Giorgio Petrosyan has called time on a legendary, generation-spanning career, a reign that lasted so long that some of his fans will be able to smell the Peanuts comic as they read this: The Doctor is out. Born Gevorg Petrosyan at the temporal and geographic tail end of the Soviet Union in Armenia (frequent butt of Soviet jokes), Petrosyan came to his adoptive home of Italy at thirteen.
As a teenager in the mid-2000s, he began competing in Muay Thai, at a time when conventional wisdom was that some of the strongest fighters in the sport outside of Thailand were from France or Italy. He found early and continued success in the European scene, steadily growing in renown and size alongside one of the other underground future favorites of the day, Tyrone Spong.
His first loss came in Thailand against Nonthanan Por. Pramuk, then compatriot of the legendary Buakaw, but it is perhaps here that the first seeds of an obvious greatness sprouted, as the kind of conspiracy and innuendo that followed this result were the usual domain of a long-beloved champion.
It wouldn't be long before the twists and turns of fate would put him in the ring with exactly such a beloved champion, as a late replacement Petrosyan famously fought Buakaw to an oft-debated split draw in 2007.
For those who had seen the fight, they had seen undoubtedly, without question a glimpse of the future. It was a future that excited and terrified promoters with equal measure, because Petrosyan was a confounding and rarely seen thing, a defensive fighter who pitched shut-outs, in a sport largely sold on back and forth, blood and guts affairs.
In 2008, manager Carlo di Blasi and promoter Simon Rutz coaxed him to kickboxing, where he picked up 3 victories in the span of 6 weeks, destroying eventual It's Showtime mainstay Chris Ngimbi along the way.
In 2009, Petrosyan defeated K-1 MAX winner Andy Souwer under the auspices of It's Showtime before entering that year's MAX tournament. His signature style saw him seemingly effortlessly dismantle Dzhabar Askerov, frustrate one-time MAX winner Albert Kraus, knock out the absurdly tough Yuya Yamamoto, and once again defeat Souwer in the final, dropping him en route. He would repeat the victory again the next year in a diminished K-1 MAX tournament, furnishing him with his signature achievement of being the only man to win the K-1 World MAX in two consecutive years.
Following the death of FEG, he was a cornerstone of GLORY's early years, winning their inaugural 8-man 70 kg tournament, but perhaps more memorably suffering a shock knockout defeat to Andy Ristie in one of their later 4-man tournaments.
He would later fight for the inexplicable Bellator Kickboxing, notably defeating the future pound-for-pound number one Chingiz Allazov. In the penultimate stanza of his career, he would initially falter in ONE Championship in a stultifying affair against Petchmorakot Petchyindee Academy, before eventually being declared an eyebrow-raising no contest at the behest of a now defunct "competition committee".
Regardless, Petrosyan would enter a new tournament, immediately rematching Petchmorakot, and eventually claiming the tournament prize.
In 2021, he would again lose by a shocking knockout, being on the receiving end of a picture perfect head kick from Superbon Banchamek. In a career marked by the overwhelming assumption that he would win any bout, his losses, few and far between as they are, act as cornerstones of distinct generations and eras that he participated in.
Petrosyan closed out his career fighting in his own promotion over the past 4 years, finally bowing out this last weekend with a unanimous decision over Jose Sousa in front of a home crowd. He leaves the sport with a record of 109 wins, 43 by way of knock out, 3 losses, 2 draws, and 2 no contests.
