Final Fight Championship
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Martial arts promotion |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Founder(s) | Orsat Zovko[2] |
| Headquarters | Zagreb, Croatia |
| Key people |
Orsat Zovko[2] , Chairman/President |
| Parent | Fight Channel Group |
| Website | www.finalfight.hr |
Final Fight Championship (FFC) is a European martial arts promotion company operating under and with the production support of the Fight Channel Group. The Fight Channel Group comprises a specialized European martial arts cable channel – Fight Channel, one of the most visited martial arts websites in South-East Europe – Fight Site, and several other business entities. The FFC (short for Final Fight Championship) has its headquarters, like the rest of the Fight Channel Group, in Zagreb, Croatia.
The owner of the Fight Channel Group and the President of the FFC is Orsat Zovko, globally known as the manager of the Croatian martial arts superstar Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović. Even though it started in 2003 as a promotion organization dedicated solely to kickboxing, the FFC in 2013 introduced MMA fights in its events. Due to its rapidly increasing popularity and an overwhelming public interest, the FFC is said to be the fastest growing martial arts promotion in Europe. The FFC has contracts with close to one hundred fighters from all over the world.
History
The Final Fight: Stars War
The first Final Fight event called "The Final Fight: Stars War" was held in 2003 (31 October) at the Ledena dvorana Doma sportova venue in Zagreb. It featured seven fights, two of which were for the WKA world title.[3] The crowd enjoyed a full evening of watching the likes of Mike Bernardo, Sergei Gur, Phillip Trapani and Vitali Akhramenko, as well as local fighters who were given a chance to prove themselves on their own turf, namely Ivica Perković, Ante Bilić and Josip Bodrožić. A German fighter with Croatian roots, Stefan Leko, triumphed in front of his own crowd. In the final battle of the evening, great South African K-1 star Mike Bernardo defeated Belarusian Sergei Gur by TKO in the second round.
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| KB +95kg | Mike Bernardo | def. | Sergei Gur | TKO | 3 | ||
| KB +95kg | Stefan Leko | def. | Sebastiaan Van de Muysenberg | KO | 2 | ||
| KB +95kg | Alexey Ignashov | def. | Josip Bodrožić | Decision (unanimous) | 5 | ||
| KB +95kg | Ante Bilić | def. | Jose Reis | Decision (unanimous) | 5 | ||
| KB +95kg | Vitali Akhramenko | def. | Dewey Cooper | Decision (unanimous) | 5 | ||
| KB −95kg | Ivica Perković | def. | Marc de Wit | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | ||
| KB +95kg | Mirco Cappellato | def. | Phillip Trapani | TKO (injury) | 1 | ||
Cro Cop Final Fight
Final Fight waited almost nine years before organizing its second event titled "Cro Cop Final Fight". The event was held on 10 March 2012 in Arena Zagreb. The main event between global superstar Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović and eight-time K-1 WGP finalist Ray Sefo expectedly attracted the most attention. It was the beginning of Mirko Filipović's return to kickboxing after nine years spent in mixed martial arts. It was also the first big match for Filipović in front of his own crowd in the city where he lived and trained.
In addition to Cro Cop and Sefo, the event, attended by a crowd of approximately 11,000 people, included the likes of former It's Showtime champion Daniel Ghiță, SUPERKOMBAT WGP winner Sergei Lascenko and former It's Showtime champion Sahak Parparyan.[4] It was also a chance for some local fighters to make a name for themselves, such as Mladen Brestovac, Toni Milanović and Agron Preteni.
