Welcome to the sixth edition of the kickfighting roundup, where fights outside major promotions such as GLORY, ONE, RISE, and K-1 are given the spotlight. This month saw two former K-1 GP participants face off, rising prospects in Europe and Asia make names for themselves, and Zhao Chongyang stage a career resurgence with a qualifying tournament victory.
PASCAL SCHROTH VS. TARAS HNATCHUK
September 14, 2024 - Two former K-1 Grand Prix participants met at Steko's Fight Night in Germany for a WKU title bout. In their respective K-1 bouts, they both lost in their elimination bouts against two very tough opponents, with Hnatchuk having fought Zhora Akopyan and Schroth having drawn the short straw being matched up against K-1 champ and top contender Ouyang Feng. The opening rounds saw both fighters exchange strikes, with Hnatchuk landing heavy punches and Schroth using his length and probing with his kicks. The Ukrainian found success early throwing heavy punches through the guard and body of the towering German. Although it wasnt' all one way traffic, as the German started finding the timing on his kicks, particular from southpaw to the legs and body of his heavy punching opponent. The fight would continue to be tightly contested by the two fighters, with both men trading heavy punches and gradually creating openings by working the body of Hnatchuk with front kicks and hooks. The bodywork eventually created a path for Schroth to send knees up the middle into the chin of Hnatchuk, spelling the end for the Ukrainian as the German dropped the Hnatchuk twice in the fourth with knees to the head. Going into the fifth round, the Ukrainian was badly damaged goods, allowing for Schroth to walk his opponent to the ropes and finally put down his opponent with a knee to the head with less than a minute into the round.
MOHAMMED JARAYA VS. BELEN YANTAKI
September 14, 2024 - Former Welterweight contender Mohammed Jaraya made his long awaited return to the ring after years of inactivity and a period of turmoil due to criminal investigations just months prior to meeting Yantaki in the ring. Jaraya had made his return just months prior in March, winning his return fight by KO. Belen Yantaki was a relative unknown compared to the Glory veteran, having competed prior in regional shows and briefly on Enfusion. At the opening bell, Jaraya came out slow before getting wobbled by a right hand, signalling that the Moroccan had to up the pace. Although Jaraya tried to land shots on Yantaki, he would be unable to find his range for most of the fight, with Yantaki largely landing the better shots. Yantaki would score a standing 8 count in the first round with a calf kick and would continue to compromise Jaraya's legs with additional calf kicks to both legs throughout the fight. For his efforts, Yantaki would claim a unanimous decision victory against the Glory veteran, putting his name on the map as a prospect worth looking out for in the European scene.
RYOTA ISHIDA VS. RAITA HASHIMOTO
September 28, 2024 - Ryota Ishida and Raita Hashimoto met on Krush 165 in the finals of a Krush tournament to decide a new champ for the 57 kg division after the departure of former champ Tatsuki Shinotsuka, whom announced his departure on March 27th. Both fighters had previously won their semifinal matches in June to put themselves on a collision course. The fight would be tightly contested, with the two southpaws being very wary of exchanging and taking large portions of the fight to feel out their opponent with low kicks. Ishida found success late in the opening round, countering Hashimoto's jab with a cross over his jabbing arm. As the pace increased with the rounds, Hashimoto found success with his cross as Ishida slipped to the outside. Due to how tightly the rounds were contested, the fight would go into an extension round with all three judges scoring the fight as a draw. In the extension round, Ishida would find more success in the exchanges, keeping an active jab and taking angles to land cleaner shots on the younger Hashimoto. Ultimately allowing the elder Ishida would win the fight by majority decision and claim the vacant Featherweight championship.
WU LIN FENG 67 KG TOURNAMENT
September 22, 2024 (Broadcasted) - A great fight between two of the best Chinese prospects below 67 kg. On the way to the final, 26-year-old Zhang Kui cleanly defeated the tournament-favorite top prospect Er Kang, but the final would prove to be a stylistic nightmare for him.
