KSW 42 takes place Saturday, March 3 at Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland. Here are the opening odds from the offshore sportsbooks:
KSW 42 Opening Odds:
Mamed Khalidov -130
Tomasz Narkun -110
Martin Zawada -130
Lukasz Jurkowski -110
Michal Materla -320
Scott Askham +240
Filip Wolanski -230
Bartlomiej Kopera +170
Krystian Kaszubowski -150
Christopher Henze +110
Mateusz Gamrot -410
Grzegorz Szulakowski +290
Martin Wojcik -310
Chris Fields +230
Ariane Lipski -600
Silvana Gomez Juarez +400
Paulina Raszewska -310
Karolina Owczarz +230
My initial thoughts on some of the fights are as follows:
– Khalidov is still the best fighter in KSW history and is coming off of 14-straight wins. It’s true that he’s 37 now and likely on a decline but he remains an incredibly difficult opponent to beat at 185lbs. Narkun has won five-straight fights and at 28 is in his prime. He looks like a really solid prospect at 205lbs. This fight is a catchweight at 203lbs which makes things interesting. Despite moving up in weight, I find it hard to bet against Khalidov, who has at times looked remarkable in KSW. I’ll take Khalidov to outlast Narkun and win a decision.
– Materla is coming off of three-straight knockouts including over Rousimar Palhares and Paulo Thiago in his last two fights which is very impressive. Askham picked up a split decision over Luke Barnatt his last time out but had lost three of four prior to that. Askham has been very inconsistent throughout his career while Materla has been dominant for the most part, and I expect him to win this fight by knockout.
– Wojcik lost to Narkun in his last fight but prior to that had won six in a row. Fields is coming off of two-straight wins but had strugggled prior to that, including on his stint in the TUF house. Wojcik is a big favorite here and for good reason as he should be able to get back in the win column with a win in this one.
