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Fights To Watch In December: Part 2

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Fights To Watch In December: Part 2

I’ve already given ten fights to keep an eye on this month, now here’s ten more. December is a really busy month with tons of great fights going on. Even with two parts to this post, I’m still leaving out a ton of good fights.

December 8: Duoli Chen vs. Shkodran Veseli – Vendetta VI – Vienna, Austria

Duoli Chen looks to be a promising up and coming fighter at 77kg, with a dominant win at It’s Showtime Brazil last month. He lost to L’houcine “Aussie” Ouzgni in October but there’s no shame in that and seems to be getting better under the tutelage of Lucien Carbin. This fight should be another fight for him to showcase why he’s been featured on It’s Showtime, as well as to get some more momentum going into 2013 as GLORY looks to utilize his weigh class.

December 9: Stephen Meleady vs. Seeoui Sor Sunantachai – Muay Thai Warriors – Macau

Stephen Meleady has made a name for himself this year, beating Kongnapa Sirimongkol and giving a very tough fight to Rungravee Sasiprapa. Here he’s in another fight that is bound to be action packed. Seeoui is an action fighter himself so this promises to be a great fight.

December 9: Toni Milanovic vs. Dragon Jovanovic – Supreme FC – Belgrade, Serbia

Originally scheduled to fight Nenad Pagonis, this is now a full on heavyweight fight as Toni Milanovic fights Dragon Jovanovic. Put this into perspective: Milanovic just won a four man tournament in the Czech Republic on November 24 – but the tournament was at 86kg. Now Milanovic steps all the way up to heavyweight and faces an opponent who significantly outweighs him. Having fought Sahak Parparyan and Andrei Stoica this year, I don’t put it past Milanovic to do well here, as he’s a bright up and comer at only 22 years of age.

December 14: Hirotaka Urabe vs. Naoki Ishikawa – Krush.25 – Tokyo, Japan

Hirotaka Urabe is Krush’s champion at 60kg and at times lately has made easy work of some opponents but that won’t be the case here. Ishikawa has given some very tough fights to Urabe, although Urabe has a win and a draw against him. Their second and last encounter was the one which ended in a draw and still stands as the only blemish on Urabe’s record in his last twelve fights. Ishikawa has won two in a row since that fight and there’s no doubt that he’ll be up for this fight.

December 15: Aikpracha Meenayothin vs. Jordan Watson – Bangkok, Thailand

Aikpracha has had a breakout year in 2012, winning a Lumpinee title and getting many international fights. This time he gets Jordan Watson, who already faced Saiyok Pumphanmuang this year. Aikpracha fights are never boring

Fights To Watch In December: Part 2

December 15: Vladimir Mineev vs. Ali Cenik – Battle at Moscow 9 – Moscow, Russia

Vladimir Mineev is one of the best up and comers in kickboxing at just 22 years of age, having won ten fights in a row. Mineev is in a similar position to Roman Mailov, having built up a name in Russia and gradually increasing the level of opposition that he faces. In Ali Cenik its one of his toughest tests yet. Cenik gave Danyo Ilunga a tough fight and was able to hit him a lot. Look for Mineev to work some slick counters as Cenik tries to throw big power shots.

December 15: Halim Chibani vs. Alyssane Sy – Saint Raphael, France

Halim Chibani may not be well known outside of France but in October he scored a big win over another one of France’s best 85kg fighters in Yassine Ahaggan, which probably makes Chibani the top 85kg fighter in France. This should be an interesting fight to see just how good Chibani is, as Ahaggan also defeated Sy.

December 16: Singmanee Kaewsamrit vs. Andrei Kulebin – Thai Fight 2012 Finals

Singmanee and Andrei Kulebin fought back in June with Singmanee getting what was to many a controversial decision. Now they’ll meet again, with Singmanee looking in better form in his last fight especially. Kulebin hasn’t looked spectacular so far in Thai Fight but he’s done what he’s needed to do to win and gave Singmanee trouble last time. A three round fight is completely different so it’ll be interesting to see what kind of pace the fight is fought at, considering that some weren’t too fond of their first fight.

