Kunlun Fight facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kunlun Fight

Type	Private
Industry	Kickboxing promotion
Founded	January 2014; 11 years ago (2014-01)
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Jiang Hua (Founder)
Owner	Kunsun Media

Kunlun Fight (KLF) (Chinese: 昆仑决; pinyin: Kūnlún Jué), is a kickboxing promotion headquartered in Beijing, China. It debuted in 2014 and is regarded as one of the top kickboxing promotions in the world. Events are broadcast on Jiangsu Television domestically and on various regional and international channels.

The first event was held in Pattaya, Thailand on January 25, 2014. The promotion has since held over 20 events each year.

History

Inaugural event

The first event in Pattaya, Thailand on January 25, 2014 included super fights and a 4-man kickboxing tournament with Andrei Kulebin, Petsanguan Luktupfah, Guo Dongwang and Umar Semata. After the inaugural event the promotion has held events in Thailand two more times.

Signing Buakaw Banchamek

On June 7, 2015 it was announced that Kunlun Fight had signed one of the most successful and famous 70 kg kickboxers in history, 2 time K-1 World Max Champion Buakaw Banchamek to an exclusive 6-fight contract. Buakaw has continued fighting in the promotion beyond the original 6-fight contract.

Business

In March 2016, Kunlun Fight finished series B financing from Morningside Ventures, IDG Capital Partners and Northern Light Venture Capital. The round of financing valued the company at over 350 million USD, making Kunlun Fight the most valuable combat sports company in China. Prior to B+ round of financing in Q1 2017 the company was reportedly valued at over 500 million USD.

Multiple Kunlun Fight branded gyms and event venues exist like the Kunlun Fight World Combat Sports Center in Beijing and the Kunlun Fight Stadium in Tongling, Anhui, China.

70 kg tournaments

Kunlun Fight holds a yearly 70 kg world championship tournament.

In 2014 the inaugural 16-man tournament was won by Dzianis Zuev who defeated Victor Nagbe in the final.

For 2015 the tournament was expanded to 64-man and Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong emerged as the champion from a field of fighters including multiple kickboxing champions and highly ranked fighters such as Marat Grigorian, Enriko Gogokhia, Enriko Kehl, Davit Kiria, Murthel Groenhart, Andy Souwer, Yodsanklai Fairtex, Dzhabar Askerov, Superbon Banchamek, Amancio Paraschiv, Chingiz Allazov, Aikpracha Meenayothin and the 2014 tournament winner Dzianis Zuev.

The 2016 tournament was won by Superbon Banchamek, who also beat the winner of the previous tournament Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong in the quarterfinals.

The 2017 tournament champion was Marat Grigorian who beat the 2016 tournament winner Superbon Banchamek in the final.

The 2018 tournament was won by Davit Kiria.

The 2019 tournament was intended to be held on 31 December 2019 in Wuzhishan City, Hainan, China, but was postponed. The tournament was rescheduled for March, 8 in Wuzhishan City, but the event had to be cancelled due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic ban on live sporting events.

The 70 kg tournament was announced to be coming back for 2024. It is scheduled to start April 27 on Kunlun Fight 97 in Beijing.

Kunlun Combat Professional League

On September 22, 2018, Kunlun Fight launched a new line of 2nd tier events called Kunlun Combat League. The league has 16 teams and fights are fought in 6 different weight classes. The league events are held mostly at a Kunlun Fight venue in Tongling. 71 KCL events were held during the first qualification season between September 22 and December 31, 2018.

In its present format, the league begins in March with 16 teams split into 2 groups for a regular season. The highest scoring teams from both groups proceed to a knockout phase that culminates with the final event at the end of the year.

In 2019 the league was renamed to Kunlun Combat Professional League (KCPL) and started its first full season on March 16, 2019. The first season was won by team Shenzhen, who beat team Shenyang in the finals held on December 24, 2019 in Yiwu, China.

For the 2020 season, the intended March start date for the league was disrupted by the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. The 2020 season was rescheduled to start in mid-May without live audiences present at the events.

Kunlun Fight City Hero

Started in 2016, a 3rd tier series of events with a mix of professional and amateur fights.

Kunlun Fight Events

Broadcast coverage

Some current broadcasters include Jiangsu Television and ByteDance platforms Douyin and Xigua Video.

Some past broadcasters include Fox Sports Asia and Kix in various countries in Asia, RMC Sport 4, Fight Network, FightBox in multiple countries internationally, Workpoint TV in Thailand, HKSTV in Hong Kong and Taiwan (2016), Anhui Television in China (2017) and Eurosport. In 2017 Kunlun Fight MMA events were broadcast monthly in China on CCTV-5.

Rules

Kunlun Fight mostly holds fights under kickboxing rules, but also under MMA rules. Some Muay Thai, Boxing and Lethwei fights have also been held on Kunlun Fight events.

◾Kickboxing rules: no clinch for survival, active clinch with knees, no throws, no elbows, a yellow card forfeits 25% of the fight purse and earns a 1-point deduction, a red card is a disqualification.

◾Mixed martial arts rules: Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts

◾Muay thai rules: knees are allowed to the body, legs and the head, throws and clinch are allowed, elbows are allowed to the body, legs and head, a yellow card forfeits 25% of the fight purse and earns a 1-point deduction, a red card is a disqualification.

