Phil De Fries heads into KSW 117 with one other title protection on the schedule, however his newest discuss gave the larger story: the long-reigning KSW heavyweight champion spoke intimately in regards to the nervousness that formed a lot of his life and profession, whereas additionally laying out how he’s making ready for Marcin Wójcik in Warsaw on April 18. De Fries vs. Wójcik because the heavyweight title battle within the co-main spot at XTB KSW 117 at COS Torwar, with De Fries coming into for his 14th title protection.
Phil De Fries says “I’m going for the end, first or second spherical” earlier than KSW 117 title protection
This fight adds another chapter to one of the longest active title runs in European MMA. It is De Fries’ 14th title defense, and his reign has already become the longest in KSW history, along with the company record for heavyweight title defenses.
Wójcik is a live challenger, not a placeholder. He is moving into just his second fight at heavyweight after a December win over former UFC title challenger Augusto Sakai, a result that gave him momentum and added intrigue to this matchup.
De Fries made clear in your interview that he sees the danger. He called Wójcik “a knockout machine” and said camp shifted in response, with a focus on bringing in partners who matched “his body type and his attributes” instead of staying only with the familiar work he usually gets from Mick Parkin and Tom Aspinall.
“I feel it’ll be a document that stands for a really very long time, 10 years champion of a serious organisation, particularly at heavyweight the place you make one mistaken transfer and you would be flatlined… I’m going for the end, first or second spherical.”
Wójcik spent a lot of his profession at mild heavyweight, the place his motion and hanging helped separate him from many opponents. De Fries, although, has dealt with nearly each sort of problem put in entrance of him throughout his KSW run, together with a submission win over Arkadiusz Wrzosek in June 2025 and a choice victory over Augusto Sakai in June 2024.
Anxiousness
De Fries spoke intimately about years of extreme nervousness, describing repeated checks of doorways and home equipment, worry round on a regular basis cellphone calls, and a degree the place regular life felt exhausting to handle. He mentioned he ultimately searched his signs on-line, noticed a physician, began medicine, and after a number of months felt the nervousness “simply lifted.” He nonetheless takes the medicine and believes that change lined up with a serious enchancment in each his life exterior the cage and his performances inside it.
“Life wasn’t pleasing to me. The physician prescribed these tablets they usually mentioned it’ll take three months to work, and in three months my nervousness simply lifted. I actually couldn’t imagine how good regular felt. My win streak coincides with beating nervousness utterly, so I’m scared to return off them. When the nervousness lifted, I bear in mind strolling out and considering, ‘This isn’t so dangerous. I can take pleasure in this second a bit. I can benefit from the power, the sector.’”
He defined that earlier than therapy, he fought with out actual calm and felt he was reacting on intuition as an alternative of really studying from what was taking place round him. Now he feels in a position to assume within the cage, construct actual expertise, and even take pleasure in components of battle week and battle night time. For a champion already deep right into a historic reign, that may be a notable level: he doesn’t sound like somebody who thinks his finest years are behind him.
Wójcik brings velocity, energy, and a unique look than many latest challengers. De Fries nonetheless enters as the person the division in KSW.
Watch KSW 117
Watch KSW 117 Here
KSW 117 takes place on April 18 at COS Torwar in Warsaw, Poland, with Adrian Bartosiński vs. Andrzej Grzebyk for the welterweight title set as the primary occasion and Phil De Fries vs. Marcin Wójcik for the heavyweight title featured on the cardboard as properly. The occasion additionally contains key bouts reminiscent of Salahdine Parnasse vs. Marian Ziółkowski, Artur Szpilka vs. Errol Zimmerman, and a middleweight title battle between Paweł Pawlak and Mamed Khalidov, giving the lineup a mixture of championship fights, established names, and crossover enchantment.
