The eight-man heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, a single-elimination tournament where eight fighters battle in one night to determine the best of the best, is a milestone in kickboxing history. The format, born in 1993 in Tokyo when it took place at the first K-1 World Grand Prix , showcased superstars like Semmy Schilt, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts and Andy Hug among others. Kickboxing reached its peak of popularity across the world.
The rising European-based promotion SENSHI announced today that an eight-man heavyweight Grand Prix tournament will be back at SENSHI 28 on Sep. 13 at the beach of Sts. Constantine and Helena Resort in Varna, Bulgaria.
The competition will feature eight main fighters and two reserves. At the end of the night, only one of them will be crowned with the first-ever SENSHI Grand Prix Champion title. Special officials will be at the event, including legends Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt, Andy Souwer, Albert Kraus, Francisco Filho and Nicholas Pettas,
In addition to the Grand Prix bouts, the event will also feature three professional bouts with three Bulgarian stars: Dragomir Petrov, Konstantin Stoykov and Valeri Atanasov. Atanasov’s opponent is still undisclosed. They have already announced the bouts of two other homegrown athletes.
In the –75 kg division a big clash is the rematch between Dragomir Petrov (former SENSHI European Champion and EMC European Muay Thai champion) and the Romanian Marian Lapusneanu, who won his first fight by knockout in the second round last February at SENSHI 20. Lapusneanu won the prestigious Colosseum Tournament in his native country four consecutive times from 2020 to 2023, and he also won in DFS in 2023.
In the same division, 21-year-old Konstantin Stoykov, an 11-times Bulgarian kickboxing champion, will face the Brazilian Petros Natan de Freitas, a four-time WGP Champion.
SENSHI just announced the bracket of the Grand Prix, here is it:
Fight #1, KWU Full Contact:
Rhys Brudenell /England/ 32 years old, Height: 188, Weight: 112 kg
– K1 World Grand Prix 2024 Finalist
– World Champion 2025 Ronin Fighting Championship;
Francesko Xhaja /Albania/ 32 years old, Height: 194, Weight: 108 kg
– Ultimate Fight Night Winner 2021;
– Megdan 8 Winner 2020;
– Tatneft Cup Tournament Runner-up 2019.
Fight #2, KWU Full Contact
Thomas Bridgewater /Netherlands/ 35 years old, Height: 190, Weight: 110 kg
– ENFUSION Winner;
– Anadolu Kickbox Winner
Bruno Chaves /Brazil/ 33 years old, Height: 198, Weight: 128 kg
– Alpha Fight Series show Australia vs World Winner
– Brazilian Kickboxing Champion in Heavyweight
#Fight 3, KWU Full Contact
Ali Badawi /Lebanon/ 25 years old, Height: 190, Weight: 100 kg
– 2 times Lebanon Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion.
Samed Agdeve /Turkey/ 21 years old, Height: 190, Weight: 105 kg
– WAKO World Cup Champion 2023;
– WAKO World Champion 2022;
– WAKO European Champion 2021.
Fight #4, KWU Full contact
Hamza Ourahou /Morocco/ 25 years old, Height: 193, Weight: 115 kg
– Belgium Kickboxing Champion;
– 2x European Kickboxing Champion;
– World Kickboxing Union World Champion.
Gerardo Atti /Germany/ 28 years old, Height: 186, Weight: 98 kg
– IFSA World Muay Thai Champion 2023
– WBC World Muay Thai Champion 2023, 2022, 2021
– WKN World Muay Thai Champion 2021
Reserve fight:
Marius Munteanu /Romania/ 36 years old, Height: 192, Weight: 105 kg
– Colosseum Tournament Champion;
– Kombat London Champion;
– Fight Zоne Champion.
Dexter Suisse /Netherlands/ 31 years old, Height: 200, Weight: 120 kg
– WFCA Dutch champion;
– SuperKombat Winner;
– World Fighting League Winner.
The event will be streamed live and free on Triller TV, The Swerve Combat and on SENSHI’s Youtube channel.