In the main event, Filipović defeated Ray Sefo after three rounds via decision. Disappointed at seeing half-empty stands, the owner of the promotion Orsat Zovko stated after the event that he did not see any sense in organizing such high-end production events if the audience in Croatia and Europe was not interested.[5]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| KB +95kg | Mirko Filipović | def. | Ray Sefo | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Daniel Ghiță | def. | Sergei Lascenko | TKO (head kick) | 3 | 0:49 | |
| KB +95kg | Igor Jurković | def. | Freddy Kemayo | Decision (majority) | Ex.r | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Brestovac | def. | Mourad Bouzidi | TKO (injury) | 1 | 0:30 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Kujundžić | def. | Marin Došen | Decision (unanimous) | Ex.r | 3:00 | |
| KB −95kg | Agron Preteni | def. | Pacome Assi | Decision (majority) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Michael Duut | def. | Stefan Jelić | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB −86kg | Sahak Parparyan | def. | Toni Milanović | Decision (unanonimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB −81kg | Miran Fabjan | def. | Ivan Posavec | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
FFC era
In late March 2013, Fight Channel announced a series of tournaments under the already familiar Final Fight brand, with the addition of the word "Championship" (C) in the promotion's name, revealing its intention to organize title fights in the future.[6] On that occasion, the new, updated logo of the promotion was presented. FFC president Orsat Zovko announced that there would be at least 10 tournaments in 2013,[7] and that they would feature both kickboxing and MMA fights in equal measure. Each event was to have ten fights, four on the preliminary fight card and six on the main card. This was a novelty considering that the first two Final Fight events were composed solely of kickboxing fights. The events were to be broadcast live on Fight Channel, but also in many other European and world countries. Zovko made reference to the success of the K-1 WGP Final, produced and co-organized by Fight Channel on 15 March 2013 and ultimately won by Mirko Filipović.[8] It was the first K-1 WGP Final ever held outside of Japan.[9]
FFC03: Jurković vs. Cătinaș
The first event under the updated FFC brand, FFC03: Jurković vs. Cătinaș, was held on 19 April 2013 at the Gripe venue in Split, Croatia, and the main event was the fight between Igor Jurković and Raul Cătinaș. Even though he was announced, hometown fighter Agron Preteni – who defeated favored Romanian Andrei Stoica at the K-1 WGP Final several weeks before – was forced to withdraw due to an injury. The promotion was unable to find a last-minute replacement for Preteni, which is why FFC03 featured nine instead of the scheduled 10 fights.[10]
In the first preliminary fight of the evening, Ivan Gluhak defeated Dejan Milošević by stoppage at the end of the second round, which was also the first MMA fight in the history of the Final Fight Championship.[11] In the main event, Igor Jurković defeated Romanian Cătinaș via decision, while in the co-main event K-1 WGP Final semifinalist Pavel Zhuravlev knocked out Italy's Luca Panto. The media took special notice of a highlight knockout by Bosnian fighter Tomislav Spahović in an MMA light heavyweight bout against Swede Christian Golčić.[12] Due to this outcome, Spahović was celebrated in his home country of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a hero and touted as a major prospect on the martial arts scene.[13]
A live broadcast of the event went to more than fifty countries of the world, including national TV stations in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatian national TV network Nova TV later reported that FFC03 had a 32% share in TV ratings, making the event the most watched show of that week.[14]
After the event, Orsat Zovko announced the upcoming events in Zadar, Osijek and Poreč, as well as the expansion of the FFC promotion to the countries of the region in spite of the poor attendance of the show. According to the media estimates, the attendance was a mere one thousand.[15]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| KB +95kg | Igor Jurković | def. | Raul Cătinaș | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Pavel Zhuravlev | def. | Luca Panto | TKO | 1 | 1:28 | |
| MMA +95kg | Ante Delija | def. | Michail Lamprakis | TKO | 1 | 1:27 | |
| MMA −93kg | Tomislav Spahović | def. | Christian Golčić | KO | 1 | 0:40 | |
| KB −81kg | Zlatko Bajić | def. | Petros Vardakas | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Kujundžić | def. | Rok Štrucl | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| MMA −93kg | Matej Batinić | def. | Teo Radnić | Submission (RNC) | 1 | 1:47 | |
| KB −95kg | Toni Milanović | def. | Ibrahim El Bouni | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:0 | |
| MMA, −77kg | Ivan Gluhak | def. | Dejan Milošević | Submission (retirement) | 3 | 0:00 | |
FFC04: Perak vs. Joni
Only three weeks after the premiere under the modernized brand in Split, the Final Fight Championship held the event FFC04: Perak vs. Joni in the Croatian city of Zadar on 5 May 2013.[16] The event took place in the state-of-the-art Višnjik arena, which for this occasion had the capacity of 9,500 seats. According to the media estimates, FFC04 was attended by a 4,500-strong crowd, a significantly better result compared to the premiere in Split. FFC04 was the first event in the promotion's history that had an MMA fight as the main event. In the main event, Croatian fighter Maro Perak defeated Hungarian fighter by TKO in the first round Tibor Joni.[17]
