Professional kickboxing career
Nait Slimani made his professional debut against Hamza Essalih at Stars Night in January 2013. He won the fight by decision. Nait Slimani won his next fight against Jordi Fernaandez in the same manner. In October 2013, Slimani took part in the World GBC Tour 5 tournament. He defeated Alessandro Alias by decision in the semifinals, and Mohamed Galaoui by decision in the finals. [3]
Nait Slimani won his next three fights in a row, against Mehdi Traia, Anthony Recio and Soufiane Hammani. He then participated in the Simply The Boxe four man tournament. In the semifinals, he beat William Saidi by first-round knockout, and won the tournament with a decision win against Vang Moua. [4]
After his second tournament win, Nait Slimani was scheduled to fight Edson Fortes at La Nuit des Gladiateurs, and won the fight by decision. [5] He was subsequently scheduld to fight Allan Gozdzicki for the WKN European 64.5 kg title. Nait Slimani beat Gozdzicki by decision. [6] Following a successful title defense against Antoine Habash at World GBC Tour 8, Nait Slimani took part in the 2015 Simply The Boxe four man tournament. He beat Franck Reoutzkoff by knockout in the semifinals, and Yohann Drai by split decision in the finals. [7]
In May 2015, Nait Slimani suffered the first loss of his professional career, losing to Cedric Castagna by decision. The two of them then fought an immediate rematch, with Nait Slimani winning by decision. Nait Slimani was then scheduled to fight Antonio Campoy at Battle of Saint-Raphael 3 for the WKN International -66.7 kg title. He knocked Campoy out in the first round. [8]
Nait Slimani participated in his second World GBC Tour four man tournament, and faced Cosmin Podoriu in the semifinal. Nait Slimani beat him by decision, and won the tournament with a second-round TKO of Houcine Bennoui. [9]
After a decision victory over Samir Mohamed, Nait Slimani signed a one-year contract with Glory. [10] In his first fight, Slimani fought Maykol Yurk at Glory 28: Paris, and won by decision. [11] Slimani afterwards beat Stephane Candel and Mehdi Berisha by decision. [12] [13] In his second Glory fight, Nait Slimani fought the muay thai legend Saenchai at Glory 31: Amsterdam. [14]
Nait Slimani was scheduled to fight Mathieu Bernard at World GBC Tour 11, [15] and won by decision. [16] He was then scheduled to fight Masaaki Noiri for the NDC 66 kg title. [17] Noiri won the fight by knockout, in the very last seconds of the fight. [18]
In his next fight, Nait Slimani fought Modibo Diarra at Stars Night, [19] and won by decision. At ACB KB 9: Showdown in Paris, he fought David Mejia. [20] Nait Slimani defeated Mejia by decision. [21]
At Capital Fights 2, Nait Slimani challenged Yannick Reine for the ISKA K-1 World 63.5 kg title. [22] Reine successfully defended the title, winning by decision. [23]
During the 2017 Monte-Carlo Fighting Trophy event, Nait Slimani fought a rematch with Antoine Habash, for the WAKO Pro World -64.5 kg title. Nait Slimani once again won, beating Habash by a second-round knockout. [24]
Nait Slimani was scheduled to fight Dong-Su Kim at World GBC Tour 12, for the WKN World -64.5 kg title. He knocked Kim out in the first round, with a head kick. [25]
Slimani fought Karim Bennoui at Nuit Des Champions 2017, [26] and won the fight by decision. He won his next three fights, winning decisions against Charlie Peters, Khyzer Hayat Nawaz and Denis Wosik. [27] [28] His six fight winning streak was snapped at Enfusion 60, during which he lost an extra round decision in a rematch with Hamza Essalih. [29]
In November 2018, Slimani fought Daniel Puertas Gallardo for the vacant La Nuit des Champions -65 kg title. He beat Gallardo by split decision. [30] In his next fight, he fought Yvan Naccari [31] and won by majority decision. Slimani defended his NDC title for the first time against Sergey Kulyaba in November 2019, [32] and won the fight by split decision.
Slimani was scheduled to fight Adam Noi, at Arena Fight Championship 2, for the inaugural Arena Fight K-1 -65 kg title. The entire event was later postponed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [33]
Nait Slimani was scheduled to face Hayat Khyzer at La Nuit Des Gladiateurs 12 on September 18, 2021. [34] He won the fight by decision. [35]
In the fall of 2021, Nait Slimani signed with the Superkombat Fighting Championship. He made his promotional debut at Superkombat Universe on November 1, 2021, against Mo Monteur for the world super lightweight title. [36] Slimani lost the fight by a first-round knockout. [37]
Slimani made his second Nuit des Champions -65kg title defense against Anass Ahmidouch at La Nuit Des Champions 29 on November 19, 2022. [38] He lost the fight by decision. [39]
Slimani faced Bayram Gashi at Fight Night One 15 on March 4, 2023. [40] He won the fight by decision. [41] Slimani faced Eduardo Del Prado at Fight Night One 16 on June 24, 2023. [42]
Slimani was expected to challenge Václav Sivák for the WAKO Pro World K-1 Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg) title at Yangames Fight Night on July 29, 2023. [43] Sivák withdrew from the fight on July 28, after suffering a hand injury in training. [44]
