Saturday, December 16 in the evening, Frenchman Salahdine Parnasse attempted what no one has ever achieved in the history of MMA: own three championship belts in three different weight categories within a major MMA organization. Even if the kid from Aubervilliers made history, the step was still a few centimeters too high. Or about ten kilos.
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To see the smiling photos of Salahdine Parnasse accompanied by his coaches after his fight, one might believe that the Frenchman had just won. While a few hours earlier, Saturday December 16, on Polish soil, the kid from Aubervilliers bowed to the judges’ decision, after five times five minutes of effort, against Adrian Bartosinski. The challenge was immense: after seizing the featherweight and lightweight championship belt of KSW, the organization for which he fights, the Frenchman attacked the welterweight.
To put it simply, the man nicknamed the Kylian Mbappé of MMA – he was born in Île-de-France and is one year older than the Bondynois – came up against a Pole with 19 victories, no defeats and 10 kilos more on the scale. Quite a handicap for an immense challenge, no one has ever held three championship belts in a major global MMA organization.
This explains the post-fight smile. “Salah” simply came across someone stronger than him for one evening. And despite the defeat, he showed that at 26 years old, with two championship belts around his waist and all his teeth, he is not far from having in his fists enough to climb a mountain. The Pole’s seriously damaged face can attest to this.
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The power difference was too great
“ It was a very hard fought fight, I went to the decision with a guy 10 kilos heavier than meParnasse reacted to the microphone of RMC Sport afterwards, his nose still swollen. I showed everyone that I’m a real fighter “. The strength differential was enormous. Imagine fighting against your 15 year old big brother when you are 12, unequal right? That’s more or less what happened.
Even with superior boxing from the Frenchman, Bartosinski took the blows without flinching, used his weight and his wrestling to hinder Parnasse and wait for the opening. It came in the third round, when the Pole delivered a knee to the chin of the native of Aubervilliers, who collapsed before regaining his senses in the second to continue the duel. “ He dominated me in close combat, I felt that he was more powerful than me, summed up the defeated. I’m going to come back stronger to training, train even harder “, he promised.
“ I am young, I am 26 years old », recalled the French fighter, who demanded a rematch from his opponent. The KSW, which will set up shop for the first time in Paris in April, would be an ideal opportunity in front of its audience. This last stop in the capital would also be an opportunity to conclude his adventure at KSW, with whom he is linked for only one last fight. A superstar in Eastern Europe, Parnasse will surely have huge offers elsewhere. Let’s see where his future lies.