December 16: Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Vitaly Gurkov – Thai Fight 2012 Finals

This might be Buakaw’s toughest test in a while (that might not be saying much considering the competition he’s faced this year) in Gurkov. What Gurkov brings is a smothering clinch game that allowed him to defeat Kem Sitsongpeenong at the IFMAs. Gurkov seems to have found his place as a clincher in Muay Thai as opposed to fighting kickboxing and its paid dividends in Thai Fight so far. I’m interested in seeing if Gurkov will be able to trouble Buakaw and make for a competitive fight. And well, Buakaw’s fighting.

December 21: Artem Levin vs. Simon Marcus – Ekaterinburg, Russia

Artem Levin and Simon Marcus are two of the best light heavyweight Muay Thai fighters right now and they’ll finally meet after a number of delayed fights on December 21. Levin was given a lot of trouble by Steve Wakeling in July and hasn’t fought pro since, although he did win the IFMAs. Marcus just won on Saturday very impressively against Sadibou Sy. This is what everyone wants to see, two top guys fighting each other.

Daniel Ghita Moving to Florida to Train with Overeem and “Blackzilian” Team

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Daniel Ghita Moving to Florida to Train with Overeem and

In a move that might seem sudden to some, Daniel Ghita will be moving his base of operations to the United States in the near future. The move comes at the behest of Alistair Overeem, who recently inked an agreement with the “Blackzilian” camp in Florida that is run by Authentic Sports Management, led by Glenn Robinson. Now, if your question is why would Daniel Ghita move to the United States because of Alistair Overeem moving there, the answer is simple; Daniel Ghita has been a vital part of Alistair Overeem’s recent training and has become such an asset that Overeem wanted to lock him up.

Daniel Ghita Moving to Florida to Train with Overeem and "Blackzilian" Team

This comes after there were rumors that Junior Dos Santos was trying to bring Daniel Ghita into his camp to help prepare for Alistair Overeem, knowing that Ghita had worked with Overeem on his last fight and would be a good sparring partner as well. We confirmed this with Anil Dubar earlier in the week, but at that point there had been no decision yet. There is a good chance that when Overeem and his people found out about JDS trying to lure Ghita to Brazil there became an immediate need to lock down Daniel Ghita to ensure he wasn’t snatched up.

Ghita’s home base will be in Florida now, but he has spoken to Sport.ro and said that his focus is still on competing in Kickboxing (noted: K-1), but he will also be training with UFC fighters as well. This will probably bring about rumors of Ghita making a switch to MMA, but as we saw from Tyrone Spong, training in a camp with MMA fighters will not exactly negate your skills as a Kickboxer and Ghita should be fine training for future bouts there.

Update: Anil Dubar confirmed to us that Ghita will only be staying there for two months.

SuperKombat WGP Final 2012 Fight Card, Ustream PPV Available

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SuperKombat WGP Final 2012 Fight Card, Ustream PPV Available

K-1 Global presents SuperKombat WGP Final 2012 takes place on December 22 in Bucharest, Romania and today the full fight card was released. The event features a four man, one night tournament with all the winners having qualified from previous fights. Also, there are four super fights.

As previously announced, the four man tournament features Ismael Londt, Sebastian Ciobanu, Benjamin Adegbuyi and Pavel Zhuravlev. Londt fights Ciobanu in one semi final and in the other, Adegbuyi fights Zhuravlev with the winners meeting in the final.

Among the super fights announced include the lone non-heavyweight fight on the event, where Andrei Stoica fights Arnold Oborotov for the new SuperKombat -95kg world title. Other super fights include Ibrahim Aarab vs. Daniel Sam, Carter Williams vs. Hesdy Gerges and Mighty Mo vs. Raul Catinas, which is a rematch from the 2010 K-1 WGP Final 16. In the tournament reserve fight, Freddy Kemayo faces Sergi Lascenko.

