Bartosiński has to change his plans again! “I’m the champion, but they’re treating me like a challenger.”

Adrian Bartosiński makes no secret of the fact that the confusion surrounding his next KSW fight has seriously thrown off his training routine. First, Adam Masaev dropped out; then Tymoteusz Łopaczyk stepped in; and finally, the date of the bout was changed. “Bartos” openly admits that, as the champion, he expected to be treated completely differently by the promotion.

The popular “Bartos” was set to return to the cage in October. His opponent was originally Adam Masaev, but Masaev withdrew from the bout, and KSW had to quickly find a new challenger.

After a few phone calls, the choice fell on Tymoteusz Łopaczyk. The problem was that the new opponent wasn’t able to prepare for the October fight. As a result, the bout was rescheduled and ultimately landed on the XTB KSW 123 card.

For Bartosiński, this meant significant complications. The champion had to interrupt a specific phase of his training camp under Masaev and then replan the coming weeks from scratch. The change in opponent also means extra work for Dawid Pepłowski, who must devise a completely different game plan.

Bartosiński makes no secret of his resentment toward KSW

In an interview with Fansportu TV, the welterweight champion addressed the entire situation and made it clear that he was not pleased with the decision to reschedule the fight to accommodate a new challenger.

– Tymek said in interviews that “he’ll be ready when the champion is ready.” There were 8 or 9 weeks until the fight—which is plenty of time. Before the Fleminas fight, I took a bout with 6 weeks’ notice and made weight as the champion, while the challenger, despite having 8–9 weeks to prepare, wasn’t ready—even though he’d said in interviews that he would be ready…

Bartosiński, however, did not want to limit the issue solely to Łopaczyk. As he pointed out, he does not know the exact background of the entire situation and does not rule out the possibility that the new contender actually needed time to regain full fitness.

– Well, what am I supposed to judge? Maybe he really did get injured in a fight, not during training. I have no idea what happened there, because apparently it was about recovering from an injury… But overall, this whole situation isn’t about Tymek or Artur [Ostaszewski], because I’ve got nothing against them. Quite the opposite—I really like them—but you know, I’m the champion, and this isn’t the first time… Back in March, I was the one who had to adapt. I had to adapt and take a fight that was “years away,” and now once again, I’m the one who has to adapt.

It is precisely the recurrence of such situations that irritates the champion the most. “Bartos” pointed out that he had previously agreed to arrangements that were convenient for the organization, even if they meant a much shorter preparation period for him.

– I see this as a lack of respect toward me, but I’d say it’s more on the part of the federation. Back in March, I made a concession and took this fight with only six weeks’ notice. And now the fight’s been postponed again—the second time in a row this has happened, and it’s causing me problems. I’m the champion, so I thought that the champion has… maybe not special treatment, but that he’s the one who decides the dates. But here they’re treating me like a challenger…

Bartosiński makes no secret of the fact that his grievances are directed primarily at KSW. The champion believes he should have more say in setting the date of the fight, yet once again he has been forced to accommodate the challenger’s schedule.