5 Things You Might Not Know About Michal Materla

Whatever Michal Materla accomplishes from this point forward can be viewed as a bonus.

The 39-year-old former Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki middleweight champion will toe the line against Radoslaw Paczuski in a featured KSW 83 attraction on Saturday at PGE Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland. Materla enters the cage with victories in three of his past four outings. He last appeared at KSW 78, where he buried “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 3 winner Kendall Grove with punches in the second round of their Jan. 21 rematch and moved to 2-0 in their head-to-head series with one another.

As Materla sets his sights on Paczuski at 185 pounds, here are five things you might not know about him:

1. A diverse background spurred his development.

Materla was a competitive swimmer and triathlete prior to his transition to mixed martial arts. He made his professional debut at the age of 19 on Oct. 25, 2003, when he submitted Tomasz Janiszewski with a guillotine choke in the second round of their encounter under the MMA Poland banner. Materla went on to win his first eight bouts, seven of them resulting in finishes.

2. He belongs to an exclusive club.

“Cipao” remains one of only five men who have captured the KSW middleweight championship. Krzysztof Kulak, Mamed Khalidov, Scott Askham and Roberto Soldic are the others. Materla laid claim to the 185-pound title when he took a majority decision from Jay Silva at KSW 19 in May 2012, successfully defended it on four different occasions and then relinquished it in a 31-second knockout loss to Khalidov at KSW 33 on Nov. 28, 2015. His reign lasted 1,295 days.

3. Some might call him a company man.

Twenty-five of Materla’s 41 appearances have taken place in KSW. He has headlined eight events for the organization: KSW 26, KSW 31, KSW 33, KSW 36, KSW 49, KSW 56, KSW 70 and KSW 78.

4. His travel agent stays busy.

Materla has fought in eight different countries as a mixed martial artist. In addition to the work undertaken in his native Poland, he has competed in Germany, Finland, Brazil, Slovenia, Ireland, England and Bulgaria.

5. He has been a model of consistency.

The Berserkers Team star has suffered consecutive defeats only once in his 41-fight career. Materla succumbed to punches from Evangelista Santos at Jungle Fight 5 on Nov. 26, 2005 and dropped a unanimous decision to Moise Rimbon at World Free Fight Challenge “Europe vs. Brazil” on May 20, 2006.