Jan Soukup

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Jan Soukup
Born (1979-09-17) September 17, 1979
Prague, Czech Socialist Republic, Czechoslovakia
Other names Bomber of Kyokushin
Czech Samurai
Nationality Czech Republic Czech
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 100.0 kg (220.5 lb; 15.75 st)
Division Heavyweight
Style Kyokushin Karate
Stance Orthodox
Fighting out of Tokyo, Japan
Team Ichigeki Academy
Trainer Jayson Vemoa
Rank      2nd degree black belt in Kyokushin
Years active 2001-present
Kickboxing record
Total 8
Wins 4
By knockout 1
Losses 4
By knockout 1
Draws 0
last updated on: November 23, 2011
Jan Soukup
Medal record
Competitor for  Czech Republic
Men's Kyokushin
All-Japan Championships
Gold Tokyo 2004 +90 kg
European Championships
Bronze Uzhhorod 2003 +90 kg
Silver Varna 2005 +90 kg
Gold Volos 2007 +90 kg
European Open
Bronze Belgrade 2005 Open
World Open
Silver Tokyo 2007 Open

Jan Soukup (born September 17, 1979) is a Czech karateka and kickboxer who competes in the heavyweight division. Soukup's first noteworthy accomplishment was a third place finish at the European Kyokushin Championships in 2003 and he followed this by winning the All-Japan Kyokushin Championships the next year. After finishing as runner-up in the European Championships and in third place in the European Open in 2005, Soukup had his most successful year in 2007 when he won the European Championships and lost to Ewerton Teixeira in the final of the 9th Kyokushin World Open. Beginning in 2008, he embarked on a career in kickboxing which included a stint in K-1.

Career

Karate career (2001–2007)

Jan Soukup began his karate training in Shotokan at the age of eleven before moving to Kagoshima, Japan in April 2001 to study Kyokushin in an uchi-deshi program. After training for four years and attaining the rank of second dan black belt, which he earned by completing a twenty man kumite among other tests, he returned to the Czech Republic and opened his own Kyokushin dojo in August 2005.[1]

During this period, Soukup also achieved respectable finishes in numerous tournaments; in 2003, he finished in third place in the +90 kg/198 lb division at the 17th European Kyokushin Championships, in 2004 he won the 21st All-Japan Kyokushin Championships at +90 kg/198 lb and 2005 saw him take bronze at the 5th Kyokushin European Open and silver at the 21st European Kyokushin Championships.[2]

Soukup had his most successful year in 2007 when he won the 21st European Kyokushin Championships at +90 kg/198 lb and finished as runner-up in the 9th edition of most prestigious tournament in the sport, the Kyokushin World Open. He avenged his loss to Arthur Hovhannisyan, who beat him in the final of the European Championships back in 2005, in the semi-finals before losing out to Ewerton Teixeira via low kick ippon in the final.[3]

Transition to kickboxing (2008-present)

Making the transition to professional kickboxing, Jan Soukup debuted in his native Czech Republic in 2008 with a first round knockout of Tonda Ungerman. Following this, he was recruited by K-1 and returned to Japan to train under Jayson Vemoa at the Ichigeki Academy where his sparring partners included Glaube Feitosa, Takumi Sato and former foe Ewerton Teixeira.

In his first K-1 match, Soukup faced reigning K-1 Heavyweight Champion Keijiro Maeda in non-title bout at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP in Tokyo, Japan on August 11, 2009. He was dropped with a short right hand towards the end of round two before being knocked out with a right hook in three.[4]

After rebounding with a unanimous decision win over Espedito da Silva at Ichigeki Brazil 2009 in São Paulo, Brazil on October 3, 2009,[5] he returned to K-1 to fight Tsutomu Takahagi in a non-tournament match at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final in Yokohama, Japan on December 5, 2009, and won by a second consecutive unanimous decision.[6] In his third and final outing in the promotion, Soukup lost to Mladen Brestovac by way of unanimous decision after being knocked down with a third round knee strike in the tournament reserve match at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest in Romania on May 21, 2010.[7]

Soukup lost his second fight in a row when he dropped a unanimous decision to Jhonata Diniz after surviving knockdowns in rounds one and three at Ichigeki Brazil 2010 in São Paulo on July 31, 2010.[8]

After over a year out of the ring, Soukup made his comeback to enter the RISE Heavyweight Tournament 2011 held at RISE 85 in Tokyo on November 23, 2011.[9] He had a close fight with Fabiano Cyclone in the quarter-finals but scoring a knockdown in round two was enough to earn him the nod via majority decision and advance to the semis where he faced Makoto Uehara. This was another closely contested affair and was called a majority draw after the regulation three rounds. With the fight going to an extension round to decide the winner, Uehara did enough to take a unanimous decision and eliminate Soukup from the tournament.[10][11]

Championships and awards

Karate

  • All-Japan Kyokushin Championships
    • 21st All-Japan Kyokushin Championships +90 kg/198 lb Champion
  • European Kyokushin Championships
    • 17th European Kyokushin Championships +90 kg/198 lb 3rd Place
    • 19th European Kyokushin Championships +90 kg/198 lb Runner-up (Lost to Artur Hovhannisyan)
    • 21st European Kyokushin Championships +90 kg/198 lb Champion (Defeated Petar Martinov)
  • Kyokushin European Open
    • 5th Kyokushin European Open 3rd Place
  • Kyokushin World Open

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
4 wins (1 KO), 4 losses, 0 draws
Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record
2011-11-23 Loss Japan Makoto Uehara RISE 85: RISE Heavyweight Tournament 2011, Semi Finals Tokyo, Japan Extension round decision (unanimous) 4 3:00 4-4
2011-11-23 Win Brazil Fabiano Cyclone RISE 85: RISE Heavyweight Tournament 2011, Quarter Finals Tokyo, Japan Decision (majority) 3 3:00 4-3
2010-07-31 Loss Brazil Jhonata Diniz Ichigeki Brazil 2010 São Paulo, Brazil Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 3-3
2010-05-21 Loss Croatia Mladen Brestovac K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest, Reserve Match Bucharest, Romania Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 3-2
2009-12-05 Win Japan Tsutomu Takahagi K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final Yokohama, Japan Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 3-1
2009-10-03 Win Brazil Espedito da Silva Ichigeki Brazil 2009 São Paulo, Brazil Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 2-1
2009-08-11 Loss Japan Keijiro Maeda K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP Tokyo, Japan KO (right hook) 3 1:20 1-1
2008-00-00 Win Czech Republic Tonda Ungerman Galavečer Bojovníků 2008 Czech Republic KO (left hook) 1 1:22 1-0

Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

External links

References

  1. ↑ 【K-1】8・11極真世界大会準優勝のソウクップ、K-1デビュー間
  2. ↑ Kakutogi Academy profile
  3. ↑ ヤン・ソウクップ弐段 第9回全世界空手道選手権大会準優勝
  4. ↑ K-1 World GP 2009 in Tokyo Quick Results
  5. ↑ ICHIGEKI BRASIL 2009 WYNIKI
  6. ↑ K-1 World GP 2009 Final Live Results and Commentary
  7. ↑ Freddy Kemayo Rebounds From Loss to Capture K-1 East Europe GP
  8. ↑ Diniz cometa sua vitoria sobre o tcheco Jan Soukup no Ichigeki Brasil 2010
  9. ↑ RISE 85 Preview: Breaking Down the RISE Heavyweight Grand Prix
  10. ↑ RISE 85 Results: Jaideep Wins HWGP, RENA defeats Kamimura, Komiyama defeats Wielzen
  11. ↑ RISE 85 Recap and Analysis
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