Biography
Davide Armanini was born in Rome in 1991. From a very young age he dedicated himself to sports, in particular Taekwondo , earning himself a black belt, and to cycling, which he dedicated himself to until the age of 19 with a good career as an amateur. [1]
At 19, on the advice of his brother Daniele, who was already practicing both kickboxing and K1, he began taking K1 courses with Lorenzo Mosca. His first exchanges in the ring, even against athletes with greater experience, weight, and technical preparation, convinced him to continue and perfect his skills. [1]
In 2011, due to his work schedule, he started training at Roma Fight Club where he trained in the afternoons. His coach, seeing his potential, suggested he switch to the evening shift taught by Andrea Ferioli, his current K1 and Muay Thai coach. "The evening shift," Davide says, "was a bit inconvenient because of my job: sometimes I'd finish training very late, returning home at midnight and then waking up at 2:30 to go to work." [1]
Kickboxing career
2011 - 2015: Early Career
In 2011, Davide Armanini competed in his first amateur match against Gabriele Casella the bout ended in a points defeat. Over the next two years, following the development program outlined by his coach Andrea Ferioli, he collected 14 wins and no losses. In 2013, he perfected his boxing technique with coach Massimo Enrico.
In 2014, Davide Armanini won the FIKB interregional champion title (with a first-round knockout victory over Danilo Berni) and the Italian champion title (FIKB first series) with a third-round knockout victory over Andrea Fontana. This was his last amateur bout finishing his Amateur career with 16 wins and 1 loss. [2]
His first professional fight, also in 2014, was against Francesco Palermo, an experienced fighter with over 60 fights under his belt. The match ended in a second-round knockout victory, Davide Armanini thus became the Italian FIKB Elite champion.
On 16 November 2014 during the “Fighting Spirit Muay Thai 3” in his first international match he beat the Dutch athlete Redouan Daoudi by KO in the second round. [3]
In 2015 he participated in the "Superkombat New Heroes" tournament, defeating Francesco Palermo in the semifinal and Gabriele Galasso in the final.
2016 - 2018: WTKA K1 World Title and Bellator Debut
On April 10, 2016, he won the European K1 Rules WTKA title against Frenchman Mehdi Kada, an athlete with over 60 fights under his belt, ended with a first-round knockout victory. [4]
On March 26, 2017, he won the WTKA 75 kg K1 World title. The match against Angaar Afghaan, one of the most highly rated fighters of Nieky Holzken's Dutch team, ended after 5 rounds with a points victory for Davide Armanini. [5]
On March 24, 2018, Davide Armanini successfully defended his WTKA K1 World Champion title in a tough match against Armenian athlete Armen Hovhannisyan, from the Dutch Ciric team, at Fight Club Roma. [6]
In July 2018, he made his Belator debut against Fatmir Gordi. [7] He won via a unanimous decision.
2018 - 2021: Enfusion
On November 21, 2018, Davide Armanini signed with the Dutch promotion Enfusion, becoming the first Italian athlete to be part of this organization.
On December 1, 2018, at his debut on the Enfusion circuit (in Trinec, Czech Republic), he beat Matous Kohout by KO in the second round, earning him a ranking as 5th in the Enfusion 75 kg category. [8]
On March 23, 2019, in the first Italian stage of the Enfusion circuit, after the three regulation rounds and the extra-round provided for by the Enfusion rules in the event of a draw, he beat the Dutch athlete Regilio van den Ent on points. [8]
On May 25, 2019, at the Candy Arena in Monza, as part of the Oktagon 2019 event, he knocked out the Portuguese athlete Diogo Calado in the first round. [9]
On October 26. 2019, Davide Armanini lost his first fight as a professional in a non-title bout against Endy Semeleer the Enfusion 75 kg World Champion by TKO in the 3th round. [10] [8]
2021 - 2022: the Italian FederKombat title and the Wako Pro world title
After a long forced break due to the national health protocols for COVID-19, Davide Armanini returned to the ring on May 16, 2021, at the 1st series FederKombat (formerly FIKBMS) Italian Absolute Championships, beating Giuseppe Caruso on points in the quarterfinals and Luca Carnevali in the semifinals; in the final, he defeated Emanuele Lulaj on points to win the title of 1st series FederKombat Italian Champion -81 kg category. [11]
Two months later, on July 11, 2021, in the ring of the Fight Club Roma, Davide won by knockout in the fifth round, the Wako Pro K1 75 kg World Title against the Estonian athlete Maikel Astur, after a match full of very tough exchanges in which Armanini prevailed thanks to the power of his arm strikes and the effectiveness of his low kicks. [12] [13]
On December 18, 2022, Davide Armanini beat Giannis Boukis via a Second round TKO in at Fight Clubbing 28. [14]
On May 14, 2022, Davide Armanini beat Levan Guruli via a third-round TKO in the Main Event of Fight Clubbing 29, defending his WAKO PRO World Champion belt and winning the Fight Clubbing Champion belt. [15]
Victory number 40
On December 17, 2022, at Fight Clubbing 30, Davide Armanini earned his 40th career victory in 42 fights. The match pitted him against the powerful Spanish fighter Aixay Hernandez, the WAKO Pro national champion. Armanini won via points. [16]