The organizers were plagued by injury problems and withdrawals, forcing them to multiple changes of opponents for Perak, and – while announced and shown on the official poster – former UFC fighter and the best MMA fighter in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denis Stojnić, made no appearance. Stojnić told the media that in order to return in the UFC he needed a win over Mirko Filipović, Mustapha Al Turk, Andrei Arlovski or Jeff Monson, and that he did not want to fight any other opponents.[18] It was a response for a public call-out by Marko Perak, who suggested, after several of his opponents cancelled, that he should fight Stojnić at the FFC04 event. Stojnić rejected such proposition, which was officially confirmed by the FFC.[19]
In the co-main event, Croatian kickboxing heavyweight Mladen Brestovac defeated Ukrainian Sergei Lascenko via decision after three rounds. Both fighters had participated in the K-1 WGP Final in Zagreb; Brestovac defeated Spaniard Frank Munoz in one of the super fights, while Lascenko lost to Dževad Poturak in the tournament's reserve bout.[20]
The event had an abundance of attractive knockouts and submissions, while the upset of the evening was created by a late substitute, Poland's Maciej Browarski. Browarski was matched up against one of the best European MMA fighters in the lightheavyweight, Jason Jones, only two days before the event, as Italian fighter Matteo Minonzio withdrew from the fight. Even though he fought against a favored opponent, Browarski needed only one round to get to his biggest career win with an amazing knockout.[21]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| MMA +95kg | Maro Perak | def. | Tibor Joni | TKO | 1 | 1:28 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Brestovac | def. | Sergei Lascenko | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA +95kg | Maciej Browarski | def. | Jason Jones | KO | 2 | 4:30 | |
| MMA −70kg | Ivica Trušček | def. | Vaso Bakočević | TKO | 2 | 1:28 | |
| KB −85kg | Jason Wilnis | def. | Zoran Majkić | KO | 1 | 2:59 | |
| KB −81kg | Emil Zoraj | def. | Zlatko Bajić | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| MMA −70kg | Antun Račić | def. | Bojan Kosednar | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| MMA −84kg | Antonio Mijatović | def. | Marko Lukačić | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | [lower-alpha 1] |
| MMA Catchweight (−81kg) | Luka Jelčić | def. | David Vasić | Submission (RNC) | 1 | 1:18 | |
| KB +95kg | Igor Mihaljević | def. | Ante Verunica | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
FFC05: Rodriguez vs. Simonjič
The Final Fight Championship held its fifth event on 25 May, 2013 in the Croatian city of Osijek, under the title FFC05: Rodriguez vs. Simonjič. The event took place at the Gradski vrt venue, which had a capacity of 4,000 seats for this occasion and was completely full.[22] The event was headlined by former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez against Slovenian fighter Tomaž Simonjič. It was the second consecutive FFC event headlined by an MMA fight. The organizers had quite a few problems with withdrawals and injuries, which made the original fight card rather different from the final one.
In the co-main event, Ukrainian Pavel Zhuravlev knocked out Dutchman Vinchenzo Renfurm with a hook in the second round of their kickboxing bout. This was the second knockout in a row for Zhuravlev in the FFC, following the FFC03 event in Split where he defeated Italian Luca Panto in the same manner. Osijek saw victories from promising Croatian MMA fighters Ante Delija and Antun Račić. Another standout moment was the knockout by young Bosnian hope Igor Emkić against much more experienced and favored Ivan Stanić. Only two of the event's ten fights were decided by judges, while eight of them ended in knockouts or submissions.
On the press conference after the event, Rodrigues said he wanted to fight former UFC fighter Denis Stojnić in his next fight in FFC.[23] Stojnić later refused that proposition saying UFC match maker Joe Silva wants him to fight Mirko Cro Cop, Mustapha Al Turk, Andrei Arlovski or Jeff Monson.[24]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| MMA +93kg | Ricco Rodriguez | def. | Tomaž Simonjič | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 3:49 | |
| KB +95kg | Pavel Zhuravlev | def. | Vinchenzo Renfurm | KO | 2 | 2:44 | |
| MMA +95kg | Ante Delija | def. | Gzim Selmani | TKO | 1 | 3:09 | |
| MMA −66kg | Antun Račić | def. | Artak Nazaryan | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Igor Mihaljević | def. | Uroš Veličević | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA −77kg | Laszlo Senyei | def. | Ivan Gluhak | Submission (armbar) | 3 | 2:40 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| KB −86kg | Igor Emkić | def. | Ivan Stanić | KO | 3 | 1:25 | |
| KB +95kg | Stefan Anđelković | vs. | Nino Vladušić | No Contest (injury) | 1 | 0:00 | |
| MMA −93kg | Matej Batinić | def. | Attila Petrovszki | Submission (RNC) | 1 | 3:25 | |
| MMA +95kg | Saša Milinković | def. | Michail Lamprakis | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 3:18 | |
FFC06: Jurković vs. Poturak
The FFC had its last event before the 2013 summer break on 14 June in the Croatian resort of Poreč under the title FFC06: Jurković vs. Poturak. The event was headlined by Croatian fighter Igor Jurković and the best Bosnian fighter of all time, Dževad Poturak. It was the second event headlined by Igor Jurković after FFC03, held in Split on 19 April 2013. The media touted the fight between Jurković and Poturak as the "Balkans Showdown" of the two best kickboxing heavyweights coming from the ex-Yugoslavia countries.[25] Jurković won the match after three rounds via decision.[26] The co-main event featured two of the world's top kickboxing heavyweights. In an outstanding match, Egyptian Hesdy Gerges got to a split decision win after three rounds against Pavel Zhuravlev.[27][28] It was already the third fight for the Ukrainian in the FFC events and only his first defeat, but also his fifth appearance in Croatia in three months, considering that Zhuravlev was a semifinalist of the K-1 WGP Final in Zagreb.
