It was an easy victory for Giorgio “The Doctor” Petrosyan at PetrosyanMania on Saturday, Apr. 30, at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy. The legend of kickboxing was back in Milan for the first time in over two years. His last fight was in Oct. 2021, when he suffered a terrible knockout at the hands – or rather, foot – of Superbon Banchamek for the ONE Championship featherweight kickboxing title. Due to the impressive head kick of Superbon, Petrosyan suffered a fractured jaw.
The Italian-Armenian champion easily dispensed of Turkey’s Fatih Aydin, winning by TKO in the second round on Saturday night. Some felt it was an early stoppage by referee Stefano Valenti, and even Petrosyan was clearly disappointed, because it was the first count for Aydin, who was looking able to go on. At the same time, Petrosyan was clearly the superior fighter. The fight was a test of Petrosyan’s physical and mental condition after his injury, which he seemed to have been fully overcome. Now, fans from all over the world are already asking the rematch with Superbon, and it is possible that ONE is planning another bout for the both fighters.
In the co-main event, the Naples-based Ukranian fighter Igor Kozak defeated unanimous decision the Kunlun alumni Arman Hambaryan by unanimous decision. Also on the card, former GLORY kickboxer Hysni Beqiri won a decision by points, which was disputed by the fans, over Italy’s Claudio “Tiller” Ivaldi.
In the only MMA bout of the card, Italy’s Francesco Moricca, coming off a defeat in his KSW debut, suffered another defeat by unanimous decision by Armenia’s Sargis Vardanyan.
On the remainder of the card, the Petrosyan team picked up three wins out of four athletes, including Fabrizio Ruggiero who won the Italian K-1 Rules pro title by beating Antonio Gravella with a TKO in the second round.
Kickboxing bout: Igor Kozak def. Arman Hambaryan by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Hysni Beqiri def. Claudio Ivaldi by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Zhora Akopyan def. Daniele Iodice by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Mirko Flumeri def. Thomas Van Nijnatten by unanimous decision
MMA bout: Sargis Vardanyan def. Francesco Moricca by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Emanuele Lulaj def. Andrea Festa by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Angelo Leonzio def. David Andreasyan by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Fabrizio Ruggiero def. Antonio Gravella by TKO. Round 2 – for the Italian K-1 -62 kg title
Muay Thai bout: Lorenzo Rossetti def. Amro Ghanem by unanimous decision
Muay Thai bout: Joana Kiptiu def. Magdalena Pircher* by TKO (doctor stoppage). Round 3
Kickboxing bout: Victor Apostol def. Abdoulaye Diallo by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Lilian Porcireanu def. Roberto Sacco by TKO (doctor stoppage). Round 2
Kickboxing bout: Tommaso Pantarotto def. Simone Giannattasio by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Akram Harrane def. Alfredo Foglia by unanimous decision
Kickboxing bout: Matteo Copelli def. Andrea Arioli by unanimous decision
*Pircher was a short-notice replacement for Italian kickboxer Silvia La Notte, and the bout was originally in K-1 rules.