SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship
 | |
| Private | |
| Industry | Kickboxing promotion |
| Founded | 2011 |
| Founder | Eduard Irimia |
| Headquarters | Bucharest, Romania |
| Website |
http: |
The SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship, frequently shortened to simply SUPERKOMBAT or SK, is one of Europe's main kickboxing promotions,[1][2][3][4][5][6] that produces events mainly in Romania but also globally. Eduard Irimia serves as the president of the SUPERKOMBAT.
Superkombat cemented 2011 status as one of the best kickboxing promotions in the world with Best Promotion Of The Year Award (under K-1 rules) in the fourth annual ceremony of the World Independent Promoters Union Awards. Dutch promotions Ultimate Glory and It's Showtime, and Italian promotion Fight Code were the other finalists for the award presented.[7]
History
After an 8-year experience with Local Kombat, Irimia decided to expand internationally, launching its product under a new name in 2011.[8] SUPERKOMBAT is well-known mainly for its heavyweight division fights and includes an elimination tournament in the heavyweight division and bouts at different weight classes.[9]
The first SK event was held in 2011 in Râmnicu Vâlcea, Romania. The purpose of the event was to identify the most effective martial art in a real stand-up fight between competitors all over the world of different fighting disciplines, including boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, judo, karate, Muay Thai, wrestling, and other styles.[10]
On 10 August 2012, SK began working together with K-1 in the development of K-1's live event production. SUPERKOMBAT has also assisted K-1 in securing the biggest and best new kickboxing talent coming out of Europe.[11][12] At the K-1 World Grand Prix in Zagreb, nearly 80% of all the Final 8 fighters and the reserve fighters were members of the SK roster.[13] The agreement has been eventually ended in April 2013.[4][13][14][15]
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix is an elimination kickboxing tournament that has been held annually since 2011 by the promotion. Each year, SK holds four 4-men, 2-match grand prix style tournaments throughout the world to determine which eight fighters will compete in the Final Elimination that is an event where the participants compete for the final four spots in the Final 4.
Development
SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes
SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes is a 2013 launched platform for up and coming talent which has served since its inception as the official developmental territory for SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix.[16][17]
| # | Date | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 7 November 2015 |  Bucharest, Romania |
Sala Polivalentă Dinamo |
| 13 | 2 October 2015 |  Milan, Italy |
Gran Teatro Linear4Ciak |
| 12 | 1 August 2015 | Mamaia, Romania |
Piațeta Cazino |
| 11 | 19 June 2015 | Constanța, Romania |
Sala Sporturilor |
| 10 | 23 May 2015 | Bucharest, Romania |
Sala Polivalentă |
| 9 | 7 March 2015 | Ploiești, Romania |
Sala Sporturilor Olimpia |
| 8 | 2 August 2014 | Constanța, Romania |
Sala Sporturilor |
| 7 | 29 March 2014 | Ploiești, Romania |
Sala Sporturilor Olimpia |
| 6 | 3 November 2013 | Carrara, Italy |
CarraraFiere Exhibition Centre |
| 5 | 30 August 2013 | Târgoviște, Romania |
Polyvalent Hall |
| 4 | 31 May 2013 |  Dubai, UAE |
Al Boom Tourist Village |
| 3 | 10 May 2013 |  Vienna, Austria |
Gasometer |
| 2 | 3 March 2013 |  São Paulo, Brazil |
Ginásio Milton Feijão |
| 1 | 23 February 2013 |  Opatija, Croatia |
Hotel Kvarner |
SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts
SUPERKOMBAT Tryouts are made in an effort to groom a "new generation" of kickboxing.[4][17]
| # | Date | Location | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 8 June 2014 |  Almere, Netherlands |
Markerkant |
| 5 | 4 April 2014 |  Middlesbrough, United Kingdom |
Teesside University Students' Union - The Hub |
| 4 | 22 February 2013 | Rijeka, Croatia |
Zapadni Trgovacki Centar |
| 3 | 15 February 2013 | Luton, United Kingdom |
Storm Gym |
| 2 | 9 February 2013 |  Dortmund, Germany |
Fight Lounge |
| 1 | 26 January 2013 |  Athens, Greece |
MMA Gym |
SUPERKOMBAT Academy (2015-)
The concept will run a competition between 32 heavyweights in search of the next big SUPERKOMBAT star. With a sizable investment of 5 million dollars, the promotion is looking to run a reality series and introduce these fighters on its live events, where they will tested in order to move forward. These fighters will be prepared to be high level kickboxers and stars. The investment is to help with their training, salaries, supplements, travel and public-facing training to help make them into more complete packages. This is a unique opportunity for its fighters to live the dream in for the next three years (the length of the competition) by having SK essentially pay their bills for them and for these fighters to concentrate on training.[18]
| # | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 April 2015 | Târgoviște, Romania |
List of SUPERKOMBAT champions
Tournament Champions
| Event | Date | Weight class | Winner | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2011 Final | November 19, 2011 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
 Sergei Lascenko |
 Ismael Londt |
| SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2012 Final | December 22, 2012 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
Pavel Zhuravlev |
Ismael Londt |
| SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2013 Final | December 21, 2013 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
