Expect the unexpected - WMC NORDIC WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT

This year Rumble of the Kings promotions produces an extraordinary 4-men full Muay Thai rules tournament. A total of 50 000 SEK is at stake and the last man standing is crowned WMC Nordic Champion

Expect the unexpected

WMC NORDIC WELTERWEIGHT TOURNAMENT
Full Muay Thai Rules

This year Rumble of the Kings promotions produces an extraordinary 4-men full Muay Thai rules tournament. The participants come from the Nordic region and all of them are current or recent national Muay Thai Champions.

A total of 50 000 SEK is at stake and the purpose with the tournament is to determine who the best welterweight fighter in Scandinavia is. The last man standing is crowned WMC Nordic Champion and will qualify to a title shot for the WMC European title in 2012.

To spice things up ROK has decided to award the most aggressive fighter of the tournament with 10 000 SEK bonus of the tournament money. Which fighter that gets the money, will be decided by the audience at the arena and the ROK supervising board.

SEMI FINAL 1

Rhassan Muhareb (DEN) VS Martin Akhtar (SWE)

For those of you who are a fans of thrilling fights filled with drama and surprises this is the perfect match-up. Both men are exceptionally aggressive in the ring throwing kicks and punches whenever possible and taking a step backwards is generally not an option for any of them.

Martin Akhtar has fought numerous memorable fights at the previous ROK events showing big amounts of fighting spirit and solid techniques.

Rhassan Muhareb stood for a rousing performance at the ROK event in 2009 where he fought three stunning rounds against the Swede David Teymur.

The match-up with Rhassan versus Martin could very well turn out to be one of the most electrifying fights at the event, and it has all the ingredients needed to become yet another Rumble Of The Kings classic.

RHASSAN MUHAREB

DENMARK
Date of birth: 1982-01-12
Height: 173 CM
Weight: 67 KG
Strengths: Unpredictable, Speed

FIGHT RECORD:
42 Fights: 31 Wins, 10 by KO and 11 Losses

Rhassan “The Pit bull” Muhareb is well known for his forceful and unorthodox style of fighting. When he is in the ring you shall expect the unexpected and the opponents that don’t often get to pay for it with pain. He fights actively, moves in a rapid pace and has the ability to constantly find new angels to attack from. In 2008 Rhassan stood for an astonishing performance capturing no less than 4 different titles (Danish Muay Thai Champion, IMC World Champion, WKA World Champion and IKBF European Champion).

Question and Answer

1: How will you prepare yourself for this tournament?
I will be in the best shape so I can go with full power of all rounds and go for the KO the whole way in each attack. I’ll push myself like never before.

2: What do you know about your first opponent?
I don’t need to know anything.

3: What kind of a fight do you expect?
I expect a battle with plenty of resistance; it will be a tough battle because I am fighting a good fighter

4: Who do you think you will face in the final?
I do not know who I will be in the finals with, or whether I even will be in the finals! Anything can happen so that’s what I relate myself to; I take it as it comes.

5: What would a win in this tournament mean to you?
That to me means that I have achieved what I wanted with the hard training. It will prove to me that one should not doubt yourself and that you should go the whole way. I want to prove to myself that I can really do it when it comes and it is only me who can do this for me and nobody else and it can succeed if I do it fully and the Proper Way!

MARTIN AKHTAR

SWEDEN
Date of birth: 1981-02-15
Height: 170 CM
Weight: 65 KG
Strengths: Warrior spirit, timing

FIGHT RECORD:
38 Fights: 31 Wins, 6 Losses and 1 draw

Rumble of the Kings regular Martin Akhtar from Malmö Sweden knows how to delight the crowd and win fights. His natural warrior spirit combined with great timing opens up for spectacular battles packed with action and excitement. He has fast hands and sharp elbows and do not hesitate to use them.

Last year Martin participated at the “martial arts Olympic games” Sport accord combat games in Beijing and managed to win the Bronze medal. To his list of titles you can also ad 3-time Swedish Muay Thai Champion and WMC Scandinavian Champion in 2010.

At the latest ROK-event Martin won a unanimous decision win over fellow Swede Peyman Shahrokni in a full Muay Thai rules super fight.

Question and Answer

1: How will you prepare yourself for this tournament?
As usual, with much sparring, pads training and running. It’s up to my trainers, Larry Lindvall and Rasmus Svensson to adapt my training in the manner they feel necessary.

2: What do you know about your first opponent?
I’ve met him a few times before and I have stood as the winner in all meetings. He is an explosive and unpredictable fighter with a big heart who always is there for 100% mayhem.

3: What kind of a fight do you expect?
A warrior’s battle where none of us will back down

4: Who do you think you will face in the final?
The best one out of the other two..

5: What would a win in this tournament mean to you?
That I am the best fighter even in a weight class over my usual.