As Zhang could not overcome his opponent's head movement to score effectively, he started grinding down on Yi's body in round 2, though he had lost both rounds up to that point. With the bodywork finally getting to Yi, who would start to dip his head lower, he has eventually deducted a point in round 3 for headbutting, giving Zhang a much-needed lifeline. In the extra round, Yi gained a second wind. His great head movement was too much for a tired Zhang Kui and so he won the tournament.
Yi Yuxuan showed off not only his skills, but also his heart. Perhaps he will be the one to overtake Han Wenbao as the best 67 kg kickboxer in China and eventually challenge Luo Chao and Ouyang Feng.
WU LIN FENG 548
September 28, 2024 - Wu Lin Feng hosted a batch of qualifying fights for their 63 kg tournament and 70 kg tournament, making way for two big tournaments that will take place in January for China's biggest fight promotion.
63 KG TOURNAMENT
Zhao Chongyang made a career resurgence with his appearance in the Wu Lin Feng 63 kg tournament, with many pundits seeing him as an underdog or dark horse going into the tournament, as he had lost to top contender Jin Ying and former ONE fighter Daniel Puertas prior to the tournament. Instead, he surprised everyone by fighting technically and intelligently. He made short work of Puertas in their semifinal match, battering the calf of Puertas before dropping the Spaniard with a high knee up the middle at the end of the first round. In the second round, Puertas came out of his corner worse for wear, being stopped quickly into the second with calf kicks to his already compromised lead leg.
Jin Ying came into the tournament as one of the favourites to win. However it was anything but an easy run, as he had a very tough semifinal match against Mo Abdurahman, exchanging heavy shots and fighting at a very high pace. The toughness and strength of the Abdurahman made for a very grindy fight where both fighters exchanged in the pocket, with the Chinese fighter being able to score a knockdown in the first round with a right overhand upclose, which would make all the difference as it allowed him to claim a unanimous decision victory with how tightly the later rounds were contested. Foreshadowing trouble for former tournament winner Jin Ying going into the finals against the fresher Zhao Chongyang.
Uncharacteristically for Zhao Chongyang again, he fought very intelligently, picking his spots to counter Jin Ying as he entered into range to land his own, as well as working the body of the tournament favourite. The first two rounds were tightly contested, with both fighters trading heavy blows in the pocket. The penultimate round would be the deciding factor, as that is when the wear from the semis and the superior strength and durability of Zhao Chongyang started to play the biggest role, as the former Enfusion champ went back to his old brawling ways to drop Jin Ying with massive, shifting hooks to the head for the first time in their fight. A second knockdown would come shortly after when he dropped the well worn Jin Ying with a left kick to the body and another series of hooks to secure the victory. Zhao Chongyang would win the fight by decision, skyrocketing up into the upper echelon of the Featherweight rankings and into the MAX tournament that will happen in January.
70 KG TOURNAMENT
The 70 kg qualifying tournament was lower profile, missing the participation of top Chinese fighters such as Luo Chao and Ouyang Feng. However, it did feature some of the best international talents unsigned by major promotions in Marian Lapusneanu and Vasilii Semenov.
As expected by many, the two foreign fighters would meet in the finals of the tournament. Both having claimed unanimous decision victories against their Chinese opponents in the semifinals. The fight was closely contested, with the taller Semenov finding success taking angles, sticking with his jab and front kicks, and using his footwork to avoid the shots of the Romanian fighter in the first round. In the second round, Lapusneanu figured out the distance and gameplan of Semenov and put on the pressure, pressing the Russian into the ropes with hooks and frantic forward movement, although it would still be a close round. However, one fatal error in the third would spell the end for the Russian fighter, as Semenov decided to exchange up close with Lapusneanu and was caught by a left hook with 5 seconds left in the fight, getting knocked out cold by the Romanian fighter. With the victory, the Romanian will move onto the MAX tournament in January.