 Frank Muñoz |
Redouan Cairo |
| SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2014 Final | November 22, 2014 | Light heavyweight (-81 kg/178.6 lb) |
Jorge Loren |
 Aristote Quitusisa |
| SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2015 Final | November 7, 2015 | Heavyweight (+95 kg/209.4 lb) |
 Tarik Khbabez |
Roman Kryklia |
Other Tournaments winners
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Current champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | +96 kg (211.6 lb) | Ismael Londt | July 7, 2012 (SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix III 2012) | 0 |
| Super cruiserweight | 95 kg (209.4 lb) | Jorge Loren | November 7, 2015 (SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2015 Final) | 0 |
| Cruiserweight | 92 kg (202.8 lb) |  Igor Bugaenko | December 21, 2013 (SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2013 Final) | 0 |
| Middleweight | 71 kg (156.5 lb) | vacant |
New Heroes
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Title defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light heavyweight | 81 kg (178.6 lb) | Clyde Brunswijk | January 18, 2014 (KIMBO 2) | 0 |
| Middleweight | 71 kg (156.5 lb) | Amansio Paraschiv | March 7, 2015 (SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix I 2015) | 0 |
Championship history
Heavyweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ismael Londt def. Freddy Kemayo |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix III 2012 Varna, Bulgaria |
July 7, 2012 |
Super Cruiserweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrei Stoica def. Ondřej Hutník |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2013 Final Galați, Romania |
December 21, 2013 | 1. def. Ali Cenik at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix III 2014 on 21-06-14 2. def. Moisés Baute at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2014 Final Elimination on 25-10-14 3. def. Fred Sikking at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix IV 2015 on 01-08-15 |
| 2 | Jorge Loren def. Andrei Stoica |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2015 Final Bucharest, Romania |
November 7, 2015 |
Cruiserweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bogdan Stoica def. Ivan Stanić |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix II 2012 Cluj-Napoca, Romania |
May 12, 2012 | |
| 2 | Igor Bugaenko def. Bogdan Stoica |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2013 Final Galați, Romania |
December 21, 2013 |
Middleweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albert Kraus def. Alexander Schmitt |
SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2011 Final Darmstadt, Germany |
November 19, 2011 | ||
| Kraus was stripped of the title, when he left the SUPERKOMBAT for GLORY. | |||||
| 2 | Mike Zambidis def. Harun Kina |
SUPERKOMBAT VIP Edition Bucharest, Romania |
August 31, 2013 | 1. def. Harun Kina at Iron Challenge 2015 on 17-01-15 | |
| Zambidis vacated the title with his retirement on June 27, 2015.[19] | |||||
Production team
Cyrus Fees and Vladimir Baumann of Switzerland are current ring announcers.[20] Before, one of the announcers was Brad Vee Johnson.[21] Jelani Khalfani was MC[22] before Dana Săvuică.[23] One of the most known referees is Cezar Gheorghe of Romania.[24]
Broadcast
SK is broadcast in around 100 countries on 5 continents.[25] [26]
In 2011, the SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship burst into the mainstream with a landmark long-term broadcast agreement with Eurosport.[27] The agreement includes all the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix live events broadcast on the Eurosport network annually.[10]
Fight Now TV is the exclusive home of SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship in the United States,[28] a station that reaches roughly 80 million homes.[29] The media partnership kicked-off with a live coverage on September 26, 2013.[30]
Sport.ro is the home for kickboxing programming, with the channel broadcasting SK events. Previously, its assets were sold to Pro TV, a sister station. Pro TV still airs a tape delayed broadcast of the shows late night with same commentary.[31]
The SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes events are usually broadcast around the world from regional TV and tape delayed on Eurosport.[10]
In May 2013, SUPERKOMBAT teamed-up with German based agency Playbook International GmbH & Co. KG to sign global media rights partnership for a worldwide distribution cooperation for its media rights.[32]
In September 2013, SK have announced that www.Epicentre.tv will produce live pay-per-view streams to market their events.[33]
On 18 March 2014, the promotion officially announced the extension of the contract with Eurosport until the end of the 2016 season, with the number of live events being increased from 6 to 8 and the level of television production improved.[34][35]
Notable fighters
- Sebastian Ciobanu
- Alexandru Lungu
- Cătălin Moroșanu
- Andrei Stoica
- Bogdan Stoica
-
Ben Edwards - Paul Slowinski
-
Zabit Samedov - Alexey Ignashov
-
Dževad Poturak - Thiago Michel
- Alex Pereira
- Anderson Silva
- Mladen Brestovac
-
Errol Zimmerman -
Tomáš Hron - Ondřej Hutník
- Freddy Kemayo
- Brice Guidon
-
Hesdy Gerges - Frank Muñoz
- Jorge Loren
-
Daniel Sam - Stefan Leko
- Roberto Cocco
- Faldir Chahbari
- Albert Kraus
- Rico Verhoeven
- Ismael Londt
- Redouan Cairo
-
Yoann Kongolo - Pavel Zhuravlev
- Sergei Lascenko
- Mike Zambidis
-
Bob Sapp - Carter Williams
- Mighty Mo
References
- ↑ "Contender Promotions finalise deal with Romanian fight sport giants Superkombat". Gazette Live. 16 January 2014.
