Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Kalindra Faria Title Bout Set For KSW 30KSW Women’s Strawweight Champion Karolina Kowalkiewicz makes the next defence of her title on February 21st at KSW 30 in Poznań, Poland. The undefeated Polish standout is set to face off against veteran Brazilian contender Kalindra Faria in a 115-pound championship bout on the card.

KSW officials announced the title tilt on Monday. Kowalkiewicz made her North American debut in November and picked up her biggest career win by outpointing Mizuki Inoue at Invicta FC 9. Faria’s 11-fight winning streak was snapped when she was defeated by WSOF champ Jessica “Jag” Aguilar.

Kowalkiewicz (6-0-0) has quickly risen to become one of Europe’s most talented female fighters thanks to prominent bouts on KSW cards. In June 2013, she became the promotion’s first female champion by submitting Marta “Mysza” Chojnoska in just 71 seconds at KSW 23. She retained her title by defeating Invicta FC veterans Simona Soukupova and Jasminka “Impressive” Cive in bouts at KSW 24 and 27, respectively, before signing a deal with Invicta FC herself. In her promotional debut, she surprised some observers by outstriking the highly-touted Inoue en route to a Split Decision win.

Faria (15-4-1) got off to a modest 4-3-1 start against formidable opposition early in her career before putting together a stellar streak of 11 consecutive victories. Along the way, she totalled key wins over Carina “Barbie” Damm, Aline “Hannibal” Sério (twice) and Sanja Sučević, and captured the Pink Fight 121-pound title in early 2012. On November 15th, Faria competed in her most high-profile bout to date at WSOF 15, but she dropped a competitive five-round decision to Aguilar. The Brazilian finisher now looks to rebound by upsetting Kowalkiewicz and taking home KSW title gold.

KSW 30 takes place on February 21st at Arena Poznań in Poznań, Poland.

 

 

(Photo Credit: Scott Hirano, InvictaFC.com)

  1. This is a big time/dangerous matchup. It could really be Karolina’s first loss. It’s the gift and curse of Invicta. They give their fighters freedom but at the same time their undefeated contender for the belt could take an L. But at the same time fighters need fights to get paid, moreover, fighters need to know when their next fight occurs. invicta has been bad at that.

  2. I thought XFC sued to keep Faria exclusive? I know she was only on a one fight deal with WSOF, buy now she is turning into a MMA hobo. She needs to be in a steady division. Otherwise she is wasting her talents barnstorming and losing.

    As for Karolina, she is a bad fit for an Invicta title because like Inoue, she is property of another promotion. Plus, if Joanna wins the title, I can see UFC interested in Karolina. There would be interest in Poland in a JJ win since she would be the first Polish UFC champ. Now JJ is the way better fighter and the one the Poles care about, but that might open the door for Karolina.

  3. BTW, take a snapshot of the 115 rankings because it will very different 6-12 months from now once fighters like Thug Rose, Penne, Markos, Grasso, Kish, and Vanzant get more fights. Even Rakoczy could be very dangerous at that weight and I still like Curren. Both Faria and Inoue will be nowhere near the top 10. Inoue doesn’t deserve to be there now and might need a change of camps to ever be a factor in north america. Jag should also drop just by being in WSOF. Although I think she will drop anyway if Carla defends her belt and Jag is just waiting for her deal to expire. The UFC belt is really the only belt that matters now and anyone who holds it should be #1.And I say this as an old Pride fan who once hated UFC.