Among other things, the event will be available to watch via Ustream PPV for $5 USD, along with being on Eurosport at 21:00 CET. Here are some quotes from Eduard Irimia and K-1 owner Mr. Kim about the event:

SuperKombat WGP Final 2012 Fight Card, Ustream PPV Available

Kim: “As we announced 3 months ago K-1 has a good co-operation with Superkombat and also they proved to promote very good k-1 rules events and discovering new heroes worldwide , that way I will be also present at this event in Bucharest, Romania, where I found out that K-1 is as famous as football and we will focus to countries where our product has impact as before in Japan and other countries.”

Irimia: “This collaboration between our brands is very important for the fighters and keep them active and also the awarness and impact is stronger as we work together  for the same purpose trying to make this sport atracting general public  as we did already in some countries.”

1. Super Fight (+96 kg)
Ibrahim Aarab (Morocco) vs Daniel Sam (Great Britain)

2. Tournament – Semi Final 1 (+96 kg)
Pavel Zhuravlev (Ukraine) vs Benjamin Adegbuyi (Romania/Nigeria)

3. Tournament – Semi Final 2 (+96 kg)
Ismael Londt (Suriname) vs Sebastian Ciobanu (Romania)

4. Tournament – Reserve fight (+96 kg)
Freddy Kemayo (France) vs Sergey Lascenko (Ucraina)

5. Super Fight (+96 kg)
Carter Williams (USA) vs Hesdy Gerges (Egypt)

6. SuperKombat World Title (-95 kg)
Arnold Oborotov (Lithuania) vs Andrei Stoica (Romania)

7. Super Fight (+96 kg)
Mighty Mo (Samoa) vs Raul Catinas (Romania)

8. SuperKombat final 2012 (+96 kg)
Winner of Semi Final 1 vs Winner of Semi Final 2

LEGEND 2: Invasion Live Results

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LEGEND 2: Invasion Live Results

Jesus christ this show. I don’t even know what to say about LEGEND at this point. If you’ve been watching this, you know what I’m saying, as they’ve apparently spent over $3 million in making this show happen, yet they are publicly sharing links to Firstrow.eu to watch the event. This is the conundrum of LEGEND, which makes this whole thing just fascinating to watch. This show features a one-night tournament as well as Badr Hari because why not?

LEGEND 2: Invasion Live Results

*Zabit Samedov was pulled from the tournament finals due to a cut.

  • 1. Tournament Reserve Bout
  • Agron Preteni (R3 – Dec.) Andrei Stoica
  • 2. Superfight:
  • Chingiz Allazov (R3 – Dec.) Warren Stevelmans
  • 3. Superfight:
  • Eduard Vartanyan (R3 – Dec.) Florent Betorangal
  • 4. Tournament:
  • Zabit Samedov (R3 – Dec.) Melvin Manhoef
  • 5. Tournament:
  • Pavel Zhuravlev (R1 – KO) Sahak ‘Hak’ Parparyan
  • 6. Superfight (MMA):
  • Alexander Yakovlev (R3 – Dec.) Paul Daley
  • 7. Superfight:
  • Badr Hari (R3 – Dec.) Alexey Ignashov
  • 8. Tournament Finals:
  • Pavel Zhuravlev (R2 – TKO) Agron Preteni*
  • 9. Superfight (MMA):
  • Alexey Oleinik (R1 – Submission) Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic

S-Cup 2012: Andy Souwer Wins 4th S-Cup

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S-Cup 2012: Andy Souwer Wins 4th S-Cup

The Shootboxing S-Cup takes place every two years and today in Tokyo, Japan, it was time for the 2012 edition. S-Cup tournament participants this year were Andy Souwer, Kem Sitsongpeenong, Henri van Opstal, Gesias Cavalcante, Hiroki Shishido, Hiroaki Suzuki, Joachim Hansen and Bovy Sor Udomson. The card also featured some notable single fights with the likes of Andy Ristie, Kosuke Komiyama and Kizaemon Saiga.

