For boxing and MMA fans interested in kickboxing, here are some exciting fights to watch: Rico Verhoeven vs. Badr Hari: A classic clash of kickboxing titans. Giorgio Petrosyan vs. Andy Souwer: Technical mastery on display. Buakaw Banchamek vs. Masato: An iconic battle in K-1 history. Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valentina Shevchenko (Muay Thai): High-level striking in a crossover bout. Gokhan Saki vs. Daniel Ghita: Heavyweights delivering explosive action.
Joe Schilling vs Simon Marcus was a really good brawling kickboxing fight. This isn’t the type of fight to watch if you’re looking for the elite level technique. It got quite sloppy at certain points in the fight, but it was a good action fight to watch. At 4:40 in the first round, Joe schilling backs Marcus up against the ropes and throws a right head kick which Marcus blocks with his forearm. However, Schilling retracts his leg, moving into a southpaw stance at close range and throws a spinning backfist with his now rear left hand catching his opponent. Marcus clinches up and both fighters exchange knees to the body. Simon presses forward and lands a hard knee to Schilling’s bread basket. There’s a lot of clinches in the first period where the fighters exchange body knees on the inside. Schilling measures with his left, landing a straight right, measures again and then lands a right hook around the guard. Schilling lands a good right front kick which Simon counters with a right kick to the ribs. But Joe catches it, holds it while driving him backwards and touches him with a right straight to the body. Joe tries a step up left knee while letting go of his opponent’s leg but it hits the shoulder. Marcus tries to measure for a right hand but gets countered by Schilling’s left hook. Marcus clinches and mauls Schilling’s hips and legs with knees on the inside. Schilling misses a hook but uses it to clinch behind the head as Simon presses forward and he lands a few good body knees to Marcus. Simon blasts Schilling with a left jab while Joe’s jab misses and both fighters miss with their follow up right hands. Marcus lands a little left hook and a solid body knee in the clinch again. At 6:38, Schilling lands a hard lead leg switch kick to the inside of Simon’s front leg but Simon responds with a hard left switch kick to Joe’s body. There’s more clinch fighting with knees to the body and Simon seems to get the best of it. At 7:11, Schilling steps in with a winging right hook that catches Simon right as he starts to lift his leg to try a right leg kick. The right hand seems to hurt Marcus and he moves backwards as Schilling pressures him landing a jab from southpaw. Schilling continues to push Marcus to the other side of the ring landing a body shot as time expires. 10-9 for Schilling. The second round starts with Marcus landing a hard right leg kick and Schilling countering with his right cross. Schilling starts using front kicks to the knee and body trying to halt Marcus’ momentum. The fighters trade jabs in center ring. Marcus feints with a jab to set up a hard right hand against Schilling as he’s near the ropes. Schilling clinches and lands a single body knee. Schilling is having success keeping range with the front kicks but then Marcus catches Schilling at the end of a spinning wheel kick from a southpaw stance. There’s a wild exchange starting a 9:01. Schilling lands some clubbing right hands, Marcus lands some left hooks and they share knees. Simon clinches again and lands a good body knee. Simon is eating Schilling up with body knees when they get close. Marcus blasts Schilling’s body with a left switch kick. He’s really focusing on the body. Simon lifts his front leg but gets blasted with a Schilling jab and then Joe follows up with another jab. Simon steps back and then reengages only for Schilling to set him up with a throw away left hook and then hammering him with a right hook to the face. Then Joe follows up with another front kick. When Joe uses front kicks and his jab, he does well. Joe lands a glancing right rear front kick and then follows up with a southpaw jab to the forehead. Joe lands another rear front kick. Joe catches Marcus with a left hook as he’s pressing forward and they both miss with right hands. They rough each other up in the clinch with knees and Joe lands a little uppercut to the body and a small clubbing right hand. At 10:00, Joe Schilling misses with a right roundhouse kick and uses the spin to a left spinning back kick into what appears to be Simon’s throat. They clinch again and Joe tries to land a right cross but Marcus rolls his head away from it very smoothly. Good defense there. Marcus lands a left hook to the head that Schilling’s forearm manages to slow down just a bit. Marcus touches him with a jab and his follow up right hand hits the chest. Marcus lands a few hard knees before they’re broken up again. Simon lands a little left hook and Schilling moves back to the ropes. This content is protected
