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Michał Materla

Szczecin grappler who won a Polish BJJ title, competed at ADCC, then held the KSW middleweight belt from 2012 until Mamed Khalidov took it in 31 seconds.

Biography

Michał Materla is a Polish mixed martial artist from Szczecin whose combat-sports career began on the jiu-jitsu mat at Berserker's Team in his home city. He was born there on April 10, 1984, won his first MMA fight with a guillotine choke, and held the KSW middleweight title from May 2012 until November 2015. Before he moved into mixed martial arts, he competed as a swimmer and triathlete, Sherdog wrote in 2023. A 2010 profile on the Polish site grapplerINFO.pl describes him as a brown belt who had started out in Brazilian jiu-jitsu at Berserker's Team. According to Polish Wikipedia, which supplies much of the detail in this profile, he later received his black belt from Felipe Costa. The same article names Piotr Bagiński as his main coach and Karol Chabros as his boxing coach. The 2010 profile credits him with Polish titles in both Brazilian jiu-jitsu and submission fighting, and places him among the few Polish grapplers who represented the country at the 2007 ADCC world finals in New York. Polish Wikipedia's honours list fills in the detail: Polish BJJ champion at 91 kg and Polish ADCC runner-up at middleweight in 2006; a place in the round of 16 at the 2007 ADCC World Championship; a Polish submission-fighting title at 99 kg that same year, with second place in the open class; and second place at middleweight at the 2008 ADCC European championship. His MMA career started in 2003, when he was 19, with a guillotine win over Tomasz Janiszewski. He won the MMA Polska title at 100 kg in 2003-2004. During a stay in Brazil, where by the 2010 profile's account he trained mostly jiu-jitsu, he also fought on the Jungle Fight 5 card in November 2005. Evangelista Santos beat him there, ending a run of eight straight wins. In October 2006 he won the KSW 6 tournament. The 2010 profile says he submitted both of his earlier opponents that night and then caught Krzysztof Kułak, a KSW star, in a guillotine in the final. In the semifinal of a KSW tournament in 2007 he lost a split decision to Antonio Mendes. From that defeat on, the same profile says, he trained boxing intensively, adding a strong boxing stand-up to his ground game. Polish Wikipedia counts the guillotine as his most frequent submission, with six wins, but notes that since KSW 28 he has mostly finished fights by knockout or TKO. He won the KSW middleweight title at KSW 19 in May 2012, beating Jay Silva by decision. Polish Wikipedia records several defenses, among them a 21-second knockout of Rodney Wallace, a unanimous decision over Kendall Grove and a TKO of Tomasz Drwal in 2015. The reign ended at KSW 33 in Kraków on November 28, 2015, when Mamed Khalidov needed 31 seconds to take the belt from him. Sherdog put the reign at 1,295 days. In the Polish press report from that night, Materla apologized and promised to come back stronger. As of May 2023, Sherdog counted him among only five men to have held the KSW middleweight title. In 2016 at KSW 36 he knocked out Rousimar Palhares in the second round and took a knockout-of-the-night bonus. He reached the final of a KSW middleweight tournament on May 18, 2019, where Scott Askham knocked him out with a flying knee in the third round. On June 20, 2020, in Dortmund, he won the middleweight title of EFM Show, a promotion he had co-owned, by submitting Wilhelm Ott with a guillotine in the first round. On December 16, 2023, he challenged Paweł Pawlak for the KSW middleweight title and lost a unanimous decision over five rounds. In November 2025 he signed with the Czech-Slovak promotion Oktagon MMA. On April 11, 2026, he headlined a five-round boxing-rules bout in Szczecin and beat Christian Jungwirth by unanimous decision.

Sources for this profile

  • Polish Wikipedia, article on Michał Materla, read 21 October 2026.(opens in a new tab)

    • Polish Wikipedia says Materla's original fighting style is Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he holds a black belt presented to him by Felipe Costa.

      Where in the source: Fighting-style section (Styl walki), first sentence: original style, black belt, presented by Felipe Costa

      Accessed:

    • Polish Wikipedia gives Materla's date and place of birth as 10 April 1984 in Szczecin, Poland.

      Where in the source: Infobox and lead sentence, birth date and place: 'ur. 10 kwietnia 1984'

      Accessed:

    • Polish Wikipedia lists his citizenship as Polish and describes him as a Polish grappler and mixed martial artist who is a member of the Berserker's Team Poland club.

      Where in the source: Infobox citizenship field 'Obywatelstwo: Polska' and the lead sentence

      Accessed:

    • The infobox of the Polish Wikipedia article names the club as Berserker's Team Poland and lists Piotr Bagiński as his main coach and Karol Chabros as his boxing coach.

      Where in the source: Infobox fields for coaches ('Trenowany przez') and club

      Accessed:

    • Polish Wikipedia's grappling honours list gives: Polish BJJ champion at 91 kg in 2006; Polish ADCC runner-up at middleweight in 2006; round of 16 at the ADCC World Championship in 2007; Polish submission-fighting champion at 99 kg and open-class runner-up in 2007; and ADCC European runner-up at middleweight in 2008.

      Where in the source: Honours section, grappling subsection: five dated entries for 2006, 2007 and 2008

      Accessed:

    • Polish Wikipedia says that in 2006 he won the KSW middleweight tournament by defeating Krzysztof Kułak in the final, and lists the KSW 6 tournament win in 2006 among his honours.