- ↑ "Superkombat Grand Prix live stream this Saturday May 18". BloodyElbow. 15 May 2013.
- ↑ "Superkombat announces global expansion, looking for partners in the US and internationally". BloodyElbow. 9 January 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Liverkick's Exclusive Interview with Superkombat President Eduard Irimia". Liverkick. 19 February 2013.
- ↑ "Fight Now TV home for SUPERKOMBAT kickboxing in US". Boxing Pulse. 24 September 2013.
- ↑ "Movings & Shakings Between K-1, Glory, Superkombat". Fight Sport Asia. 22 August 2012.
- ↑ "Eduard Irimia a fost premiat alături de Mike Tyson şi Andre Ward" (in Romanian). Libertatea. 10 February 2012.
- ↑ "Mixfight exclusief: interview met Superkombat promotor Eduard Irimia" (in Dutch). Mixfight.nl. 20 October 2011.
- ↑ "Kickboxing organization SuperKombat announces new partnership, looks to the future". BloodyElbow. 23 September 2013.
- 1 2 3 "About SUPERKOMBAT". SUPERKOMBAT Official Website. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ "Kickboxing News: Badr Hari Update, Superkombat And K-1 Team Up, Much More". BloodyElbow. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ↑ "K-1 Announces Agreement With SuperKombat". LiverKick. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
- 1 2 "SUPERKOMBAT Officially Splits From K-1: Is this the Final Nail in K-1′s Coffin?". Fight Sport Asia. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
- ↑ "Superkombat officially ends partnership with K-1". BloodyElbow. Retrieved 17 April 2013.
- ↑ "K-1 loses Superkombat support". Fight Linker. 12 April 2013.
- ↑ "SuperKombat 2013 Event Schedule Released". LiverKick. 25 February 2013.
- 1 2 "Superkombat începe anul în forţă! Gale în Grecia şi în Mare Britanie" (in Romanian). Ziua News. 12 January 2014.
- ↑ "Six live events and SUPERKOMBAT Academy with 5 million dollars budget". Kickboxing Planet. 13 February 2015.
- ↑ "The Greek Australian kick-boxer retires with pride". Retrieved 23 July 2015.
- ↑ "2013 Best Ring Announcer". Florida MMA Awards. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
- ↑ ""Fiarele" din ring, întâlnire cu reptilele din... Patinoarul "Flamaropol"!" (in Romanian). Prosport. 18 May 2011.
- ↑ "Trăieşte visul american în România! A lăsat Chippendales pentru ringul de K-1 de la Botoşani" (in Romanian). Prosport. 25 September 2013.
- ↑ "Jerome Le Banner şi Xhavit Bajrami vin la Reşiţa, la gala Superkombat World Grand Prix" (in Romanian). Yahoo! Romania. 12 April 2014.
- ↑ "Thriller in Ploiesti at SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix – Final Elimination". SUPERKOMBAT Official Website. 12 November 2013.
- ↑ "Programul meciurilor de la marea finală Superkombat de la Galati" (in Romanian). onlinesport.ro. 16 December 2013.
- ↑ "SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix – Final in Galati, Romania on December 21st". MMAmadhouse. 15 December 2013.
- ↑ "Superkombat la Eurosport". Eurosport Romania. 17 December 2013.
- ↑ "Fight Now TV home for SUPERKOMBAT Kickboxing Fighting Championship in U.S.". Fight Now TV. 24 September 2013.
- ↑ "Superkombat News: Plans For US Broadcasts, Bogdan Stoica Injured". BloodyElbow. 30 July 2012.
- ↑ "Fight Now TV home for SUPERKOMBAT kickboxing in US". Sherdog. 26 September 2013.
- ↑ "Şase români vor lupta în marea finală a circuitului Superkombat din 2013" (in Romanian). Gazeta Sporturilor. 3 December 2013.
- ↑ "SUPERKOMBAT Teams Up with Playbook International GmbH & Co.". Fight Sport Asia. 23 May 2013.
- ↑ "Agreement between Superkombat and Epicentre.tv to live-stream events". MMAmadhouse. 25 September 2013.
- ↑ "SuperKombat Signs Three Year Extension with EuroSport". liverkick.com. 19 March 2014.
- ↑ "Contract extension between Superkombat® and Eurosport for three years". SUPERKOMBAT Official Website. 18 March 2014.
External links
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