Andy Souwer ended up winning his fourth S-Cup, defeating friend, teammate and student Henri van Opstal in the finals via unanimous decision. Souwer advanced to the finals by getting a majority decision over Kem Sitsongpeenong in his first match-up and then stopping Hiroki Shishido in the first round in the semi-finals. van Opstal defeated Bovy in his first match-up by unanimous decision, and also got a first round stoppage in his semi-final fight, as he knocked out Satoru Suzuki in the first round.

Henri van Opstal was supposed to face Hiroaki Suzuki, who defeated Joachim Hansen by extra round unanimous decision, but Suzuki couldn’t continue on to the semi-finals. Satoru Suzuki had won his reserve fight against Akihiro Gono by first round knockout, so he stepped in and fought van Opstal. Other quarter finals included Hiroki Shishido getting a majority decision over Gesias Cavalcante.

S-Cup 2012: Andy Souwer Wins 4th S-Cup

In the other reserve fight, Hinata Watanabe rematched Andy Ristie, and it went pretty much the same way as their first fight back in January at It’s Showtime. Ristie stopped Hinata in the first round again, extending his winning streak going into his fight with Andy Souwer next month at the K-1 MAX Finals on December 15.

In super fight action, RISE 60kg champion and LiverKick #10 ranked lightweight Kosuke Komiyama defeated Masa Naguranchun M16 by unanimous decision in an extra round at 60kg. At 63kg, Kizaemon Saiga defeated Shootboxing’s MASAYA by unanimous decision. At 70kg, Toby Imada notched another win in Shootboxing thanks to shoot points, as he got a majority decision over Mostafa Abdollahi.

S-Cup 2012:

Reserve: Satoru Suzuki def. Akihiro Gono by KO in Round 1.

Reserve: Andy Ristie def. Hinata Watanabe by TKO in Round 1.

Quarter Finals

Hiroaki Suzuki def. Joachim Hansen by unanimous decision in an extra round.

Henri van Opstal def. Bovy Sor Udomson by majority decision.

Hiroki Shishido def. Gesias Cavalcante by majority decision.

Andy Souwer def. Kem Sitsongpeenong by majority decision.

Semi Finals

Henri van Opstal def. Satoru Suzuki by KO in Round 1.

Andy Souwer def. Hiroki Shishido by KO in Round 1.

Final

Andy Souwer def. Henri van Opstal by unanimous decision.

Super Fights:

70kg: Koutaru Mori def. Yuki Sakamoto by unanimous decision in an extra round.

HW: Magnum Sakai def. Shunsuke Inoue by KO in Round 3.

60kg: Kosuke Komiyama def. Masa Magaranchun M16 by unanimous decision in an extra round.

63kg: Kizaemon Saiga def. MASAYA by unanimous decision.

70kg: Toby Imada def. Mostofa Abdollahi by majority decision.

Hiroaki Suzuki Wins 2013 65kg Shoot Boxing S-Cup

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Hiroaki Suzuki Wins 2013 65kg Shoot Boxing S-Cup

Shoot Boxing Battle Summit Ground Zero Tokyo 2013 went down in Japan today, crowning a 2013 65kg S-Cup Champion while also pitting Andy Souwer against Australian Steve Moxon. There were a number of bigger fights on the card, including Yuichiro “Jienotsu” Nagashima against Shoot Boxing legend Hirooki Shishido, Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Toby Imada in a special attraction MMA rules bout, a retirement ceremony for Satoru Suzuki, Ai Takahashi and RENA were also in action.

Hiroaki Suzuki Wins 2013 65kg Shoot Boxing S-Cup

(Note: if you see a name mistranslated please email or leave a comment, thanks.)