      Where in the source: Early-career section, sentence on the KSW middleweight tournament final against Kułak; honours list entry for KSW 6

      Accessed:

    • He won the MMA Polska 100 kg title in 2003-2004 and his run of eight straight wins ended in November 2005 when Evangelista Santos beat him at Jungle Fight 5.

      Where in the source: Early-career section, sentence on the Jungle Fight 5 loss and the eight-win run; honours list entry for MMA Polska

      Accessed:

    • Polish Wikipedia says he won the KSW middleweight title fight against Jay Silva by judges' decision and later defended the belt several times, among others against Rodney Wallace (knockout in 21 seconds), Kendall Grove (unanimous decision) and Tomasz Drwal (TKO in 2015), holding the KSW middleweight title from 2012 to 2015.

      Where in the source: Section covering 2011-2019, paragraphs on the title fight against Silva and the later defences; KSW honours list

      Accessed:

    • In 2016 he knocked out Rousimar Palhares in the second round at KSW 36 and was awarded a knockout-of-the-night bonus.

      Where in the source: Section covering 2011-2019, paragraph on KSW 36 and the knockout bonus

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    • In the KSW middleweight tournament final on 18 May 2019 Scott Askham knocked him out with a flying knee in the third round; Wikipedia says the bout earned a fight-of-the-night bonus.

      Where in the source: Section covering 2011-2019, paragraph on the KSW 49 tournament final and its bonus

      Accessed:

    • On 20 June 2020 he won the middleweight title of the promotion EFM Show, of which Polish Wikipedia calls him a former co-owner, by submitting Wilhelm Ott with a guillotine choke in the first round in Dortmund.

      Where in the source: Lead sentence (former co-owner of EFM Show); section on EFM and the return to KSW; fight-list row for EFM 3

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia calls the guillotine his most frequent submission, accounting for six wins, and says that since KSW 28 he has mostly finished fights by knockout or TKO.

      Where in the source: Fighting-style section: sentences on the guillotine ('duszenie gilotynowe') and on finishes since KSW 28

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    • On 16 December 2023 he challenged Paweł Pawlak for the KSW middleweight title and lost a unanimous decision over five rounds.

      Where in the source: Section on EFM and the return to KSW, paragraph on KSW 89 in Gliwice

      Accessed:

    • Wikipedia says that in November 2025 he signed with the Czech-Slovak promotion Oktagon MMA and on 11 April 2026 beat Christian Jungwirth by unanimous decision in a five-round boxing-rules main event in his home city of Szczecin.

      Where in the source: Boxing-career section, paragraph on Oktagon 86 in Szczecin

      Accessed:

  • grapplerINFO.pl, profile 'Cipao powraca do MMA!!' ahead of his KSW rematch, 11 November 2010.(opens in a new tab)

    • A grappling news site wrote in November 2010 that Materla, then a brown belt, had started his combat-sports career with Brazilian jiu-jitsu at the Berserker's Team in Szczecin.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph: 'brązowy pas bjj'

      Accessed:

    • The same 2010 profile says he won Polish titles in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and in submission fighting, and that in 2007 he was one of the few Polish grapplers given the chance to represent Poland at the ADCC world finals in New York.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraph: 'Mistrza Polski bjj'; 'ADCC ... w Nowym Jorku'

      Accessed:

    • He made his MMA debut in 2003 at age 19, beating Tomasz Janiszewski with a guillotine choke, and the 2010 profile describes a stay in Brazil during which he trained mainly for jiu-jitsu before taking a fight on the Jungle Fight card, which he lost.

      Where in the source: Opening paragraphs: 'w 2003 roku', 'pobytu w Brazylii'

      Accessed:

    • In October 2006 he won the KSW 6 tournament, beating KSW star Krzysztof Kułak in the final with a guillotine; the profile says he had also finished both earlier opponents by submission.

      Where in the source: Paragraph on KSW 6: 'wygrał turniej na KSW 6'

      Accessed:

    • The 2010 profile says he lost a split decision to Antonio Mendes in the semifinal of a KSW tournament in 2007 and that he trained boxing intensively from that loss on, so that his style gained a strong boxing stand-up alongside his solid ground game.

      Where in the source: KSW 2007 paragraph; style paragraph: 'stójka bokserska'

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  • Sherdog, feature '5 Things You Might Not Know About Michal Materla', 31 May 2023.(opens in a new tab)

    • Sherdog wrote in May 2023 that Materla took the KSW middleweight title from Jay Silva on a decision at KSW 19 in May 2012, defended it four times and lost it in a 31-second knockout to Mamed Khalidov at KSW 33 on 28 November 2015, after a reign it counted as 1,295 days.

      Where in the source: Item 2: 'KSW 19 in May 2012', 'KSW 33 on Nov. 28, 2015'

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    • Sherdog says Materla was a competitive swimmer and triathlete before moving into mixed martial arts, and as of May 2023 counted him among only five men to have held the KSW middleweight title, with eight KSW main events and fights in eight countries.

      Where in the source: Items 1-4: 'swimmer and triathlete', 'one of only five men'

      Accessed:

  • WP SportoweFakty, KSW 33 report by Maciej Szumowski, 29 November 2015.(opens in a new tab)

    • A Polish sports-news report from the night of KSW 33 in Kraków on 28 November 2015 says Khalidov needed only 31 seconds to beat Materla and take the KSW middleweight belt, and quotes Materla apologising and promising to return stronger.

      Where in the source: Lead and body: 'Zaledwie 31 sekund', '28 listopada 2015 roku'

      Accessed:

Lineage

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