Weight classes

Champions

Kickboxing champions

Tournament champions

Weight Class	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date	Tournament Bracket
2014 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Dzianis Zuev	Victor Nagbe	Kunlun Fight 13	November 16, 2014	70 kg World Max Tournament 2014 bracket
2015 100+ kg World Championship Tournament	Jahfarr Wilnis	Hesdy Gerges	Kunlun Fight 26	June 7, 2015	Super Heavyweight Tournament 2015 bracket
2016 Female 52 kg World Championship Tournament	E Meidie	Anissa Meksen	Kunlun Fight 32	October 28, 2015	Female 52 kg Tournament 2015 bracket
2015 80 kg World Championship Tournament	Artur Kyshenko	Dmitry Valent	Kunlun Fight 35	December 19, 2015	80 kg Tournament 2015 bracket
2015 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong	Enriko Gogokhia	Kunlun Fight 37	January 23, 2016	70 kg World Max Tournament 2015 bracket
2016 75 kg World Championship Tournament	Zheng Zhaoyu	Zhang Yang	Kunlun Fight 47	July 10, 2016	75 Kg Tournament 2016 bracket
2016 65 kg World Championship Tournament	Wei Ninghui	Abdellah Ezbiri	Kunlun Fight 51	September 10, 2016	65 Kg Tournament 2016 bracket
2016 100+ kg World Championship Tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Tsotne Rogava	Kunlun Fight 52	September 11, 2016
2016 80 kg World Championship Tournament	Alexander Stetsurenko	Dmitry Valent	Kunlun Fight 55	December 10, 2016
2016 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Superbon Banchamek	Jomthong Chuwattana	Kunlun Fight 56	January 1, 2017	70 kg World Max Tournament 2016 bracket
2017 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Marat Grigorian	Superbon Banchamek	Kunlun Fight 69	February 4, 2018	70 kg World Championship Tournament bracket

One night tournament champions

Weight Class	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date	Tournament Bracket
4-Man 67 kg tournament	Petsangnuan Luktupfah	Andrei Kulebin	Kunlun Fight 1	January 25, 2014	67 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 80 kg tournament	Simon Marcus	Vehas Topking	Kunlun Fight 2	February 16, 2014	80kg tournament bracket
Female 52 kg tournament	Jemyma Betrian	E Meidie	Kunlun Fight 3	March 30, 2014	Female 52 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 95 kg tournament	Massinissa Hamaili	Ivan Bartek	Kunlun Fight 4	April 27, 2014	95 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 70 kg tournament	Victor Nagbe	Li Zikai	Kunlun Fight 5	June 1, 2014	70 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 100 kg tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Dmitry Bezus	Kunlun Fight 6	June 29, 2014	100 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 75 kg tournament	Xu Zhenguang	Kiryl Chanka	Kunlun Fight 8	August 24, 2014	75 kg tournament bracket
Female 60 kg tournament	Valentina Shevchenko	Irina Mazepa	Kunlun Fight 9	August 31, 2014	Female 60 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 95 kg tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Wang Chongyang	Kunlun Fight 10	September 13, 2014	95 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 65 kg tournament	Yang Zhuo	Phosa Nopphorn	Kunlun Fight 12	October 26, 2014	60 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 75 kg tournament	Nuerla Mulali	Wang Yuhu	Kunlun Fight 34	November 21, 2015	75 kg tournament bracket
8-Man 61.5 kg tournament	Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang	Wang Wenfeng	Kunlun Fight 66	November 5, 2017
8-Man 100+ kg tournament	Roman Kryklia	Iraj Azizpour	Kunlun Fight 80	February 24, 2019
8-Man 75 kg tournament	Vitaly Gurkov	Saiyok Pumpanmuang	Kunlun Fight 81	July 27, 2019
8-Man 61 kg tournament	Ali Zarinfar	Jianglong Li	Kunlun Fight 94	January 19, 2024

Women's lightweight champions

-60 kg (-132.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
2	Wang Cong def. Valentina Shevchenko	Kunlun Fight 33 Changde, China	October 31, 2015
1	Valentina Shevchenko def. Irina Mazepa	Kunlun Fight 9 Shangqiu, China	August 31, 2014	1. def. Chali Bassinah at Kunlun Fight 11 on October 5, 2014

Muaythai champions

Middleweight championship

-70 kg (-154.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Buakaw Banchamek def. Dylan Salvador	Kunlun Fight 53 Beijing, China	September 24, 2016

MMA champions

Middleweight championship

84 kg (185 lbs); division was formerly 79 kg (175 lbs) until 2017

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Wang Sai def. Sergey Proskuryakov	Kunlun Fight 36 Shanghai, China	January 9, 2016	1. def. Horiuchi Yasuhiro at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 6 on October 21, 2016

Welterweight championship

77 kg (170 lbs); division was formerly 75 kg (165 lbs) until 2017

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
2	Zhang Lipeng def. Beibit Nazarov	Kunlun Fight 37 Sanya, China	January 23, 2016	1. def. Takashi Noto at Kunlun Fight 43 on April 26, 2016
1	Beibit Nazarov def. Bruno Amorim	Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 2 Almaty, Kazakhstan	April 4, 2015	1. def. Wu Haotian at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 3 on June 7, 2015 2. def. Massimo Capusella at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 4 on October 4, 2015

Flyweight championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Oscar Suarez Fleitas def. Zhang Meixuan	Kunlun Fight MMA 14	August 28, 2017

Female strawweight championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Weili Zhang def. Maira De Souza	Kunlun Fight 53 Shanghai, China	September 24, 2016	1. def. Karla Benitez at Kunlun Fight MMA 7 on December 15, 2016

Notable fighters

Kickboxing

67 kg (143.3 lb) and under

70 kg (154.3 lb)

75 - 85 kg (165.3 - 187.4 lb)

95 kg (209.4 lb) and over

Women

MMA

See also

In Spanish: Kunlun Fight para niños

• Kunlun Fight World Combat Sports Center