Undefeated rising star Robert Ruchala captured his first KSW title with a dramatic late TKO win at KSW 80.

Ruchala earned his shot at the interim featherweight title with a five-fight win streak under the KSW banner, and his reward was a main event bout against Russian-born German contender Lom-Ali Eskiev in Lubin, Poland.

And, after a back-and-forth battle that went deep into the championship rounds, Ruchala found a last-gasp finish after taking the action to the mat, taking Eskiev’s back and hammering him with ground punches and elbows to finally earn the TKO stoppage with just 25 seconds left in the bout.

The co-main event saw another impressive finish as England’s Tom Breese needed just two minutes, 45 seconds to submit Poland’s Bartosz Lesko in their middleweight matchup.

Breese took control from the opening bell but found himself caught out by a Lesko takedown. But, once the action hit the canvas, Breese took over, as he swept his man, took his back, then locked up a tight rear-naked choke to bounce back into the win column after his controversial TKO loss to Pawel Pawlak at KSW 76 in November 2022.

The main card in Lubin also saw a pair of first-round finishes for French light heavyweight Oumar Sy and Polish middleweight Michal Michalski, who claimed their victories via rear-naked choke and elbow TKO, respectively.

The main card also kicked off with a finish, as Polish light heavyweight Damian Piwowarczyk stopped fellow countryman Bartlomiej Gladkowicz with knees and elbows two minutes, 39 seconds into the openig round.

KSW 80: Official results

MAIN CARD

  • Robert Ruchala def. Lom-Ali Eskiev via TKO (elbows) – Round 5, 4:35
  • Tom Breese def. Bartosz Lesko via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:45
  • Oumar Sy def. Luis Henrique da Silva via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 1:40
  • Michal Michalski def. Erikas Golubovskis via TKO (elbows) – Round 1, 2:43
  • Yasmin Guimaraes def. Emilia Czerwinska via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
  • Danu Tarchila def. Wojciech Kawieczko via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-26)
  • Damian Piwowarczyk def. Bartlomiej Gladkowicz via TKO (knees and elbows) – Round 1, 2:39

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Kacper Koziorzebski def. Borys Borkowski via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
  • Kamil Szkaradek def. Patryk Chrobak via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:24
  • Andi Vrtacic def. Mateusz Janur via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:59