  • Shinsuke Hirai (R1 – TKO) Kazuki Tamagawa
  • 65kg S-Cup Reserve: UMA (R1 – TKO) Rood
  • Ai Takahashi (R3 – Dec.) Miyo Yoshida
  • 65kg S-Cup R1: Hiroaki Suzuki (R2 – TKO) Mohan Dragon
  • 65kg S-Cup R1: YUKI (R1 – TKO)  Seiji Takahashi
  • 65kg S-Cup R1: Michihiro Omigawa (R3 – Dec.) Yuki Hiroshi Kimaya
  • 65kg S-Cup R1: Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura (R3 – Dec.) MASAYA
  • HINATA (R3 – Dec.) Josh Jauncey
  • Kuniyoshi Hironaka (R2 – TKO) Bovy Sor. Udomson
  • RENA (R3 – Dec.) Wei-Ting Chen
  • 65kg S-Cup R2: Hiroaki Suzuki (R3 – Dec.) Yuki
  • 65kg S-Cup R2: Michihiro Omigawa (R3 – Dec.) Akiyo “Wicky” Nishiura
  • MMA: Hiroyuki Takaya (R3 – Draw) Toby Imada
  • Yuichiro Nagashima (R3 – Dec.) Hirooki Shishido
  • Andy Souwer (R3 – Dec.) Steve Moxon
  • 65kg S-Cup Finals: Hiroaki Suzuki (R2 – TKO) Michihiro Omigawa

GLORY SuperFight Series Tokyo and GLORY 13 Spoilers

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GLORY SuperFight Series Tokyo and GLORY 13 Spoilers

GLORY 13 went down last night in the wee hours of the morning, I thank those of you that stayed up to watch the PPV here on LiverKick and apologize for my absence, but sometimes a man gets sick and things happen. Then sometimes you guys overload the site with traffic, which is really cool. Bravo (except for the downtime!). So I’m sure you are wondering who won what, right? Here is a rundown of both the GLORY SuperFight Series and GLORY 13 Tokyo.

If you are waiting for Spike TV later tonight then obviously you should not read the GLORY 13 section, which I’m going to place after a jump for those on the main page.

GLORY SuperFight Series Tokyo and GLORY 13 Spoilers

SuperFight Series Tokyo:

  • Sergei Kharitonov (R3 – UD) Jerome LeBanner
  • Hesdy Gerges (R3 – UD) Ewerton Teixeira
  • Anderson Silva (R3 – UD) Remy Bonjasky
  • Aleksandr Stetcurenko (R3 – UD) Karim Ghajji
  • Artur Kyshenko (R3 – UD) Masayuki Kenmun
  • Mosab Amrani R3 – UD) Yuta Kubo

GLORY 13:

  • Nieky Holzken (R3 – UD) Karapet Karapetyan
  • Valtellini Joseph (R3 – KO) Raymond Daniels
  • Makoto Uehara R3 – SD) Dustin Jacoby via split decision
  • Daniel Ghita (R1 – KO) Errol Zimmerman
  • Nieky Holzken (R3 – KO) Joseph Valtellini
  • Rico Verhoeven (R3 – SD) Peter Aerts

SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final Results

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SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final Results

SuperKombat held their World Grand Prix Finals today in Romania, an event that saw their World Grand Prix tournament conclude in dramatic fashion and saw some SuperKombat favorites in some competitive, interesting bouts. There were two champions crowned in the Cruiserweight and Super Cruiserweight divisions, with Andrei Stoica winning the Super Cruiserweight Championship and Igor Bugaenko defeating his brother, Bogdan Stoica, to capture the Cruiserweight Championship. Frank Munoz went on to win the one night tournament, making him the SuperKombat 2013 WGP Champion.

SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final Results

Oh, and Lungu. Always Lungu.

