The stars of the international gala evening showed their best
The Professional Martial Arts Gala Night SENSHI, one of the biggest martial arts events known for its strong matches that no one wants to miss, was held to great interest on May 13. The elite fighters showed a real fighting spectacle to the audience at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna.
The event was filled with amazing fights that made the evening unforgettable for all spectators and fighters. The competitions were between some of the best martial arts masters from 15 countries who fought for the title of SENSHI champions. The fighters displayed incredible skill and spectacle in the ring as the crowd did not hide their admiration.
The impressive 26 fighters in the arena from different disciplines of martial arts such as Kyokushin, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and MMA seriously raised the adrenaline of the audience with a high quality fighting show and strong energy in the ring.
The Bulgarian champions in the 16th edition of SENSHI once again showed their strong spirit and high sportsmanship, delighting the audience with 5 victories over famous opponents.
See the complete results of the fights in the 16th edition of the SENSHI International Professional Gala:
Fight #1
Cat. 75 kg, ruleset: KWU SENSHI
Onur Şeker, Turkey vs. Tony Romero, Spain
In the first bout of the evening, Onur Şeker prevailed over Spaniard Tony Romero by a unanimous decision. In a classy bout, fans were impressed with the punches exchanged between the two rivals.
Fight #2
Cat. 70 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Gregoire Gottardi, France vs. Ivan Naccari, Italy
The well-prepared Frenchman and the fiery Italian faced each other in the second match at the SENSHI fighting arena. With total domination of the ring and a unanimous judges’ decision, Gregoire Gottardi was the better fighter of the two and the champion.
Fight #3
Cat. 70 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Alex Rodríguez, Spain vs. Dragomir Petrov, Bulgaria
The meeting offered the audience a spectacular action, where the successful Bulgarian fighter Dragomir Petrov defeated Alex Rodriguez from Spain by decision of the judges at the fight gala night.
Fight #4
Cat. 75 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Levan Guruli, Georgia vs. Atanas Bozhilov, Bulgaria
In a strong fight both fighters came into the ring with a lot of gusto and desire to win. Atanas Bozhilov again proved his qualities and to the delight of the crowd won his 13th victory in the ring of SENSHI with a unanimous decision.
Fight #5
Cat. 80 kg, ruleset: KWU Open
Kevin Ruart, France vs. Mitko Iliev, Bulgaria
The match between Kevin Ruart, France and the Bulgarian Mitko Iliev started with a very sharp and tense atmosphere, as the first minutes were filled with fast and accurate shots from both sides. In the controversial fight Mitko Iliev managed to defeat the Frenchman quite hard with a judge’s decision.
Fight #6
Cat. 80 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Rodrigo Mineiro, Brazil vs. Nikola Todorovic, Serbia
At the SENSHI gala, one of the hottest fights was between Brazilian Rodrigo Mineiro and Serbian Nikola Todorovic. In the middle of the second round, Nikola Todorovic managed to take the victory with a technical knockout after executing a series of accurate punches against the Brazilian, who fell down in the ring and was unable to recover.
Fight #7
Cat. 85 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Ali El Ameri, Morocco vs. Boban Ilioski, North Macedonia
The duel between the Moroccan Ali El Ameri and the Macedonian Boban Ilioski was one of the most interesting of the evening, showing how important technique and speed is in martial arts. Al Ameri won the bout with a spectacular knockout in the second round after he opened an armbar on the Macedonian.
Fight #8
Cat. 95 kg, ruleset: KWU Senshi
Lukas Achterberg, Germany vs. Olivier Langlois-Ross, Canada
From the start of the fight, both fighters showed technique and strategy, but could not easily overcome their opponent. The German Achterberg won his SENSHI bout with a unanimous judges’ decision, while Langlois-Ross was left frustrated and broken.
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Fight #9
Cat. +95 kg, KWU Full Contact
Florin Matei, Romania vs. Youness Benmalek, Belgium
In the heavyweight division, over 95 kg, Florin Matei of Romania hardly showed his superiority over Belgian Youness Benmalek, who came out an equal opponent. Romanian’s second participation at SENSHI brought Matei the coveted victory by unanimous co-judge decision.
Fight #10
Cat. +95 kg, KWU Full Contact
Iaroslav Linnic, Moldova vs. Nikola Filipovic, Serbia
Serbian Nikola Filipovic won the bout against the Moldovan by judges’ decision in a tough fight.
Fight #11
Cat. 80 kg, ruleset: KWU Open
Lamin Gaye, Spain vs. Mariyan Dimitrov, Bulgaria
Two elite fighters faced each other in the 11th battle in the SENSHI arena. Bulgarian MMA and wrestling champion Mariyan Dimitrov brought down the Spaniard Lamin Gaye with a spectacular knockout in the first round in the fastest match of the evening.
Fight #12
Cat. 80 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Eddy Ruiz, Spain vs. Mihail Velchovski, Bulgaria
The match was fast-paced and exciting, with Bulgarian fighter Mihail Velchovski aiming for victory in his debut match. Eddy Ruiz was the more technical and accurate fighter of the two though, and won the bout by unanimous judges’ decision.
Fight #13
Cat. 85 kg, ruleset: KWU Full Contact
Frangis Goma, France vs. Aleksandar Petrov, Bulgaria
In the epic final match, Aleksandar Petrov was at his best against Frenchman Francis Goma, supported by his compatriots and gave his best. After the high momentum in an epic battle and spectacular match Aleksandar won the victory with great spirit and a judges’ decision after an extra round.
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The special award “Knockout of the Night” was won by Mariyan Dimitrov, and with his last-minute debut and strong fight, the award “Highest Fighting Spirit” was grabbed by Mihail Velchovski from Bulgaria. The award for “Best Technique” at SENSHI 16 went to Gregoire Gottardi of France.
Among the special guests at SENSHI were world martial arts greats, including the spectacular K-1 Max champion Albert Kraus and kickboxer with 11 world titles Nathan “Carnage” Corbett. The star-studded group also included Dutch MMA and kickboxer Andy Sauwer and European Kyokushin champion Sensei Jan Soukup.
Without a doubt, the 13 fights showed how much skill and strength the SENSHI fighters have. All the spectators were impressed by the fighting and filled the hall with their applause. Stay tuned for news on the next edition of SENSHI coming soon. Rest assured that the coming event will be even more spectacular and exciting.
SENSHI is organized in cooperation with the Professional League of the Kyokushin World Union (KWU International Professional League), as well as with the special support of Armeec Insurance Company, MAX Sport, Bulgaria Air, M Car Group – BMW dealer, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Service and St. St. Constantine and Helena Holding.
SENSHI’s media partners are Boec.BG and Boec.COM, the national television Bulgaria ON AIR, the American online martial arts television FITE, Gol.bg, Topsport.bg, Kwunion.com, the information portal Kyokushin Karate News, Fighto.News and Novinata.bg.