The upsets of the evening were created by Hungarian Laszlo Senyei and Moroccan Ibrahim El Buni. In an under −77 kg(welterweight) MMA fight, Senyei defeated one of the most experienced European MMA combatants, Ivica "Terror" Trušček, via split decision.[28] This was Senyei's second win in a row at the FFC events after his win over Ivan Gluhak in Osijek. El Bouni took just 29 seconds to knock out Bosnian favorite Igor Emkić. Poreč was also the place where the heavyweight winner of the "Croatian MMA League", Dorijan Ilić, made his debut. Ilić knocked out a veteran of the regional MMA scene, Emil Poljak, already in the first round.[28] At the post-event media conference, FFC president Orsat Zovko announced autumn events in Sarajevo, Pula, Zagreb, Skopje and Ljubljana.
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| KB +95kg | Igor Jurković | def. | Dževad Poturak | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Hesdy Gerges | def. | Pavel Zhuravlev | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA −77kg | Laszlo Senyei | def. | Ivica Trušček | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| MMA +93kg | Dorijan Ilić | def. | Emil Poljak | KO | 1 | 2:10 | |
| KB −81kg | Miran Fabjan | def. | Ivan Bilić | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB −85kg | Ibrahim El Bouni | def. | Igor Emkić | KO | 1 | 0:29 | |
| Preliminary card | |||||||
| KB +95kg | Mladen Kujundžić | def. | Nikola Dimkovski | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA +93kg | Stefan Traunmuller | def. | Ivan Vitasović | Submission (RNC) | 1 | 0:00 | |
| MMA −93kg | Teo Mikelić | def. | Samo Petje | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA −70kg | Matija Blažičević | def. | Phillip Šarić | Submission (armbar) | 2 | 2:31 | |
FFC08: Zelg vs. Rodriguez
FFC07 was canceled because of financial problems while trying to rent Pula Arena, and FFC08 was canceled because of injured Dževad Poturak. Main fight of FFC07 event is moved on 25. October 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia, event will be named FFC08: Zelg vs. Rodriguez because FFC07: Poturak vs. Leko is postponed and will have same name. In the main event ex Pride, Bellator fighter and Cage Rage champion Zelg Galešić will fight ex UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez. Fight was scheduled at -95 kg catch weight.[29]
Results
| Main card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| MMA -95kg | Ricco Rodriguez | def. | Zelg Galešić | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 3:50 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Brestovac | def. | Ali Cenik | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB +95kg | Tomáš Hron | def. | Jahfarr Wilnis | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB -80kg | Stevan Živković | def. | Miran Fabjan | Decision (split) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| MMA −66kg | Francisco Albano Barrio | def. | Darko Banović | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| MMA −77kg | Primož Vrbinc | def. | Dušan Džakić | KO | 1 | 1:19 | |
| FFC Challenger 08 | |||||||
| MMA +95kg | Dion Staring | def. | Ante Delija | Submission (kimura) | 2 | 2:42 | |
| MMA -70kg | Ivica Trušček | def. | Gojko Vuković | TKO | 1 | 2:13 | |
| KB +95kg | Mladen Kujundžić | def. | Senid Imamović | KO | 1 | 1:19 | |
| MMA −77kg | Laszlo Senyei | def. | Luka Jelčić | TKO | 2 | 0:30 | |
| MMA −77kg | Matej Truhan | def. | Josif Al Said | KO | 1 | 3:50 | |
FFC09: McSweeney vs. Traunmuller
Results
| FFC MMA | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| MMA HW | James McSweeney | def. | Stefan Traunmuller | Submission (armbar) | 1 | 0:35 | |