  • 1. Opening Fight – Ligh Heavyweight Bout (-85.00 kg)
  • Alexandru Nedelcu (Romania) (R2 – KO) Mohammed El Boulahiati (Morocco)
  • 2. Heavyweight Tournament / Semifinal 1 – Heavyweight Bout (+96.00 kg)
  • Redouan Cairo (Suriname) (R2 – TKO) Giannis Stoforidis (Greece)
  • 3. Heavyweight Tournament / Semifinal 2 – Heavyweight Bout (+96.00 kg)
  • Frank Munoz (Spain) (R3 – Dec.) D’Angelo Marshall (Curacao)
  • 4. SUPERKOMBAT® Super Cruiserweight Title – Super Cruiserweight Bout (-95.00 kg)
  • Andrei Stoica (Romania) (R3 – Dec.) Ondrej Hutnik (Czech Republic)
  • 5. Entertainment Fight – Super Heavyweight Bout (+135.00 kg)
  • Alexandru Lungu (Romania) (R1 – TKO) Mike Bourke (United States of America)
  • 6. SUPERKOMBAT® Cruiserweight Title – Cruiserweight Bout (-92.00 kg)
  • Igor Bugaenko (Belarus) (R3 – Dec.) Bogdan Stoica (Romania)
  • 7. Super Fight – Heavyweight Bout (+96.00 kg)
  • Benjamin Adegbuyi (Romania) (R3 – KO) Pavel Zhuravlev (Ukraine)
  • 8. Super Fight – Heavyweight Bout (+96.00 kg)
  • Raul Catinas (Romania) (R3 – KO) Paul Slowinski (Australia)
  • 9. Heavyweight Tournament / Final – Heavyweight Bout (+96.00 kg)
  • Frank Munoz (R3 – Dec.) Redouan Cairo

Weekend Results: LEGEND III

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Weekend Results: LEGEND III

This was quite a weekend for the sport of Kickboxing as LEGEND III, in cooperation with Carlo di Blasi’s Oktagon in Milan, put forth a solid Kickboxing effort. The card was filled, from top to bottom, with not only solid names, but good names, in the world of kickboxing. Some of the bigger fights of the night saw UFC veteran Paul Daley pick up a win over Alexander Surjko, Andy Souwer over Yuri Bessmertny, Pavel Zhuravlev defeat michal Turynski and Murthel Groenhart defeat Dzhabar Askerov.

Weekend Results: LEGEND III
  • Alim Nabiev (R3 – Dec.) Armen Petrosyan
  • Sitthichai Sitsonpeenong (R3 – Dec.) Mohamed Khamal
  • Enriko Gogokhia (R1 – KO) Alessandro Campagna
  • Paul Daley (R3 – TKO) Alexander Surjko
  • Andy Souwer (R3 – Dec.) Yuri Bessmertny
  • Pavel Zhuravlev (R3 – Split Dec.) Michal Turynski
  • Murthel Groenhart (R1 – KO) Dzhabar Askerov

K-1 Announces Lineup For Sept. 8 in Los Angeles

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K-1 Announces Lineup For Sept. 8 in Los Angeles

K-1 has finally released most of the lineup for their event on September 8 in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. The event features their “U.S. Grand Prix Championships” at heavyweight and MAX (154lbs).

Eight American heavyweight fighters and eight MAX fighters are featured, as well as four super fights and three undercard fights consisting of fighters from the tryouts on July 21. Click “Read More” to read the full press release.

HEAVYWEIGHTS: MIGHTY MO, RICK ROUFUS, SETH PETRUZELLI, DEWEY COOPER, RANDY BLAKE, XAVIER VIGNEY AND TONY LOPEZ 

MAX: MICHAEL MANANQUIL, KIT COPE, CHAZ MULKY, SCOTT LEFLER, BRYCE KRAUSE, BEN YELLE, JOEY PAGLIUSO, AND JUSTIN GRESKIEWICZ  

FIGHTERS COMPETE FOR TOTAL OF $2 MILLION IN PRIZE MONEY AND K-1 CHAMPIONSHIP BELTS LIVE FROM THE LA SPORTS ARENA – SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2012 

Tickets on Sale this Friday, July 27 at 10:00 a.m. PT through Ticketmaster.com

Los Angeles, CA – K-1, the world’s premier kickboxing organization, today revealed the second event in its K-1 Rising World Grand Prix series and announced to fights fans across the United States that K-1 is bringing its world class fighting experience back to the American stage. “K-1 Rising” will head west to the City of Angels and hold its U.S. Grand Prix Championships at the LA Sports Arena on Saturday, September 8, 2012. 

