Rafal Haratyk vs Ibragim Chuzhigaev championship clash at KSW 105

Rafal Haratyk and Ibragim Chuzhigaev will face each other in a championship bout for the welterweight belt at KSW 105, the bout will take place on April 26 in Gliwice.

The XTB KSW 105 gala will feature a bout at the top of the welterweight division, with Rafal Haratyk (20-5-2) facing his second defense of the championship belt. His opponent will be Ibragim Chuzhigaev (19-5) a former KSW champion who has never lost his title in a fight.

The men were already matched up with each other outside the round cage a few years ago, but the fight ultimately did not take place. The championship bout will take place on April 26 at PreZero Arena Gliwice.

Rafal Haratyk entered the organization with a bump, and in October 2023 he sent Ivan Erslan to the boards already in the first round of their clash. After this victory, the popular “Polish Tank” competed in the championship tournament, won two fights in it and won the welterweight belt. He made his first defense at the XTB KSW 100 gala and knocked out Marcin Wojcik. Haratyk has been competing in professional MMA since 2010.

To date, he has fought 27 fights, 20 of which he has won. Seven times he won by sending his rivals to the boards, and five times he triumphed by submission. Haratyk gathered experience fighting not only in Poland, but also in South Africa, France, Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus. Among others, he competed under the flags of EFC, Babylon MMA, ACA, FEN and Ares organizations, where he was a contender for the middleweight title.

Ibragim Chuzhigaev made his KSW debut in January 2022. At the KSW 66 gala, he faced light heavyweight champion Tomasz Narkun and after a very challenging five-round bout, took the title from the longest reigning champion in the history of the weight class. In December of the same year, at the XTB KSW 77 gala, Ibragim made his first defense of the belt and defeated Ivan Erslan in a thrilling bout. Both of these championship clashes were voted the best fights of the evening.

In his second title defense, Chuzhigaev submitted Bohdan Gnidka, for which he was also awarded a bonus. After this confrontation, the paths of the champion and KSW parted, and the belt was vacated. In 2024 Ibragim fought in Armenia and added another win by submission to his record. The 33-year-old remains undefeated since 2017 and is on a wave of ten straight wins.