March Madness: Kickboxing Fights to Watch This Month

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March Madness: Kickboxing Fights to Watch This Month

March is the biggest month of the year for kickfighting so far with a ton of big fights and events taking place, so what better title for it than March Madness? I’ll highlight all the action this month that everyone should know about and keep an eye on.

March 2: Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Ole Laursen – Gotti Promotions

Giorgio Petrosyan is the best fighter in all of kickboxing, so of course it’s notable when he fights. This is more of a stay busy fight for him but any time that he fights it’s a treat.

March 9: Andrew Tate vs. Vincent Petitjean – Power Trophy 2013

This is a rematch from 2011 where Petitjean won a decision over Tate. Since then, Tate has established himself as one of the top kickboxers in the world at 85kg. Tate will go back to full contact for this fight.

March 9: Suleiman Magomedov vs. Halim Chibani – Monte Carlo Fighting Masters

These two are some of the better fighters around 85kg, and are very under the radar. Magomedov has some really good results and Chibani has been on a big roll lately.

March 9: Yassine Ahaggan vs. Horace Martin – Monte Carlos Fighting Masters

Yassine Ahaggan is another very good 85kg fighter, who lost to the aforementioned Halim Chibani last year. Here he looks to rebound against the veteran “Boy Boy” Martin of Holland.

March 9: Abraham Roqueni vs. Artur Kyshenko – Enfusion Live Barcelona

This is a marquee match-up at 70kg. Roqueni is a solid, proven fighter while Kyshenko has been a mainstay around the top for years now.

March 9: Sahak Parparyan vs. Cesar Cordoba – Enfusion Live Barcelona

Two of the top 85kg fighters square off here. Cordoba hasn’t fought top competition in a very long time but on skills and fighting prowess alon he’s one of the better fighters in the division and should make for a competitive fight.

March 14: Sergio Wielzen vs. Alexei Blinov – Era of Champions

An unknown Russian up and comer gets to test himself against a name in the lighter weight divisions of kickboxing in Sergio Wielzen. Wielzen comes off a win over Sasa Jovanovic in December, so another win would help him further get back on track.

March Madness: Kickboxing Fights to Watch This Month

March 16: Karim Ghajji vs. Darko Delic – Explosion Fight Night 7

Karim Ghajji had his breakout performance last month when he beat stopped Aikpracha in the first round in the final of the La Nuit des Titans tournament. That was at 72.5kg, and this fight is at 78kg and will lead into Ghajji’s big 77kg fight against Nieky Holzken at GLORY 6.

March 17: Masahiro Yamamoto vs. Karim Bennoui – RISE 92

This is a battle of two of kickboxing’s top lighter weight fighters, with Bennoui being #2 and Yamamoto #3 on the LiverKick lightweight rankings.

March 17: Yasuomi Soda vs. Koji Yoshimoto – RISE 92

Here is a battle of two of Japan’s top 65kg fighters that has been a long time in the making. It’s for Yoshimoto’s RISE 65kg title.

March 17: Chang Hyun Lee vs. Genji Umeno – RISE 92

This is a huge rematch from October when Lee rose up from being an unknown and shocked Genji Umeno in LiverKick’s 2012 Fight of the Year.

March 20: Thomas Adamandopoulos vs. Hideaki Yamazaki – Krush.27

Both fighters come off losses here, but it’s an interesting match-up nonetheless. Yamazaki was shockingly knocked out by Gagny Baradji in December while Adamandopoulos lost to Karim Bennoui in November.

March 20: Koya Urabe vs. Fumiya Osawa – Krush.27

This fight should be all Koya Urabe. The interesting part though is that he’s dropping down to 60kg for it, a weight that might even suit him better.

March 30: Michael Wakeling vs. Pajonsuk Super Pro Samui – Enfusion Live London

Pajonsuk is making his return to the ring after quite a long time away, not having fought since the end of 2010. Michael Wakeling is the brother of Steve Wakeling and a very capable fighter in his own right. This should be an intriguing, competiive match-up.

Tournaments

March 14 – Era of Champions
60kg: Artur Isayants vs. Irakli Gvindliya
60kg: Konstantin Trishin vs. Avetik Petrosyan

March 16 – W5 Slovakia
71kg: Alim Nabiev vs. Tevfik Sucu
71kg: Hysni Beqiri vs. Vladimir Konsky

75kg: Vladimir Moravcik vs. Artem Litvinenko
75kg: Arjan Vatnikaj vs. Konstantin Serebrennikov

March 24 – Haarlem Fight Night IV
70kg: Anthony Kane vs. Kevin Hesseling
70kg: Armen Petrosyan vs. Robbie Hageman
70kg: Henri van Opstal vs. Nick Beljaards
70kg: William Diender vs. Maiki Karathanasis