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"Sugar" Ray Sefo (15 February 1971) is a New Zealand kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. He is five time Muay Thai World champion and eight time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant, currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada and training with Xtreme Couture.

Biography

Some would say his fight against Andre Manaart was his first major challenge on the world stage. In this fight he overwhelmed Manaart with devastating speed and elusive footwork,knocking him down on numerous occasions. In the ring after the fight, Manaart took the microphone and said "...you should call him Sugarfist, not Sugarfoot"...

His first major breakthrough was becoming a WKA cruiser weight champion, after which he also acted as a sparring partner for fellow New Zealander David Tua when Tua first returned to New Zealand for a fight after turning pro.

Ray made his K-1 debut against future four-time World Grand Prix Champion, Ernesto Hoost. Sefo held his own against the much more experienced Hoost, but was finally knocked out in the 4th round by a leg kick. Sefo gained respect for standing up to such an elite fighter in just his first fight.

Sefo gained more respect in his 3rd K-1 fight where he knocked out K-1 legend Jerome Lebanner in round 1. Sefo's hard right hand was enough to break the Frenchmans jaw in four places.

In 2002 he defeated Dutch legend Peter Aerts in the quarter finals but lost again to his nemesis Hoost in the semi finals.

In 2007, he was thought to be a legitimate challenger to dethrone four-time World Grand Prix Champion Semmy Schilt for the new Super Heavyweight title. In Round 1, Sefo became only the second man in history to knock Schilt down. However, he would go on to lose by KO in round 2.

He went on to lose 5 more fights and would not find the winners circle again till he beat Hong Man Choi, Yosuke Nishijima and Ionut Iftimoaie all by decision.

He was then asked to fight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16 on ten days notice against Tyrone Spong. Ray put up a decent fight for a short preparation but was beaten by decision. At the moment Ray is unsure about whether he will continue to fight in the K-1, though he is still considered one of the sport's oldest and still entertaining fighters.

In mid February 2011 he had his third MMA fight in a reserve fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament. He fought Valentijn Overeem, brother of Alistair Overeem, the current K-1 champion. Overeem had 50 MMA fights behind him and beat Sefo by submission in the first round. Sefo's striking on the feet looked good, but as an inexperienced grappler he lost early on by neck crank.

Titles

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record

See also

References

External links

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:New Zealand boxers Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:New Zealand kickboxers Category:Light heavyweight kickboxers Category:Cruiserweight kickboxers Category:Heavyweight kickboxers Category:Super heavyweight kickboxers Category:New Zealand mixed martial artists Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:New Zealand Muay Thai practitioners Category:Kickboxing trainers Category:Kickboxing commentators Category:People from Auckland Category:New Zealand people of Samoan descent Category:New Zealand expatriates in the United States

Serkan Yilmaz (born May 21, 1975 in Kırşehir, Turkey), known as ''"The Turkish Samurai"'' and ''"The Turkish Wonder Kicker"'' , is a Turkish taekwondo practitioner and kickboxer.

Biography and career

He fought a lot of competitive matches in his young years, and won the tournaments in Istanbul in the 36, 40, 47 and 54 kg weight categories. He eventually became the Turkish champion in 1992, and at that time started training in kickboxing with Sadik Oflu. From 1992 to 2002, he won and defended the championship title, in Turkey and Europe. In the meantime, he started fighting wushu matches from 2000. He won the Turkish Wushu championship titles in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Yilmaz started his K-1 career in 2003, defeating Takashi Ohno at ''K-1 World MAX 2003 World Tournament Final'' in his debut. He lost his next fight to Mike Cope, but was invited to compete in the 8-man Japan Grand Prix at ''K-1 World MAX 2004 Japan Tournament'' on February 24, 2004. He knocked out Kazuya Yasuhiro and Tomo in the quarter and semi-final stages before losing to Takayuki Kohiruimaki by decision in the final.

On April 7, 2004, Yilmaz lost to Japanese fans' favourite Masato via decision in the opening round of the K-1 World MAX at ''K-1 World MAX 2004 World Tournament Open''. Following this, he competed twice more for K-1, against the USA's Duane Ludwig and Thailand's Shin Nopadetsorn, both of which he lost.

Yilmaz then fought one mixed martial arts match against Caol Uno in 2005, and lost via submission with an armlock.

Fighting style

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record

References

External links

Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Turkish kickboxers Category:Welterweight kickboxers Category:Turkish mixed martial artists Category:Lightweight mixed martial artists Category:Turkish taekwondo practitioners Category:Turkish wushu practitioners

Albert “The Hurricane” Kraus (born August 3, 1980 in Oss) is a Dutch welterweight kickboxer. He was the first K-1 World MAX 2002 champion and has also held four separate world titles in kickboxing and Muay Thai. He is currently fighting out of Super Pro Gym in GLORY.

