Ricardo Prasel Record: 13-5-0

Stepping onto the world stage

The first real adversity came in 2018, when Prasel suffered his maiden defeat to Ante Delija by decision at RIZIN 10 in Japan, a competitive loss to a future heavyweight standout. He rebounded with a third-round knockout of veteran Alison Vicente, then took his shot at the UFC in 2019 on Dana White's Contender Series, where Don'Tale Mayes stopped him with a left cross into ground-and-pound in the first round, denying him a contract.

The KSW run

Prasel found his biggest platform in Poland with KSW. He opened his run there with a second-round knockout of veteran Michał Kita, then submitted former UFC heavyweight Daniel Omielańczuk with a first-round Achilles lock at KSW 70 — a slick finish that earned him a title shot. At KSW 74 in September 2022 he challenged dominant champion Phil De Fries for the heavyweight crown, but De Fries took him down and locked up a first-round rear-naked choke to retain the belt. Prasel's most recent bout on record was a 2024 stoppage loss to Štefan Vojčák at KSW 94.

Fighting style

Despite his size, Prasel is a submission-first heavyweight, a rarity in a division built on knockouts. All 13 of his wins have come by finish — 9 by submission and 4 by knockout — for a 100% finish rate driven by his BJJ background and surprising mat fluency for a man his height. His length and grappling make him dangerous to anyone who joins him on the ground. The vulnerabilities are real, too: his losses split between knockouts, a submission to the elite De Fries, and decisions, suggesting that disciplined strikers and high-level grapplers can exploit the gaps in a fighter who came to the sport relatively late.

Career highlights

• Footballer turned finisher — a former Chelsea-signed goalkeeper who reinvented himself into a 100%-finish heavyweight, one of MMA's most distinctive origin stories.
• Submitted Daniel Omielańczuk — a first-round Achilles lock over the former UFC veteran at KSW 70 earned him a heavyweight title shot.
• KSW title challenger — fought Phil De Fries for the KSW heavyweight championship at KSW 74, reaching the top of one of Europe's premier promotions.