After a loss by submission, Ricardo Prasel, an ex-Chelsea star, failed to make it to the top of the MMA heavyweight division.
Prasel (32), was forced to quit football in his 20s, but has since found a new career in combat sports.
Ricardo Prasel was defeated in round one of his KSW heavyweight title bout
Prasel loses as British Champion Phil De Fries successfully defends his title for the seventh time
Prasel uploaded a photo of him after the fight, apologising for his mistakes to the fans
Prasel while he was with Chelsea
After beating Daniel Omielanczuk and Michael Kita, the former shot-stopper was able to make the transition to heavyweight. He will now be a contender for the KSW title.
He was defeated by Phil De Fries, British Champion. The bout was won via a submission at KSW74 in the first round.
This means that De Fries has successfully defended his title seven more times.
Prasel uploaded a photo of him to his Instagram page, apologizing to his fans for the loss.
Prasel, despite losing the heavyweight title fight to him, has a remarkable record in MMA.
He has a record of 13 victories and four losses and was almost signed up for UFC by Dana White in 2019.
He lost to Don'Tale Mayes in Dana White's Tuesday Night Contender Series.
Prasel was a short-lived footballer who signed for Chelsea. He was their third-choice goalkeeper under Petr Cech, Henrique Hilario.
He reflected on his time at Chelsea and said: "(Didier] Drogba was absolutely unbelievable, man."
"I didn’t go with the pros because I was the third goalkeeper – Cech and Hilario went.
"But I played alongside them every day because they wanted to practice shootout-free kicks after training, and I had the responsibility to defend it.
"Drogba and Michael Ballack were shooting free kicks for thirty minutes each day. They didn't miss a single one, my God. It was amazing."
De Fries, a Sunderland native, announced his intention to fight Mariusz Pudzianowski, five-time World's Strongest Man.
He stated to MMA junkie that he believes Pudzian is the No. 1 contender. He has a winning streak of five fights. He's also the big eyes and money fight. Perhaps I am just saying this to get the fight.
"They want to fight 'Pudzian, but I think that 'Pudzian wants lots of money to do so. He's not wrong. Like, why? He could be paid a lot to wrestle or fight non-ranked men.
"Why fight a dangerous guy when you can get the exact same money elsewhere?" He wants them to pay me, but I'd like a little more. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Pudzian. I would love to fight him.
Did you miss our previous article...
https://secondsaway.co.uk/mixed-martial-arts/fight-week-ufc-279-review-khamzat-and-nate-leave-vegas-with-big-wins