America’s best heavyweights including Mighty Mo (32-16), Rick Roufus, (63-9-1), Seth Petruzelli (22-16), Dewey Cooper (49-14-2), Randy Blake (22-0), Xavier Vigney (6-1), and Tony Lopez (31-9) and one more yet to be announced will compete on Saturday, September 8 for a chance to represent the United States in the K-1 Rising World Grand Prix Final 16 in Tokyo, Japan. 

K-1 Announces Lineup For Sept. 8 in Los Angeles

The U.S. Grand Prix fighters will be competing for a total of $2 Million prize and the coveted K-1 championship belt. 

“We are excited to reveal this lineup of American heavyweight and MAX fighters and are thrilled to bring the U.S. Grand Prix Championships to the LA Sports Arena on September 8,” said Doug Kaplan, CEO, K-1. “K-1 is back, and we can’t wait to bring the explosive, fast-paced, fighting action of K-1 to Los Angeles.”

Tickets for the K-1 Rising U.S. World Grand Prix Championships on Saturday, September 8 live from the LA Sports Arena will go on sale this Friday, July 27 at 10:00 a.m. PT. 

Tickets are available for purchase through www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling Ticketmaster at 1-866-448-7849. Tickets are also available at the LA Sports Arena Box Office located at 3939 S. Figueroa Street in Los Angeles or by calling (213) 748-6131. 

K-1 knockout artist “Mighty Mo” Siliga (6’1″/280 lbs.) made his debut in the K-1 organization in 2004. He is a two-time K-1 champion, having won the 2007 K-1 World Grand Prix in Hawaii and the 2004 K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas.  Over the past eight years, he has beaten the best of the best including Remy Bonjasky, Gary Goodridge, Carter Williams, Choi Hong-man and Scott Lighty. In the most recent K-1 series, Mighty Mo fought all the way through to the World Grand Prix Final 8 (2010). 

Rick “The Jet” Roufus (5’11″/215 lbs.) is one of the most famous kickboxers in history. He is a six-time world champion in the sport, and claimed the prestigious title of K-1 US Grand Prix Champion in 1998. The following year he went on to win the IKF Heavyweight World Championship. In 2002 and 2003, Roufus was a runner up in the K-1 World Grand Prix. Roufus is the former WBC Continental America’s Champion and has a pro boxing record of  14-5-1. The name “The Jet” is synonymous with kickboxing in the United States, and fans of the sport need no introduction to the living legend that has fought and beaten just about every other top name in the sport. 

Seth Petruzelli (6’0″/224 lbs) made himself known across American with his stunning 14-second knockout over street-fighting legend Kimbo Slice. Along with Slice, he headlined the first MMA event ever to air on broadcast television in the U.S. Petruzelli introduced himself to national fight fans on that night, and now he looks to make his name around the globe by winning the K-1 Grand Prix Championship. With a third degree black belt in Shito-Ryu, a form of Okinawan karate, Petruzelli is ready to hold his own against the most powerful fighters in the sport on September 8. 

Dewey Cooper, better known to fans as the “Black Kobra” (6’0″/215 lbs.), is one of the most popular U.S. fighters ever to compete in K-1. After earning two world titles in the WKC and WKF in 2000, he was selected as a K-1 fighter in 2002. In his K-1 debut, he shocked the combat sports world when he beat four-time world champion Jean Claude Leyer. Two years later, he reached the finals of K-1 World Grand Prix in Las Vegas. He also became the first man ever to defeat “Mighty Mo.” Cooper lives in the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, where he trains at One Kick’s Gym with his long-time kickboxing coach Nick Blomgrem. He also trains in boxing with Jeff Mayweather at the famed Top Rank gym, and holds a pro boxing record of 19-3-3 with 11 KOs. He owns 49 wins in kickboxing with 28 of those coming by KO. 

