Thursday, 23 May 2013 14:12

Today SuperKombat announced their event schedule for 2013, which features six SuperKombat World Grand Prix events, six SuperKombat New Heroes qualification events as well as the World Tryout series.

Like last year, four of the SuperKombat World Grand Prix events will feature qualifying tournaments, with the winners going to the Final Elimination. Then the winners from the Final Elimination will fight in the final tournament at the SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final.

This year SuperKombat has brought in a new system to get fighters for it's tournaments with SuperKombat New Heroes, a series of six qualification events. The winners of the SuperKombat New Heroes tournaments will all qualify for spots in one of the four SuperKombat World Grand Prix qualifying tournaments. So far, one SuperKombat New Heroes event has already taken place this past weekend on February 23 in Opatija, Croatia, where Muamer Tufekcic, Ante Verunica, Uros Velicevic and Dino Belosevic won qualifying super fights at the event, which was put on in part with Opatija Fight Night. The next SuperKombat New Heroes event is scheduled for March 23 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

"As you know, in january we started the World Tryouts series because I’m sure that may be heroes undiscovered. Until now we had tryouts events in Greece, Germany and Great Britain and the future sounds good. Superkombat will became a complete fighting championship with tryouts events and after that with qualification events for the World Grand Prix series. The global format will be the same as in football. You must promote from a division to another. To be in the World Grand Prix series, you must get your ticket from the World Tryouts series and New Heroes series,” said Eduard Irimia.

Full schedule of the World Grand Prix series:

SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 1 (April 6, 2013)
SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 2 (May 18, 2013)
SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 3 (September 28, 2013)
SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 4 (October 12, 2013)
SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 5 Final Elimination (November 9, 2013)
SUPERKOMBAT® WGP 6 Final (December 21, 2013)

Full information can be found on SuperKombat's website, here.

Thursday, 23 May 2013 14:12

In 1998, a young Jerome Le Banner took on Brazilian, Espidito "The Black Panther" Da Silva in a W.K.N. World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship Fight. The fight took place on the undercard of "Evander Holyfield vs. Vaughn Bean" in Atlanta, Georgia and was promoted by the boxing icon Don King. 

There may not be another time in history where a high-profile kickboxing/muay thai match takes place on the same card as a boxing world heavyweight championship fight. It's a little surreal seeing King and Le Banner together at the end of the video, and it's definitely worth a watch just to witness a pretty momentous occassion in kickboxing history. The knockout is pretty awesome too (But don't take my word for it).

Thursday, 23 May 2013 14:12

Quick Results:

Monday, February 18
Palangtip Nor. Sripueng def. Songkom Srisuriyanyothin by decision.
Singpayak Mor. Rajabatchombueng def. Aikrit Mor. Krongthepthonburi by decision.
Ritikrai Kaewsamrit def. Aikphet Mor. Krongthepthonburi by decision.
Nongmai Teded99 def. Nuengsiam Sor. Prasobchok by decision.

Tuesday, February 19
Uiseowpor Sugeebamekaew def. Wuttichai Saksubin by TKO in Round 2.

Wednesday, February 20
Komin Sor. Worachot def. Fahsithong Thor. Thepsuthin by decision.
Kanongsuk Sor. Sritheng def. Chamuekphet Chor. Kasemvilart

Thursday, February 21
Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang def. Singtongnoi Por. Telakoon by decision.
Pakorn Sakyothin def. Petek Kiatyongyuth by decision.
Saengmanee Tor. Tienpo def. Inzeekao Rajanont by decision.
Prajanchai Por. Petnamtong def. Dung Sor. Ploenchit by decision.
Thanonchai Thor. Sangtiennoi def. Wisanupon Zujibamikew by decision.
Pet Aikbangsai def. Phetsiam Jitmuangnont by decision.
Sunchai Tor. Laksong def. Kumarndoy Sor. Jitpakdee by decision.

Friday, February 22
Pornsaneh Sitmonchai def. Kwankao Chor. Rajapatsadu-Esarn by decision.
Phetsila Kiatmoo9 def. Kumarndoy Jitmuangnont by decision.

Saturday, February 23
Denpanom Ror. Kilacorath def. Por. Tor. Thor. Phetrungruang by decision.

Sunday, February 24
Thestar Sangsimaewgym def. Yodsiam Sor. Chokamnuay by decision.
Sarawut Pitakpapardaeng def. Angkor Saenpalangchai by decision.

This past week was pretty short on stoppages but the elbow that Uiseowpor stopped Wuttichai with was a thing of beauty. Uiseowpor hurt Wuttichai in the first round with punches and also had Wuttichai's leg visibly hurt at the end of the first round. In the second, Uieseowpor countered Wuttichai trying to grab the clinch with a solid right elbow that ended the fight.

Saeksan vs. Singtongnoi was the main event of Thursday's big show. It wasn't as crazy as their other fights but was still a solid fight. Saeksan outclinched Singtongnoi to get the win. Pakorn, who also won on the card, would be a great opponent for either Saeksan or Singtongnoi.

Two excellent really young fighters also won on Thursday, in Saengmanee and Prajanchai. Saengmanee is at 115lbs now and still dominated Inzeekao. Prajanchai's also put on a really good performance with clean and well timed round kicks.

Another rematch took place on Friday with Pornsaneh vs. Kwankao. This one went a lot different than their previous encounter, which Pornsaneh won by stoppage. Pornsaneh didn't win by stoppage this time but he still won a decision, though Kwankao managed to land a lot of clean, hard knees in the process.

