Materla. LionHeart

This is the story of the life and career of one of Poland’s top MMA fighters – Michał Materla. In this unique documentary, a camera crew has followed Materla during the most crucial moments of his career for the past 10 years. We see him following his UFC dream, the countless injuries, the moments with his close ones, his arrest (and eventual charges dropped), leaving KSW and his very last fight in January 2023. This is a unique portrait of one of the biggest KSW stars in Poland.

There was a camera with him in a lot of his crucial moments: his last fights, his
injuries, arrest by the CBŚ, leaving the KSW Federation, and last but not least the day in which the prosecutors office decides to discontinue the investigaton and drops all charges
against him.

The story is built around his fight against Kendall Grove, a Hawaiian fighter, who already fought Michał once. Ten years ago these two clashed in a bout, that is still described as one
of the bloodiest in KSW history. Michał was at the top of his carrier, he was invited to Poland’s top TV show „Kuba Wojewódzki”, he was loved by fans all around the country, and
was just about to pursue a dream of a carrier in the US in the UFC, which is World’s best MMA organization. That didn’t happed because in 2016 he got arrested by the CBŚ, on the
accusation of taking part in an organized crime group and dealing drugs. He was held in custody for over half a year, which has rebounded on his relations with the closest ones.

We have a footage of his older son Marcel sharing his thoughts about this situation in a very moving way. To show how heavy is Michał’s baggage of experiences, each time he
enters the cage, we also take it back to his childhood and relation with his father, who was pre\y much absent in his life. After his parents split, he was looking for a father figure in
the gym, afer that he was working as a bounce at nightclubs, he was also a driver to some local prostitutes, to provide for his family (his son was born, when Michal was just 18).

In those conditions he becomes a champion and is considered one of the hardest characters in the game, which is approved by our guests: friends, but also top MMA fighters.
We’ve talked to Mamed Khalidov, Artur Szpilka, Łukasz „Juras” Jurkowski, Maciej Kawulski.
When Michał enters the cage for the last time, he has numerous injuries, and is only sustained by his character and the memory of his nephew Vincent, who dies suddenly just before his fight.
The gala takes place on February 21 in his hometown of Szczecin. The result of this fight is not as important as his mental victory.

The one against the prosecutors office. None of the charges were approved, and they couldn’t prove anything. Materla.LionHeart is a portrait of a true people’s champion, who is loved,
no matter what the outcome of his battles is.