The 25-year old Randy “Boom Boom” Blake (6’0″/205 lbs.), fighting out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has an undefeated professional kickboxing record of 22-0 with 17 KOs.  He is the current XFL Light Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion and one of the top ranked stand-up prospects in America. He heads in to the U.S. Grand Prix Championships on September 8 as one of the young, rising stars competing against the very legends upon whom the sport was built. 

Xavier Vigney (6’7″/223 lbs.) is the IKF U.S. Super Heavyweight Champion. He is another young, up-and-coming prospect who is ready to make his K-1 debut. With nearly the same height, weight, reach and fighting style of arguably the world’s top kick boxer, Badr Hari, Vigney is fighting for the opportunity to prove he can stand with the very best in the world. Xavier lives in Pleasant Hill, California and trains with the respected Team Black, the original Muay Thai branch of the Cesar Gracie Fight Team. 

Huntington Beach native Tony “Kryptonite” Lopez (6’5″/223 lbs.) is a three-time champion across multiple weight classes in mixed martial arts. He is the former King of the Cage Light Heavyweight , Heavyweight and Super Heavyweight Champion. He holds a black belt in Kyokushin Kaikan karate, which he has used to score a dozen knockouts over tough opponents including Kyle Kingsbury and Jason Lambert. 

“On September 8, each of the American heavyweights will fight to qualify for the World Grand Prix Final 16 event taking place October 14 in Tokyo,” said Kaplan. “The U.S. fighters will compete with the mindset that fighting at the famed Sumo National Stadium in Tokyo is next, and after that, the World Grand Prix Final 8 in New York City where they could be crowned the new K-1 Champion. That is the dream, that is the goal, it is just a question of who it will be, and who wants it the most.”  

K-1 announced seven of the MAX tournament competitors including: Muay Thai World Champion Michael Mananquil (35-2), four-time Muay Thai World Champion Kit Cope (23-1, 9 KOs Muay Thai), WBC International Champion Chaz Mulky (7-4), Scott Leffler (4-2, 3 KOs), MTAA National Champion Bryce Krause (24-3-1), Ben Yelle (6-3), Joey Pagliuso (13-3 Muay Thai) and Justin Greskiewicz (10-5). 

Four K-1 Superfights are on the September 8 card, among those include a rematch two years in the making between Romie Adanza vs. Andy Howson, and making his K-1 debut, “Mr. Lightning” Lerdsila Chumpairtourvs takes on Gabriel Varga. 

In addition, three undercard fights will kick off the night featuring six K-1 Hopefuls to be selected from the K-1 Open Tryouts held last week. 

Doors for the K-1 Rising U.S. Grand Prix Championships on Saturday, Sept. 8 will open at 4:00 p.m. PT; first bout starts at 5:00 p.m. PT. Main card goes live at 6:00 p.m. PT. 

More fighters and the official matchups for the K-1 U.S. Grand Prix Championships will be announced early next week. 

About K-1:

K-1 is the largest kickboxing promotion in history. Since 1993, K-1 has presented professional live martial arts events in 38 countries featuring the best and most accomplished athletes in the sport. 

World Grand Prix Champions of K-1 include Alistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky and Semmy Schilt. K-1 has held broadcast deals with ESPN and HDNet in the United States, Fuji TV in Japan, and numerous other networks across the globe. K-1 returned to the world stage on May 26, 2012 in Madrid, Spain drawing a packed stadium and hundreds of thousands of views on the K-1 Live Stream. For more information on K-1 please email info@k-1.tv

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