Star-studded field set to feature in inaugural BKK Kickboxing Championship

SPO KICKBOXING 1-1665082094778 — Ruben Lee of Spain (left) poses with Sedar Eroglu of Turkey ahead of their kickboxing world championship fight, which will take place on Saturday at Al Nasr’s Rashid Bin Hamdan Hall. Image Credit: Supplied

Dubai: The BKK Kickboxing Championship is set to make a spectacular debut in Dubai with a star-studded 10-fightcard that will feature 20 top fighters and multiple championship winners from around the world at Al Nasr Club’s Rashid Bin Hamdan Hall on Saturday.

The two main fight cards of the inaugural championship will feature Spanish star Ruben Lee against Turkey’s Serdar Eroglu contesting for the world championships belt for the 90-kg category and Romania’s Christian Adrian Mile take on MavludTupiev of Uzbekistan.

“Dubai is home to many spectacular landmarks and we want to make sure our BKK Kickboxing Championship lives up to that image,” said Abdul Rahman Kallayil, Chairman of BKK Sports, who hold multiple portfolios across IT, Health and sports sectors.

There will be two co-main fights on the night: Russian star Saifullakh Khambakhado against Turkey’s Furkhan Semi Karabag, and the ladies bout featuring Turkish legend Funda Alkayis vs Francisca Belen Vera Lizama of Chile.

SPO KICKBOXING8-1665082079636 — The 10-fightcard has some interesting match-ups that will keep the fans on their toes. Image Credit: Supplied

The Indian and Pakistani expatriates, meanwhile, will get to see two exciting young talents facing-off in the ring in what is being billed as the “highlight fight” of the night.

Pakistan’s Shakeel Abdullah Chandio is undefeated in 15 bouts on the professional circuit, but will be up against a more-experienced opponent Muhammed Shuhaib. Shuhaib, who hails from the Indian state of Kerala, has an impressive CV with 60 fights (55 wins and 5 losses) in his amateur career and 16 (14 wins and 2 losses) on the professional circuit.

“I am really excited about fighting in Dubai,” said Shuhaib, who is a six-time Indian National Muay Thai Champion, and has also won winning the South Indian Championship (2018) and a Muay Thai Championship in Thailand in (2019).

“Dubai is an incredible place, with incredible people from around the world, many from India, and lots of them from my home state of Kerala. I am really looking forward to seeing them at the fight, supporting me.”

SPO KICKBOXING-1665082085479 — Dubai is a city where every athlete, every fighter wants to come and perform, and we had no problems in signing some of the best from around the world for our debut fight night, says BKK Sports CEO Midhun Jith. Image Credit: Supplied

Midhun Jith, CEO Of BKK Sports, said: “Dubai is a city where every athlete, every fighter wants to come and perform, and we had no problems in signing some of the best from around the world for our debut fight night.

“We would like to thank our partners at Dubai Sports Council, Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism, along with the UAE Muay Thai and Kick-boxing Federation, World Association of Kick-boxing Organisations for all their support in helping us realise our dreams and ambitions come true.”

Other fights

The other fights of the night are: El Mehdi Kakrami Bernoussi (Morocco) vs Ferzan Cicek (Turkey); Mohamed El Boukhari (Morocco) vs Mohammed El Mir (Palestine); Worawit Madadam (Thailand) vs Bekmursev Temirlan (Russia); Ben Henia Sabri (Belgium) vs Abdullah Al Falouji (Syria); and Walid Ek Kehal (Morocco) vs Fabio Reis (Portugal).

Bernoussi, El Boukhari, El Kehal and Al Falouji are all UAE-based fighters, who fight under the UAE Muay Thai and Kick-boxing Federation, and BKK Sports is keen to promote these talents on the international stage.

BKK Sports have already signed deals with 64 broadcasters and are expecting the fights to be telecast in 190-plus countries. The organisers have also launched an extensive social media campaign and their Instagram page, @bareknucklekombat, has already attracted 356K followers and reached two million viewership. Their Facebook page has more than 5K followers.