MMA: Argentine-Croat Francisco ‘Croata’ Barrio gets first win in KSW

Last night saw the first KSW event of 2021. KSW 58 took place in Lodz, Poland, and it proved to be a mixed night for Croatian fighters. 

Francisco ‘Croata’ Barrio (8-2) registered his first win inside the KSW promotion with a unanimous decision win over Poland’s Bartłomiej Kopera (9-7) via unanimous decision in the opening bout of the night. It was another tough fight for the ATT Zagreb fighter but he used his high-level wrestling abilities to control Kopera over the course of the fight.

Francisco ‘Croata’ Barrio (Photo: KSW)

The 31-year-old made his promotional debut at KSW 56 last November in a losing effort against Mateusz Legierski. Now back to winning ways, Barrio will aim to build upon this win and is set himself up for a big 2021.

Elsewhere on the KSW 58 card, Pula’s Daniel Bazant (4-2) suffered a submission loss to top Polish prospect Robert Ruchała (5-0) and, upon his return after a fifteen month break, Cro Cop Team’s Aleksandar Rakas (16-8) was TKO’d in the first round by Michal Michalski (9-4).

KSW 58 Results

Main Event

Featherweight Title

Daniel Torres (12-4) def. Salahdine Parnasse (14-1-1) via KO (bicep strike), round 1, 1:47.

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Co-Main Event 

Light Heavyweight

Szymon Kolecki (9-1) def. Martin Zawada (29-16-1) via unanimous decision (30-26 x 2, 29-28).

Welterweight

Michal Michalski (9-4) def. Aleksandar Rakas (16-8) via TKO (elbows), round 1, 4:35.

Welterweight 

Shamil Musaev (15-0) def. Uroš Jurišič (11-1) via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).

Heavyweight 

Michal Andryszak (22-9) def. Guto Inocente (8-6) via submission (arm-triangle), round 2, 4:07.

Bantamweight

Pawel Politylo (6-2) def. David Martinik (4-2) via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3).

Catchweight 150lb/68kg

Robert Ruchała (5-0) def. Daniel Bazant (4-2) via submission (armbar), round 3, 3:37.

Lightweight

Francisco Barrio (8-2) def. Bartłomiej Kopera (9-7) via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2).