Former Chelsea FC goalkeeper Ricardo Prasel failed to become heavyweight champion after getting choked by his opponent in the last minute. Prasel claimed he wasn’t in his prime when he stepped inside the cage for the belt.
Ricardo Prasel was popular when he played for Chelsea FC long ago. Unfortunately, the Brazilian was forced to retire early from football in his early 20s. Since then, he switched to compete in combat sports.
The 32-year-old started to compete in professional mixed martial arts in 2012. He forged his skill along the way within various promotions. Recently, he had a title shot at Poland’s biggest MMA promotion ‘KSW’.
Ricardo Prasel joined KSW earlier this year and competed two times in the heavyweight division. He earned 2 consecutive wins against Michael Kita and Daniel Omielanczuk before getting the opportunity to win the belt.
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His title shot was held last weekend at KSW 74. Prasel shared the cage with the longtime champion Phil De Fries, who has a 10 win streak since 2017. Unfortunately for Prasel, De Fries showed his dominance throughout and submitted him in the last minute of the first round with a rear-naked choke. This victory marked De Fries’ 7th successful title defense in KSW.
Prasel claimed that he wasn’t at his best when going against De Fries. However, Prasel was confident that he could beat De Fries with his diminished state.
“It was one of the most difficult preparations I’ve ever had. I considered talking to my manager and pulling out of the fight a month ago. In fact, I told him I wasn’t going to fight due to an injury. It’s an injury that has been bugging me since my last fight, but I did some injections that allowed me to fight and I’ll have surgery later. I chose to fight even though I’m not at my 100 percent so I wouldn’t let this opportunity for the belt get out of my hands.” Prasel said.