Calf Kick Sports

K-1 has brought back a set of international shows ever since it’s return to the global stage with two qualifying rounds to be held in Europe for the Western Europe and Eastern European rounds which the winner of each will be given a spot in the K-1 WGP 2024 Finals in December 12, 2024 of this year. Not only that, the K-1 Fighting Network brand has now returned which adds speculation to more non-qualifying events coming under the K-1 banner.

K-1 Fighting Network Romania in Galati 2024

With the first international event as a K-1 Fighting Network event, this will be held in the European kickboxing hub of Romania in the city of Galati and will be held by June 13, 2024.

This seems to be a massive event in paper as this will be held in the Otelul Stadium which has a capacity to seat 13,000 to 22,000 people and is fitting for a venue to hold the said event. Partnering up with the local promotion Golden Fighter Championship headed by Alin Falcusan, a 15 bout card from a variety of weight classes will be held in said event. The card is a lineup of a diverse set of fighters ranging from K-1 originals , Romanian kickboxing mainstays, K-1 Japan group fighters, and regional European talents will have the chance to showcase their skills in the ring.

Such bouts to look out for is former GLORY Lightweight contender and K-1 MAX Final 16 participant Stoyan Koprivlenski will face Romanian mainstay and current WAKO and Fightclubbing 70kg champion Amansio “The Viking” Paraschiv will face each other in a bout contested in the 70kg division which will pit European kickboxing mainstays against each other. We will also get to see the K-1 debut of former GLORY Featherweight world champion Serheii Adamchuuk who will face current DFS Lightweight champion Adrian Maxim in a bout that will be set in the 65 kg division weightclass. Speaking of K-1, a familiar face will set return to it’s ring as Errol “The Bonecrusher” Zimmerman is set to face Dutchman Dexter Suisse in an Openweight and that the inagural K-1 Fighting Network belt which will be contested in the 95kg division between K-1 Cruiserweight mainstay Japanese-Filipino Akira Jr. will face Dutch prospect Leandro Dikomet to crown the first ever K-1 Fighting Network champion. Lastly, a matchup that in the 60kg women’s division will have Romania’s Andrea Ceebuc who is a WAKO 2021, 2022, and 2023 K1 rules medalist and IUWF 2022-2024 European and World Gold medalist will face Italian kickboxing champion Marta Costa which will showcase the bright future of women’s kickboxing in Europe.

Special appearances from three time K-1 World GP Champion Remy Bonjasky and K-1 veteran and multiple Muay Thai world champion Alexey “The Red Scorpion” Ignashov is set to take place.

Said event will be broadcasted in Romania under the DigiSportTV platform.

Rest of the fight card:

Openweight – Errol Zimmerman ( Netherlands) vs Dexter Suisse (Netherlands)

70kg – Amansio Paraschiv (Romania) vs Stoyan Koprivlenski (Bulgaria)

65kg – Adrian Maxim(Romania) vs Serheii Adamchuuk (Ukraine)

Openweight – Michail Karamousketas(Greece) vs Alin Nechita (Romania)

95kg -Akira Jr.(Japan) vs Leandro Dikomet (Netherlands)

70kg – Stefan Orza (Romania) vs TBA

Women’s 60kg – Andreaa Cebuc (Romania) vs Marta Costa (Italy)

83kg – Alex Filip (Romania) vs TBA

77kg – Mădălin Crăciunică (Romania) vs TBA

77kg – Mirel Drăgan (Romania) vs TBA

70kg – Raoul Fila (Romania) vs TBA

K-1 World GP in Sarajevo 2024

In one of the first qualifying events, K-1 flys to Bosnia and an 8 Openweight tournament event in Sarajevo will be held in June 29, 2024 and the venue chosen is Sports Hall Skanderia. It is an event that is co-hosted by the No Limit Fighting Network promoted by K-1 veteran and WAKO World champion Dzevad “BiH Machine” Ptourak who has crafted this event to seek out who will be Eastern Europe’s seed to present them in the K-1 World GP Final by December 12.

An overview of this tournament reveals the interesting lineup created, with intriguing matchups form the selected fighters for this event. A familiar face is to return to the K-1 ring as Italy’s Claudio “The Grizzly” Istrate and his cannonball fists that mesmerized fans in K-1 ReBirth 1 Openweight tournament is set to go for another shot to be in the K-1 ring as he squares off with Enfusion kickboxing mainstay Morrocco’s Nidal “The Soldier” Bichiri who is the current Enfusion Heavyweight Champion is set to sqaure off in one of the quarter final bouts. Another interesting matchup is of Bosnian kickboxing mainstay and local favorite Adnan ” The Bosnian Lion” Redžović is set to face against Turkey’s Kadir “Turkish Terminator” Yildrim which will be a local hero of the old guard looking at a shot to face the new generation and to hopefully be crowned winner and a ticket to the K-1 WGP Final 2024.

Rest of the matchups as of this writing:

Ivan Bartek ( Slovenia) vs  Danilo Tošić ( Bosnia)

Igor Mihaljević ( Croatia) vs Alin Nechita (Romania)

Claudio Istrate (Italy) vs Alin Nechita (Morrocco)

Adnan Redžović (Bosnia) vs Kadir Yildrim (Turkey)

K-1 World GP 2024 in Sicily

For the Western European opening round for the K-1 WGP 2024, this event will take place the Sicilian region of Italy in the city of Rossolini by July 27, 2024 which will be held in the Piazza Garibaldi which will be the first open-air K-1 tournament. The event will be co-promoted by the Italian kickboxing promotion Evolution Fight and Fight1 owned by Carlo Diblasi and promoted by Carlo Biotti. Although the Openweight tournament lineup has not yet been announced, the press conference held in Sicilian regional government’s headquarters of Palazzo dei Normani with partnership of Bruno Botindari, local prospects will also have a spot in said card and ISKA and WKU World Title Bouts will be held. The names that where present and that will be in the card are Giuseppe Genuso from Italy who is the current ISKA-Intercontinential and WKU World title holder will be defending his WKU World 57kg title. And for the ISKA World title bouts, Italian prospects such as Enrico “The Fog” Carrara former two time Lion Fight World Champion and IMTF Europe gold medalist is scheduled to face for an ISKA World Title in the 175 pound division and joining him is fellow Italian kickboxing prospect Luciana Germano who is a ProFight1 and ISKA European 119 pound champion is set to face for the ISKA World Title fight.

It is going to be an interesting year for K-1 and it’s European events as it plans to bring a set of events to fuel the fire of fight fans around the world. With two qualifying rounds for the K-1 WGP Final in December and the return of the Fighting Network banner in Romania, I for once is excited to see fresh faces, old lions, and the like to set foot in the K-1 ring and to go to war in order to see who is the strongest and for gold to be strapped around their waist.

Once again, K-1 is back to the world and Europe will be the first to feel it’s tremors as it will be united under the banner of ” ALL OR NOTHING”.