| MMA -77kg | Primož Vrbinc | def. | Joseph Leitner | Submission (standing guillotine choke) | 3 | 4:53 | |
| MMA -73kg | Ivica Trušček | def. | Leonardo Zecchi | KO (left high kick) | 1 | 0:18 | |
| MMA -66 kg | Lemmy Krušič | def. | Vaso Bakočević | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| MMA -84kg | Mattia Schiavolin | def. | Josip Artuković | Submission (heel hook) | 1 | 2:24 | |
| FFC Kickboxing | |||||||
| KB -71kg | Mirko Vorkapić | def. | Chris Ngimbi | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB -82kg | Ibrahim El Bouni | def. | Miran Fabjan | KO (left hook) | 2 | 2:17 | |
| KB -77kg | Stevan Živković | def. | Grega Smole | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| KB -71kg | Samo Petje | def. | Mario Katić | KO (straight right) | 2 | 1:35 | |
| KB -91kg | Ivan Stanić | def. | Strahinja Ivanović | TKO (low kick) | 2 | 1:30 | |
| KB -85kg | Tadej Toplak | def. | Mesud Selimović | Decision (unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
FFC10: Rodriguez vs. Batzelas
Fight Card
| FFC MMA | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| MMA HW | Ricco Rodriguez | Nestoras Batzelas | |||||
| MMA HW | Gzim Selmani | Tomaž Simonič | |||||
| MMA -70kg | Vaso Bakočević | Stanislav Enchev | |||||
| MMA −70kg | Patrick Pereša | Kostadin Enev | |||||
| MMA -72kg | Viktor Stojanov | Matija Blažičević | |||||
| MMA -66kg | Risto Dimitrov | Georgios Vardis | |||||
| FFC Kickboxing | |||||||
| KB HW | Rustemi Kreshnik | Dino Belošević | |||||
| KB HW | Mladen Brestovac | Kirk Krouba | |||||
| KB HW | Tomáš Hron | Igor Mihaljević | |||||
| KB -77kg | Ile Risteski | Shkodran Veseli | |||||
| KB -85kg | Igor Emkić | Kleanthis Mavropoulos | |||||
| KB -70kg | Teo Mikelić | Slobodan Kajmakoski | |||||
List of Events
| # | Event Title | Date | Arena | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Final Fight Championship 10: Rodriguez vs. Batzelas | 13 December 2013 | Boris Trajkovski Sports Center | Skopje, Macedonia | |
| 8 | Final Fight Championship 9: McSweeney vs. Traunmuller | 15 November 2013 | Hala Tivoli | Ljubljana, Slovenia | 2500 |
| 7 | Final Fight Championship 8: Zelg vs. Rodriguez | 25 October 2013 | Arena Zagreb | Zagreb, Croatia | 7500 |
| 6 | Final Fight Championship 6: Jurković vs. Poturak | 14 June 2013 | Žatika | Poreč, Croatia | 4,300 |
| 5 | Final Fight Championship 5: Rodriguez vs. Simonič | 25 May 2013 | Gradski Vrt | Osijek, Croatia | 4,200 |
| 4 | Final Fight Championship 4: Perak vs. Joni | 10 May 2013 | Višnjik | Zadar, Croatia | 4,700 |
| 3 | Final Fight Championship 3: Jurković vs. Cătinaș | 19 April 2013 | Gripe | Split, Croatia | 1000 |
| 2 | Cro Cop Final Fight | 10 March 2012 | Arena Zagreb | Zagreb, Croatia | 10.500 |
| 1 | Final Fight: Stars war | 21 October 2003 | Dom Sportova | Zagreb, Croatia | 10,000 |
Media Rights Distribution
Final Fight Championship live Shows' media rights are distributed worldwide by Fighting Spirit, the international market leader in fighting sports content distribution.
Rules
The FFC holds fights at its events under the rules of kickboxing and those of mixed martial arts. There is no standardized ratio between kickboxing and MMA fights; it varies from one event to another. The FFC kickboxing rules are the modified rules of the legendary Japanese kickboxing promotion K-1. These include a 10-point must system, three rounds plus one extra round in case of a draw and no clinch allowed. Each round in a kickboxing fight has the duration of three minutes, and intermissions between each round are one minute long.