Then at 10:43, Schilling starts off with a hard right led switch kick to Marcus’ lead leg. However, Joe is trapped in the corner. Marcus tries a left hook but gets countered by Joe’s teep. They jab together again but this time Joe’s jab lands and Marcus’ doesn’t. Marcus follows up with a right hand that barely catches the top of Joe’s forehead. But then Joe tries to come back with a right hook but gets countered by Marcus’ lead jab into his throat. Marcus then comes back again with a follow up right cross but this time it catches Schilling right on the chin and drops him. Schilling is visibly hurt but manages to beat the count. The round comes to an end with Marcus earning a clear 10-8. The third round starts with Marcus landing another left switch kick to the body. Schilling uses a double jab feint to set up a left hook and right hand. At 12:38, Schilling misses with a superman punches but uses the momentum to move into a clinch and land a small left knee to the body. Simon lands a knee to the hip and Schilling returns one in the clinch. Marcus lands uses the double jab to land a right hand. Simon lands a right leg kick. Schilling lands a lead left hook, misses with an uppercut, and touches him with a left jab as Marcus is backing up. Then Schilling follows up with a right kick to the ribs. But Simon catches the kick to get a clinch and then retaliates with a hard left knee to the body which might have hurt Joe. Schilling seems to land a knee to the side of Simon’s head from the clinch that cuts Marcus’ face. Schilling looks exhausted as they break to give Marcus back his mouthpiece which he seemed to drop in the chaos. Schilling uses a bunch of left and right feints to set up a lead left uppercut which glances off Simon’s chin. Schilling throws a right hook which Marcus blocks but he uses the clinch from it to land a little left knee to the body. Marcus lands a little right knee to the body as well. Both are missing a lot of shots and getting excessively sloppy. Simon lands another very hard left knee in the clinch with 30 seconds to go. Marcus lands three solid knees as the round ends. This round was very hard to score. The judges score the fight a draw, and it goes into a sudden death fourth round. Marcus starts the round with a roundhouse kick to the body. It doesn’t have a whole lot of steam on it, though. Marcus switches to southpaw to try to set up left body kicks but they keep getting blocked. Marcus lands a right low kick. But then Schilling uses a throw away left hook to set up a right cross to the chin. Schilling lands a knee to the hip in the clinch. At 18:43, Schilling lands a lead switch inside leg kick and then immediately lands a glancing front kick to the body. Not a devastating shot but a clever little move. Marcus lands two brutal knees in the clinch that seems to swing the momentum in his favor. Schilling lands a left cross to the body from a southpaw stance. Schilling stops Marcus with a front kick and then lands a straight cross between the guard. He lands a left knee and then a clubbing right hand which knocks Marcus off balance. Schilling follows up with another right cross pushing Marcus into the corner. Then a left knee to the body and two right uppercuts. The ref stops the fight to put Marcus’ mouthpiece back in giving him a huge break. Marcus lands a few good knees to the body but then loses his mouth piece again and gets deducted a point for it with only 37 seconds left. Marcus presses forward hard knowing he needs the knockout and lands a few hard right hands. But Schilling pushes him back with four subsequent front kicks and a left jab. Schilling sneaks in another right uppercut from the clinch. At 20:42, Schilling moves towards the rope and Marcus marches toward him in pursuit. Marcus throws a left jab to try to measure for a right hand. But before Marcus can throw the right, Schilling counters with a brutal left hook that catches him clean on the chin sending his mouth guard flying out once again. Marcus lands his right hand afterwards but drops to the canvas in the process, falling face first and then rolling to his back. The ref stops the fight right away and Schilling wins the fight with a knockout. This content is protected
Way back then when Moses used short pants we had a big thread in here about Muay Thai/Kickboxing, it was fun, it was a fixed thread in those days..... go to search and you probably can see it.
I think I've seen it before. It was a really good thread. Doesn't hurt to have another one, though. Especially one focused on great fights that have a lot of back and forth action. Sometimes the super long threads get less engagement even if they're really quality.
Oh no, of course it doesn't hurt to have a new one, especially because that one was all over the place with not much order...