SEMIFINAL 2

Pasi Luukanen (FIN) VS Sanny Dahlbeck (SWE)

The match-up of experience versus talent is always interesting to watch and in this case it’s also a matter of technique against power. Pasi Luukanen is a very skilled fighter who has a habit of breaking down his opponents with consistent and well aimed attacks. Sanny Dahlbeck also has a habit of breaking opponents but generally does it with his overwhelming left hand. Pasi Luukkanen will probably enter this fight with a game-plan consisting of a solid guard combined with quick and well aimed combinations while Sanny Dahlbeck most likely will try to land his heavy left hand in mixture with swift kicks. It remains to see how this fight will end but we can anticipate a well fought and technical battle between two of the most exceptional fighters in Scandinavia.

PASI LUUKANEN

FINLAND
Date of birth: 1981-04-27
Height: 173 CM
Weight: 67 KG
Strengths: Experience, technique

FIGHT RECORD:
56 Fights: 35 Wins, 7 by KO and 7 Losses

The technical, mentally strong and clever combatant Pasi Luukhanen is one of the most experienced welterweight fighters in Scandinavia. He has fought against big names like Gago Drago and also been a participant in the Muay Thai TV-Show Enfusion. Pasi posses the ability to “wear down” his opponent and does it well with combinations of kicks, punches and knees. So far he has captured the Finnish Muay Thai Championship belt 3 times and also became Nordic Muay Thai Champion in 2007.

Pasi’s most recent fight was at the event – Apollo Fight Club – in Helsinki Finland on the 17th of September where Pasi knocked out Russian fighter Andrey Basynin I the 3rd round.

Question and Answer

1: How will you prepare yourself for this tournament?
I will prepare myself by training hard.

2: What do you know about your first opponent?
I know he is a skilled fighter.

3: What kind of a fight do you expect?
I expect a challenging fight and I have to perform well to win.

4: Who do you think you will face in the final?

I don’t want to guess who I am going to fight in the final because it’s fifty-fifty possibility. Whoever it is, I have to fight with my own weapons.

5: What would a win in this tournament mean to you?
Rumble of the Kings is the biggest North European fight-event with Thaiboxing on the card, so winning this tournament would be a notable step on my career. I will keep that in my mind when I enter the ring.

SANNY DAHLBECK

SWEDEN
Date of birth: 1991-05-12
Height: 178 CM
Weight: 67 KG
Strengths: Versatile, Heavy handed

FIGHT RECORD:
25 Fights: 21 Wins, 13 by KO and 4 Losses

The blend of youth and talent makes Sanny Dahlbeck one of the most appealing Nordic Muay Thai fighters at the moment.

He represents the Swedish national team and is by many in business predicted to become the next big Scandinavian martial art star. Due to excellent training and natural talent Sanny has the ability to make the most complicated moves look like the simplest of actions. Only 20 years old he already holds an impressive list of titles including, 2-times Swedish Muay Thai Champion, IFMA World Champion 2009 (B-class) and IFMA Nordic Champion 2010.

In late September Sanny returned from this year’s IFMA World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan where he fought two A-class fights, resulting in one solid win and a close loss to a boxer from Iran.

Question and Answer

1: How will you prepare yourself for this tournament?
I will train really hard as I expect all of us to do, physically and mentally!

2: What do you know about your first opponent?
I know he’s good, a Finnish guy, but I haven’t seen too many fights with him.

3: What kind of a fight do you expect?
I expect a hard fight, the one who wants it the most will win, a technical fight.

4: Who do you think you will face in the final?
I don’t know, I hate to predict but I think I will fight Martin Ahktar in the finals, if I win my first fight of course!

5: What would a win in this tournament mean to you?
This would mean so much to me, it’s in my hometown, my friends will be there, it’s the professional Nordic title, and I just come from a loss, so I really want this, I want to show people what I’m good at! I’m hungry!!

The rules are WMC/Swedish Muaythai Federation rules but a bit modified to reach the maximum possible action. The tournament will be in 3 X 3 minutes with possibility of 1 Extra round. Elbow strikes are allowed and clinching is regulated to maximum 5 seconds, but only if it is active and damaging. If not, the referee will break-up the clinching and push for an active fight. To move forward and be the most active and dangerous fighter is probably the most important strategy for this tournament.

Do not miss out on the action! Visit the event and support your favourite fighter!

For more information about Rumble of the Kings 2011please visit our facebook fan page www.facebook.com/rumbleplay or the event website www.rumbleofthekings.com

Tickets to this event can be purchased at www.ticnet.se or ordered by phone directly from Globe Arenas +46 77 131 00 00

The entire event can be watched live through streaming on www.rumbleplay.com
And the first part live on Canal Plus Sport 2.

Written by Daniel Hol
2011-10-03

hol