Darko Stošić vs. Phil De Fries Prediction on November 16, 2024

Match info

This Saturday (November 16), Europe’s premier men’s MMA (mixed martial arts) organization is marking its 100th tournament – Polish KSW (Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki; translation: Martial Arts Confrontation) is hosting a huge event at the PreZero Arena in Gliwice. The main card of the XTB KSW 100 event will be a showdown between Mamed Khalidov and Adrian Bartosiński, but fans will definitely be more interested in the second fight of the evening – the heavyweight title fight: Brit Phil de Fries, being favored by top MMA betting sites’ odds, will defend his belt against Serbian Darko Stošić. The bout is to start at 11 p.m. local time.

Meeting statistics

The current form of Darko Stošić

“The Hammer” is the number one in the rankings. Losing to De Fries two years ago was Stošić’s (21-6) only defeat in the Polish promotion, in which he recorded seven victories (six before the last bell rang and one split decision).

The Serb won every fight in KSW after losing to De Fries. He first defeated Michał Kita, Štefan Vojčák, and Michal Martínek before facing Matheus Scheffel in his last bout, which occurred in February of this year. The Brazilian kicked his opponent’s leg to start the fight. In contrast, Stošić launched a barrage of punches and early, in the second minute, he delivered a powerful left jab that sent Scheffel sprawling to the ground. The Serb started hammering his opponent mercilessly on the ground until the referee intervened and broke up the bout.

Stošić added another victory via knockout to his record after his last KSW victory, which took place outside a round cage. Stošić won 12 of his fights in the opening round and knocked down his opponents 15 times out of 21 fights. He received five recognitions for the best knockout of the night in the round cage. Only one of his bouts in KSW ended in a judge’s ruling. This time, Stošić ought to have a better strategy to defeat the champion and dethrone him. Bookies have no faith in him, as his win is estimated at 3.8 on Monro; his rival is 1.23.

The current form of Phil De Fries

The fantastic British fighter (25-6-1), well-known for his wrestling prowess and who has won six fights via knockout, 13 in the first round, and completed 15 submissions, defended his title as many as 10 times in a row.

This will be the second time he attempts to defend it against Stošić. They met for the first time at the KSW 67 event in 2022, when De Fries won by a technical knockout in the fifth round. After the fight with Stošić, De Fries recorded four more victories (two submissions, a knockout, and a unanimous decision) and is currently on a total streak of an impressive 13 consecutive professional victories. He’s the longest reigning champion in the KSW organization’s history, having not lost since 2017.

He fought seasoned UFC veteran Augusto Sakai in his most recent match, which happened in June of this year. These two put up a full-scale battle. The Brazilian delivered solid blows to the champion in an attempt to keep it going. De Fries, however, took the bout to the clinch, where he wore down and broke his opponent, but he was never able to take him down. Finally, following five rounds of a hard struggle, the British fighter emerged victorious.

Head-to-head

As we said, De Fries and Stošić fought for the first time (and the last time thus far) in February 2022. The outcome of this confrontation was the same in all versions. On the ground, the Brit dominated and decisively defeated his opponent. When the competitors fought in the standing position, the Serb searched for his opportunity, but he was unable to overcome De Fries despite a number of strong blows. After being badly beaten on the ground in the final round, Stošić decided to call it quits and tapped out. De Fries therefore made his sixth successful defense of the KSW heavyweight title.

Match analytics

Everyone is aware of the weapons used by De Fries and Stošić during their fights. But who’ll use it more effectively in the upcoming bout is still up for debate. What’s certain is that the Serb will want to get another opportunity at the standing position. We think that these two will fight until the last, fifth round, just like they did in their previous head-to-head, and that De Fries will win again.

Tip: Total rounds over 3.5. However, there’s no such market on betting sites at the moment, so you should check them a day before the fight or on the same day. If not, bet on the win of De Fries, but the odds are very short on that outcome, as mentioned.