Sarawut won the Channel 7 108lb title in his fight with Angkor and showcased some brilliant technical maneuvers. Sarawut does some really small, subtle things when it comes to evasion and distance excellently. He has great timing, tossing Angkor a ton of times.

Thursday, 23 May 2013 14:12

In what's becoming a growing trend for Thai Fight events, the Thai's once again easily routed their less than stellar farang competition in a 7 fight shutout on the main card. Featured on the first Thai Fight of 2013 were fan favorites like Sudsakorn, Saiyok, Iquezang, and Saenchainoi.

One of the top 70 kg fighters,Saiyok Pumphanmung, took on a game Thiago Texeira in one of the few fights that went the distance. While Texeira was resilient enough to last until the final bell, he couldn't mount any sort of offence throughout 3 rounds that would threaten the veteran Thai. Saiyok won a unanimous decision win; his second in a row after dropping a loss via injury to Dylan Salvador late last year.

In another big name fight, the well known Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee took on the not-so-well-known Veselin Veselinov from Russia. Veselinov looked good in the opening round, pushing forward and landing a few big lefts. Sudsakorn seemed to take the shots as minor annoyances more than anything and ramped up the pace in the second, dropping Veselinov in the middle of the round. He kept the pressure high and eventually the Russian wilted, going down to a hard shot midway through the third.

In the final fight on the card, Saenchainoi Pumphanmung fought Jose Neto in a bout that revealed the Thai's golden years may be behind him. Neto never hurt Saenchainoi, but he stayed in the match far more than he should have. It was an overall sloppy affair, with Saenchainoi already looking pudgy and slow from his jump to 68 kg. Regardless, he still won a unanimnous decision over the Brazilian on all the judges scorecards.

Overall, the quality of the competition was a bit dissapointing. None of the foreign fighters stood much of a chance against their Thai counterparts, which is strange considering there is so much international skill at 70 kg and 68 kg. Hopefully this downward spiral in talent will not be a mainstay of the event.

FULL RESULTS BELOW 

Saenchainoi def. Jose Neto by Decision

Payakdam def. Ashley Bryne by TKO in Rd. 1

Sudsakorn def. Veselin Veselinov by KO in Rd. 3

Yodpayak def. Paulo Sergio dos Santos by KO in Rd. 1

Iquezang def. Behzad Rafigh Doust by Decision

Saiyok def. Thiago Texeira by Decision

Peemai JitMuangnon def. Jackson Alves de Souza by Decision

Thursday, 23 May 2013 14:12

With this current weekend coming to an end shortly, we can see that it was a big weekend in Russia, with three notable events.

First on Friday, February 22 was a show put on by Octopus Fight Clib in Moscow. It featured a battle of two of the biggest prospects in kickboxing between Chingiz Allazov and Alim Nabiev. Allazov is the slightly older fighter at just 19 years old compared to Nabiev's age of 18, but it showed in the ring. Despite being the smaller and shorter fighter, he controlled the range and got in and out with his offense. Nabiev got dropped in the second round with a left high kick and didn't have much for Allazov until the dying seconds of the third round.

Also on the card was Alexey Ignashov, who fought Martynas Knyzlis. In typical Ignashov fashion, it was a stale fight that saw him win a decision over an overmatched opponent.

71kg: Chingiz Allazov def. Alim Nabiev by decision.
HW: Alexey Ignashov def. Martynas Knyzlis by decision.
HW: Igor Bugaenko def. Vladimir Oleinik by decision.
HW: Valentin Slavikovsky def. Dmitry Bezus by decision.
81kg: Pavel Turuk def. Vladimir Idranyi by decision.
HW: Roman Kriklya def. Yuri Dobko by TKO in Round 3.

Yesterday on Saturday featured two events, one in Moscow and one in Kazan. In Moscow, Fight Nights returned with another big show full of over the top theatrics. The only notable kickboxing fight on the card was between rising star in Russia, Vladimir Mineev and Revanho Blokland of the Netherlands. Mineev didn't have a hard time and he finished Blokland in the second round with a left hook. It was an alright performance after being pushed to the limit by Ali Cenik in December, but Mineev is going to have to step it up when he faces that level of competition again.

HW: Vladimir Mineev def. Revanho Blokland by KO in Round 2.
HW: Maxim Grishin def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by decision.

The last leg of the Tatneft Cup qualifier to the quarter finals of the tournament took place in Kazan. At 70kg, Enriko Gogokhia and Maxim Smirnov both qualified to the quarter finals once again. Gogokhia beat Bruno Gazani by decision and Maxim Smirnov defeated Ajay Balgobind by decision.

Another fighter who qualified to the quarter finals once again was Hicham El Gaoui at 80kg as he defeated Brazil's Anderson Arcanjo by decision. Also at 80kg, Sergei Papusha defeated Peter Romankevich by decision.

At heavyweight, Jan Siersema beat Vugar Kazimov by decision, scoring a knockdown in the second round. The second heavyweight bout saw Brazil's Vitor Miranda beat last year's Tatneft Cup winner Tsotne Rogava by decision.

70kg: Enriko Gogokhia def. Bruno Gazani by decision.
70kg: Maxim Smirnov def. Ajay Balgobind by decision.
80kg: Hicham El Gaoui def. Anderson Arcanjo by decision.
80kg: Sergei Papusha def. Peter Romankevich by decision.
HW: Jan Siersema def. Vugar Kazimov by decision.
HW: Vitor Miranda def. Tsotne Rogava by decision.