Introduction
Tomasz "Giraffe" Narkun (born December 3, 1989) is a Polish mixed martial artist who competes in the light heavyweight division. A professional MMA competitor since 2009. He is the M-1 Global Western Europe champion in his weight division.
Career
Weighing in at around 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st), Narkun is considered small by North American standards for light heavyweights. He has, however, earned respect for his tactical and defensive capabilities. Gegard "Dreamcatcher" Mousasi, a regular training partner of Narkun, has said of Narkun: "Tactically and technically he has reached a very high level". Mousasi has also stated his belief that Narkun "is the future light heavyweight champion".
Narkun's path to the M-1 Global Western European Light Heavyweight Championship was remarkably easy. He defeated Olutobi Ayodeji "Deji" Kalejaiye with a rear naked choke inside a minute, and defeated Timo Karttunen with an armbar in even quicker time. His championship bout against David Tkeshelashvili was slightly longer, but Narkun was still victorious with a rear naked choke inside of two minutes.
In the upcoming championship bout between Narkun and Vasilevsky, the outcome may well come down to experience. With a 10–1 win-loss record, Vasilevsky has considerably more fight experience than Narkun, and unlike Narkun has fought in bouts that went beyond the first round. Vasilevsky's split decision victory over Sergey Guzev was hard fought and his 2010 bouts have included three round victories over Xavier "Professor X" Foupa-Pokam and Shamil Tinagadjiev.
At the weigh-ins for M-1 Challenge XXVIII in Russia, for his fight against Saparbek Safarov, both fighters ended up slapping each other. At first it appeared to be a joke, but when Safarov threw a right hook at Narkun, M-1 officials intervened. Safarov was disqualified from the event.
Championships and accomplishments
- 'KSW Federation World Champion'
- European MMA
- EMMA Light Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
- Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki
- KSW Light Heavyweight Championship (One time, Current)
- M-1 Global
- M-1 Global Light Heavyweight Championship (1 Time)
- 2010 M-1 Global Western Europe Selection Tournament Winner
- Super League of MMA
- Fight of the Night (1 Time)
- Submission of the Night (1 Time)
Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 15 matches | 13 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 3 | 1 |
| By submission | 10 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 1 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 13–2 | Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou | TKO (punches) | KSW 36: Materla vs. Palhares | October 1, 2016 | 1 | 4:38 | Zielona Gora, Poland | Defended KSW Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 12–2 | Cassio Barbosa de Oliveira | TKO (knee and punches) | KSW 34: New Order | March 5, 2016 | 1 | 1:46 | Warsaw, Poland | Defended KSW Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 11–2 | Goran Reljic | KO (punches) | KSW 32: Road To Wembley | October 31, 2015 | 1 | 1:55 | London, England | Won KSW Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 10-2 | Karol Celinski | Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) | KSW 31 | May 23, 2015 | 1 | 2:17 | Gdańsk, Poland | |
| Loss | 9–2 | Goran Reljic | Decision (majority) | KSW 29 | Dec 6, 2014 | 3 | 5:00 | Kraków, Poland | |
| Win | 9–1 | Charles Andrade | Submission (kneebar) | KSW 27 : Cage time | May 17, 2014 | 1 | 1:02 | Gdańsk, Poland | |
| Win | 8–1 | Simon Carlsen | Submission (armbar) | EMMA 7 - European MMA 7 | November 7, 2013 | 2 | 3:30 | Aarhus, Denmark | Won the EMMA Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 7–1 | Michal Gutowski | Submission (rear-naked choke) | XCage - Extreme Cage 5 | May 17, 2013 | 2 | 3:30 | Torun, Poland | |
| Win | 6–1 | Rafal Zawidzki | Submission (guillotine choke) | Super League Mixed Martial Arts | April 18, 2013 | 1 | 3:45 | Warsaw, Poland | Fight of the Night & Submission of the Night |
| Win | 5–1 | Shamil Tinagadjiev | Submission (triangle choke) | M-1 Challenge 23: Guram vs. Grishin | March 5, 2011 | 1 | 3:33 | Moscow, Russia | |
| Loss | 4–1 | Vyacheslav Vasilevsky | TKO (retirement) | M-1 Challenge 22: Narkun vs. Vasilevsky | December 10, 2010 | 2 | 2:20 | Moscow, Russia | Lost the 2010 M-1 Global Light Heavyweight Championship |
| Win | 4–0 | David Tkeshelashvili | Submission (rear-naked choke) | M-1 Selection 2010: Eastern Europe Finals | July 22, 2010 | 1 | 1:50 | Moscow, Russia | 2010 M-1 Western Europe Light Heavyweight Selection Final |
| Win | 3–0 | Timo Karttunen | Submission (triangle/armbar) | M-1 Selection 2010: Western Europe Round 3 | May 29, 2010 | 1 | 0:49 | Helsinki, Finland | |
| Win | 2–0 | Olutobi Ayodeji Kalejaiye | Submission (rear-naked choke) | M-1 Selection 2010: Western Europe Round 2 | March 27, 2010 | 1 | 0:52 | Weesp, Netherlands | |
| Win | 1–0 | Daniel Biskupic | Submission (armbar) | FCB 14 - Fight Club Berlin 14 | November 15, 2009 | 1 | N/A | Berlin, Germany |
Except where otherwise indicated, details provided in the record box are taken from Sherdog