The FFC's MMA rules are the modified rules of the legendary Japanese MMA promotion Pride. These include a 10-point must system taken from the Unified Rules of MMA, but also allow soccer kicks and stomps, which are excluded from the Unified Rules of MMA. The rules do not allow elbow strikes to the head. Each of the three rounds (there are no extra rounds) last five minutes, and intermissions between each round are one minute long.
The president of the promotion Orsat Zovko stated that the FFC was considering additional innovations in terms of rules to bring the promotion closer to the standards required by public TV networks that broadcast the event live during primetime hours. Specifically, he said that in the future the FFC could exclude techniques that may be considered excessively violent by the mainstream audience, such as soccer kicks and stomps.[30]
Weight classes
The FFC is currently using six weight classes for its MMA fights and five weight classes for its kickboxing fights. Non-title fights have a one pound leniency.
| MMA weight class name | Upper limit | |
|---|---|---|
| in pounds (lb) | in kilograms (kg) | |
| Featherweight | 145 | 66 |
| Lightweight | 155 | 70 |
| Welterweight | 170 | 77 |
| Middleweight | 185 | 84 |
| Light Heavyweight | 205 | 93 |
| Heavyweight | – | – |
| Kickboxing weight class name | Upper limit | |
|---|---|---|
| in pounds (lb) | in kilograms (kg) | |
| Lightweight | 155 | 70 |
| Welterweight | 179 | 81 |
| Middleweight | 190 | 86 |
| Light Heavyweight | 209 | 95 |
| Heavyweight | – | – |
References
- ↑ Petrak, Marko. "Croatian MMA Association overtuned the decision in Lukačić vs. Mijatović fight". Fight Site. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Brajdic, Drazen. "Gladiators from FFC more popular than central news". Vecernji list. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ "K-1 STar Wars". K-1 Sport.de. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Redzic, Dea. "Cro Cop in front of 11 thousand people defeated Sefo". Index.hr. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Vuletic, Luka. "Cro Cop's manager: Mirco returns in 2013". 24 Sata. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Redzic, Dea. "Croatia gets serious fighting promotion". Index.hr. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Hebar, Srđan. "Domaći UFC debitira na Gripama". Večernji list. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Snidaric, Marko. "Sensation: Zagreb gets K-1 WGP Final". 24 Sata. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Scalia, Rian. "K-1 WGP Final in Zagreb". Liverkick. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Site, Fight. "We reveal fight card for FFC03". Index.hr. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Zdelar, Zoran. "Fantastic night with KO's and big win for Jurkovic". FightSite. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Zdelar, Zoran. "Fantastic night with brutal KO's and big win for Jurkovic". Fight Site. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Rodic, D. "Brutal KO: Quick win for Spahovic". SportSport.ba. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Site, Fight. "FFC in Osijek was seen by half a million TV viewers". FightSite.rs. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Vela, Zeljko. "In May two new Final Fights". Dnevnik.hr. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
- ↑ Index. "FFC04 in Zadar: Peraks' opponent announced, Stojnić deleted from the fight card". Index.hr. Index.hr. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
- ↑ Berišić, Tomislav. "FFC04: Perak wins with soccer kicks, Terror beats Psychopate". Profightstore. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Spahic, Emir. "Stojnić: I'm not afraid of anyone but I want to go back to UFC". Sport24.ba. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Zdelar, Zoran. "Zovko: In any serious promotion outsiders can't dictate terms". Fight Site. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Stumberg, Patrick. "K-1 WGP Final results from Zagreb". MMAMania. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Fight, Site. "Fantastic night with brutal KO's". Index.hr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Š., I. "Ricco brought the show, Delija got standing ovations". Gol.hr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Fight, Site. "Rodriguez: I want Denis Stojnić in the next fight". Index.hr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Fight, Site. "Stojnić: Rodriguez won't get me back in the UFC". Index.hr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Fight, Site. "Igor Jurković against Dževad Poturak on FFC06 in Poreč". Profightstore. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Ćosić, I. "BH Machine lost to Jurković". Dnevni Avaz. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Brajdić, Dražen. "Spectacle in Poreč: Jurković beats Poturak". Večernji list. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 Štimac, Ivan. "Video FFC6: Jurković beats Poturak, Gerges wins in spectacular match". Gol.hr. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ Najjači FFC do sada: Zagrebačka Arena donosi neviđeni spektakl!(Croatian)
- ↑ Zdelar, Zoran. "Are you a fan of soccer kicks and stomps?". Fight Site. Retrieved 12 July 2013.