There's been some pretty big kickboxing news. Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa just got signed in One FC in a five-round fight at ONE 165 on January 28, 2024. I've been really looking forward to this fight. It's almost guaranteed to be a spectacular all time great fight. Two world-class powerful pressure fighters with iron chins fighting for supremacy. Neither guy is a natural kicker but they both have legitimate kicking skills with Rodtang preferring to attack the legs and Takeru the body. Both guys are going to be trying to back the other guy up and control the center of ring. They both excellent offensively-minded combination fighters, but they each have some significant defensive vulnerabilities as well. Each of them can counter, but that's not really their bread and butter. This should be a great shoot out. I give the edge to Takeru Segawa. His one and only loss came to the phenom Tenshin Nasukawa. Rodtang also lost to Tenshin in a closely contested all time great fight. Rodtang has been showing very small, subtle signs of being on the decline, but he's still a great fighter that's near his best. Takeru, I believe, is in his absolute prime, and wants to cement himself as an all-time great Japanese fighter in the class of Masato Kobyashi. This win would definitely be his crowning achievement as a fighter. Who do you guys favor in this fight? Let's hope it lives up to what it should be. This content is protected This content is protected
I'm super keen to see Takeru make his debut in one. He's fighting Superlek now after Rodtang pulled out right?
Correct, Superlek is Rodtang's replacement for the fight. I have to admit, I'm a little bit disappointed. I was really looking forward to watching two elite gunslingers like Takeru and Rodtang fighting for the center of the cage. It would have been amazing however long it would have lasted. Superlek is definitely a very good replacement, though. I feel like I have to favor Superlek now. There was recent footage of Takeru sparring with Nong-O when he went to train in Thailand. Nong-O was piecing him up with his jab and Takeru had no answer for it. Then, recently, Nong-O got knocked out again by Nico Carrilo. I think Superlek will tame him with his jab, his front kicks and leg kicks. Then slowly start mixing in some lead left knees to the body and some head and body kicks. Probably will be a competitive but clear decision victory for Superlek. This content is protected This content is protected
Excellent fight. In fact, both of the Buakaw vs Yi Long fights were absolutely fantastic to watch. Yi Long gave Buakaw a very tough time in both of their matchups. He was a tough ******* and an underrated fighter. He didn't have a super decorated career, but he had a very nice record with an 83% winning percentage. That missed high kick into a spinning backfist was a beautiful move, and he hurt Buakaw very badly with it. The fight could have gone either way. Buakaw dominated the second and Yi Long dominated the third. The first was super close. Yi Long lands some good leg kicks, body kicks, thudding right hands and some sneaky uppercuts in the clinch. Buakaw battered him with knees on the inside, switch kicks and round house kicks to the body, teeps, and some left hooks to the breadbasket, too.
I think Takeru will do very well in ONE. I've always rated him as an elite, world class fighter. He lost to Tenshin Nasukawa, but he's an unbelievable kickboxing phenom. No shame in that. Takeru has also beaten some good fighters like Leona Pettas, Wang Junguang, and Nobuchika Terado. But he still needs some huge names to cement his legacy and guys like Rodtang and Superlek would provide that. I think he will crush most of the competition he faces, assuming that he can maintain his top level form and his chin holds out. Like I mentioned, I favored Takeru over Rodtang when it was announced. However, a technical genius like Superlek is a very tough style match up for Takeru. He's going to have to find a way to neutralize his teep and his intercepting knees to batter him with boxing on the inside. He's going to have to pressure him the entire fight and keep the fight at close range to have a chance. If his cardio can keep up, he might have a chance. Superlek was fading badly against Daniel Puertas, and Takeru is a phenomenal pressure fighter. So, there is a way for him to win. I don't think he's skilled enough to consistently check Superlek's leg kicks, though, so he'll just have to endure that punishment and keep going forward. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I could be wrong about him losing this fight.
Marat Grigorian vs Tayfun Ozcan was a fun fight. Both fighters tried to pressure their opponents backwards and unleash with combinations. Ozcan utilized a beautiful high guard which Grigorian quickly adjusted to by going to the body and looping around to the side of the head. Both guys made an emphasis of uppercuts, with Ozcan using a lot of rear uppercuts and Grigorian using a lead left one. Grigorian would double and triple up on uppercut and hook combinations, flowing his shots together beautifully. Both of them traded a lot of leg kicks back and forth. Grigorian was landing the heavier blows, but Ozcan was much busier with his volume. Ozcan did a good job of using front kicks and teeps to disrupt Grigorian's pressure and lands some shots to the body. Ozcan also got his jab going and Grigorian really didn't come up with an answer for it, while Ozcan did a better job defensively. Grigorian landed a few hard knees which could have changed the course of the fight, but they were few and far between. They both landed some really good left hooks to the body as well, and Grigorian dropped some solid straight rights to the bread basket as well. I scored it 10-10 for Round 1, 10-9 Ozcan for Round 2, and 10-9 Ozcan for Round 3. It was a good fight, but I thought it was a bad decision. This content is protected
