with 29-28 scores across the board after a grueling encounter. But the fight was shrouded in controversy after Parke accused Gamrot of biting his finger during a grappling exchange. In response, Gamrot accused Parke of shoving his finger into his mouth.
“The first fight was close, a very close fight,” Parke recalled. “But in that fight we all know he bit my finger, and we all know that if this had happened anywhere else he would have been disqualified. I’ve said some things about KSW in the past – I’ve said they were corrupt, I did say that – and said if they’re going to move their promotion forward they’ve got to be fair to the foreign fighters. But we can see they’ve changed. They’ve expanded to include more international fighters and most of their champions are non-Polish now.”
After the bad blood of the first fight, tempers flared once again in the rematch five months later at KSW 40 in Dublin. After Parke sustained two eye pokes from Gamrot, the fight was waved off and declared a no contest. Tempers flared after the announcement and, during the chaos, one of Gamrot’s cornermen punched Parke in the face.
It means there’s plenty of unfinished business between the pair ahead of their matchup at KSW 53 on Saturday, where the two fighters will compete in a near-empty arena in Warsaw, Poland. It’ll be a marked contrast from the large-scale arena shows KSW is known for, but for Parke, who won the lightweight tournament during “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” back in 2012, it’s a scenario he expects will feel pretty familiar.
“It’s going to feel like being on The Ultimate Fighter when we’re fighting,” he said. “There’s going to be some people there, but not the 10-15,000 people they usually have. That’s the way KSW do it. People know their promotion work is next to none. But at the end of the day, when the cage door shuts it’s just me and him.
“It’s going to feel like a heavy spar on a Friday in the gym. You can hear the breathing, you can hear the smacks, you can hear pretty much everything! I think it’s going to be similar to The Ultimate Fighter, but I think how tense the fight is and how much we don’t like each other means it won’t play a factor whatsoever.”
With his last finish coming way back in July 2014 against Naoyuki Kotani at UFC Fight Night 46, Parke admitted that reputation as a decision-winner rather than a knockout artist is a warranted one. But, nonetheless, he said he’d love to end his streak of decision wins with a stoppage on Saturday in one of the biggest fights of his 35-bout career.
“I would love to finish a fight. If I could get the finish that might set me up to get more finishes,” he said. “But people know me as a grinder and I just accept that role and I’ll keep on going. I just want to go in there and keep punching him for five rounds until he gives up. I’m just so stubborn, I won’t back down, and I’ll go in there, Matt Brown style, and just put it on him.”
Norman Parke says KSW return will feel like 'The Ultimate Fighter,' targets rare finish at KSW 53