Biography and career

Kraus made his K-1 debut on February 24, 2002 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary Netherlands and was invited to the inaugural K-1 MAX World Championship on May 11, 2002. In the tournament quarter finals he faced Shane Chapman from New Zealand and won the evenly fought battle by a single point on the three judges' cards to take a unanimous decision. In the semi finals Albert Kraus met local crowd favourite Masato. Kraus scored a down with a punch at 2:31 into the first round and held on to earn his second consecutive unanimous decision and advance to the finals. He needed just one minute to put Kaolan Kaovichit down with a punch combination to become the first-ever K-1 World Max Champion.

In 2003 Kraus switched to Super Pro Gym. He entered the K-1 World MAX 2003 World Tournament as reigning champion and tournament favourite. Kraus defeated both of his opponents by stoppage on route to the final but was unable to retain his title, losing to Masato by knockout at 2:26 of the second round. After the tournament Albert Kraus would continue fighting in a number of events in K-MAX and Super League, winning seven straight bouts through 2003 and 2004 and qualifying for the K-1 World MAX 2004 World Tournament Final where he would reach the semi finals. The following year, Albert Kraus would once more take part in the K-1 World MAX 2005 Championship defeating John Wayne Parr in the quarter finals only to lose to Thai fighter Buakaw Por. Pramuk in the semi finals. Despite the disappointment of another semi final defeat, Kraus would finish the year on a high by defeating Menno Dijkstra at Kraus's hometown of Oss to win the I.K.B.A. world title.

2006 would be a mixed year for Albert Kraus. He suffered an early exit at the quarter final stage of the K-1 World MAX 2006 World Championship to Gago Drago but did manage to regain his I.K.B.A. World title by defeating James Martinez. 2007 started badly for Albert as he lost two straight fights, including a shock decision loss to little known Japanese fighter Tatsuji. He improved as the year progressed qualifying for the 6th annual K-1 World MAX Final on October 3, 2007. Kraus fought and defeated Yoshihiro Sato by decision in the quarter finals and in the semis he met 2005 Champion Andy Souwer and lost the battle by majority decision. Souwer went on to fight Masato in the finals and eventually won the championship.

Kraus had a stuttering start to 2008, losing his W.F.C.A. Thai Boxing junior middleweight world title fight to Faldir Chahbari and missing out on qualification for the K-1 MAX World Final for the very first time - losing to Buakaw Por. Pramuk at the K-1 World MAX 2008 World Championship Tournament Final 16. Losing out on a place at the final seemed to re-invigorate Kraus as he went on a seven match winning streak throughout 2008 and the beginning of 2009 - a streak that included winning the 2008 "King Of The Ring" Welterweight World title. He finally tasted defeat at the K-1 World MAX 2009 Final 8 quarter final stage to eventual champion Giorgio Petrosyan. Since that defeat Albert Kraus has won five straight and has booked his place in the quarter finals of the forthcoming K-1 World MAX 2010 Final by defeating Hiroki Nakajima by decision at the K-1 World MAX 2010 World Championship Tournament Final 16. He again tasted defeat at the K-1 World MAX 2010 quarter final stage to the reigning champion Giorgio Petrosyan who would go on to win the tournament.

He knocked out Ekapop Sor Klinmee in round 1 at ''Fighterzone Kickboxing World Series MAX'' in Singapore on February 25, 2012.

He will next face Abraham Roqueñi on April 28, 2012 in Torrelavega, Spain.

Titles

Kickboxing record

See also

References

External links

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch kickboxers Category:Welterweight kickboxers Category:Middleweight kickboxers Category:Dutch Muay Thai practitioners Category:People from Oss

Andreas "Andy" Souwer (born November 9, 1982) is a Dutch welterweight shoot boxer. He is two time K-1 World MAX champion (2005, 2007) as well as a three time Shootboxing World tournament champion, fighting out of Mejiro Gym, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Biography and career

In 1998, only 16 years old, he fought his first A-Class MTBN Title match, which he won on points. When he was 18 he had three different World titles.

Souwer first went to Japan in 2002 to compete in the ''S-Cup 2002'' shoot boxing competition where he became the winner. He made his K-1 debut the next year and won his first K-1 World Max champion title in 2005.

Andy Souwer is the 2007 K-1 World Max Champion. He defeated Gago Drago followed by Albert Kraus and finally Masato to win the championship. He faced Masato again in Masato's retirement match at the ''Dynamite!! 2009'' event, and lost.

He was scheduled to face Naruepol Fairtex at ''Fighterzone Kickboxing World Series MAX'' in Singapore on February 25, 2012. However, they were not paid by the promoter and the fight did not happen.

Titles

Kickboxing record

See also

References

External links

Category:1982 births Category:Living people Category:Dutch kickboxers Category:Welterweight kickboxers Category:People from 's-Hertogenbosch