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Oktagon is an international martial arts tournament based in northern Italy[ where? ] and founded in 1996 by Carlo Di Blasi. [1] The annual event is broadcast on DMAX and Rai Sport to 120 countries. [2] Through 2015 (the twentieth edition), the tournaments were held at the Mediolanum Forum in Assago, near Milan. In 2016, it was announced that the event's venue would move to the Pala Alpitour in Turin and be held jointly with the American MMA promotion organization Bellator. [3] [4] [5]
Oktagon contestants have included Giorgio Petrosyan [6] and his brother Armen. [7]
Di Blasi, founder and president of Oktagon, is also the president of the Italian martial arts organization Fight1. [8] A member of the World MMA Association, [9] the organization promotes Muay Thai, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts events such as Oktagon and Thai Boxe Mania [10] as well as martial arts training. [11] [12] [13]
Vale Tudo or vale-tudo, also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventually evolve into modern mixed martial arts (MMA). For years, "Vale Tudo" was used as a synonym for MMA in Brazil, but the term fell into disuse due to the emergence of stricter rules and the influence of the media to have a more "civilized" name. It is now used to refer to an early, more rules-free stage of the modern sport.
Brazilian Top Team (BTT) is an academy and team specialized in Brazilian jiu jitsu and mixed martial arts. It was established in April 2000 by Murilo Bustamante, Ricardo Libório, Mário Sperry and Luis Roberto Duarte, former members of the Carlson Gracie Academy, to develop and create new training techniques for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, submission grappling and mixed martial arts.
The ISKA is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was established in 1985 as a response to legal and revenue issues that sent the Professional Karate Association (PKA) into decline.
Roberto Cocco is an Italian super middleweight Muay Thai kickboxer and boxer, fighting out of Dojo Miura in his home town of Turin, Italy. He is a former three time I.S.K.A. kickboxing world champion and one time World Kickboxing Network (W.K.N.) Thai-boxing world Champion.
Lee Hasdell is a British martial artist, promoter and former professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Hasdell is considered by many to be a pioneer of mixed martial arts in the United Kingdom, particularly in the 1990s, when he drove a great deal of innovation in the field. Hasdell promoted the first professional mixed martial arts events in the UK and helped develop many of the standards within the British MMA scene of today.
Gevorg "Giorgio" Petrosyan is an Armenian-born Italian kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. He is nicknamed "The Doctor" and noted for his supreme technical skills, ringsmanship and defensive prowess which has seen him defeat some of the best strikers in the world while taking little-to-no damage. As of September 2022, he is ranked the #5 lightweight and #6 pound-for-pound kickboxer in the world by Combat Press, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time. As of October 12, 2023, he is ranked #5 in the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing rankings.
Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong is a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer who is currently signed to ONE Championship. Sitthichai is a former Lumpinee Stadium Welterweight Champion and Glory Lightweight Champion. Combat Press ranks him as the #3 lightweight kickboxer in the world. As of October 27, 2022, he is ranked #3 in the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing rankings, and as of March 6, 2023, he is ranked #2 in the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai rankings.
Alessandro Riguccini is an Italian boxer, kickboxer and engineer coached by Mexican trainer Fernando Fernandez.
Alessandro Campagna is an Italian Welterweight kickboxer, fighting out of Pro Fighting Roma in Rome, Italy. He recently won an 8-man tournament in Paramaribo in Suriname called "Soema Na Basi" beating more experienced and quoted fighters from the Netherlands and Suriname.
Jerrel Venetiaan is a retired Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist who fought in K-1. As a MMA fighter he fought in Pride Fighting Championships.
Yuri Gorbachev, better known as Yuri Bessmertny, is a Belarusian Muay Thai kickboxer who competes in the middleweight and super middleweight divisions. After taking up Muay Thai at thirteen years old, he began his career in 2004 and rose to prominence by becoming a five-time national champion at both amateur and professional levels. Having established himself domestically, he then went on to win numerous European, intercontinental and world titles while fighting mostly in the former Soviet Union. In 2011, he won the Fight Code Dragon Series tournament featuring sixteen top 72.5 kg/160 lb fighters from around the world to break into the middleweight elite.
Armen Petrosyan is an Armenian-born Italian kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division. An aggressive fighter, Petrosyan began training in Muay Thai after moving to Italy from Armenia. Petrosyan and his brother Giorgio Petrosyan were put under contract with Oktagon management, he became a two-time Italian champion and a European titleist before arriving on the world stage in 2010 when he took back-to-back wins over Vuyisile Colossa and Dzhabar Askerov and later appeared as a competitor on the Enfusion reality television show. In March 2013, he won the eight-man Haarlem Fight Night IV tournament in the Netherlands to be crowned the WMTA World Super Welterweight Champion.
Somsak Prachumwong, known professionally as Sak Kaoponlek or Kaoponglek Luksuratham, is a retired Thai Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. He is a former Lumpinee Stadium Super Featherweight Champion and the 1995 Sports Writers Association of Thailand Fighter of the Year.
Chingiz Ayazovich Allazov is an Azerbaijani-Belarusian kickboxer. He previously competed at ONE Championship. He was the former ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion and the 2021 ONE Kickboxing Featherweight World Grand Prix Winner.
Nattawut Somkhun,, also known as Jo Nattawut and Smokin' Jo, is a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer. He is a 5-time Lion Fight super welterweight champion and 1-time Lion Fight middleweight champion. He currently competes in ONE Championship for ONE Super Series.
Samy Sana is a French Muay Thai kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He is the former WBC Muaythai Interim Super Middleweight champion and fought in ONE Championship.
Elias Mahmoudi is a French-Algerian Muay Thai fighter currently signed to ONE Championship, where he competes in the Flyweight division. He is the former WPMF World 61 kg and WBC Muaythai International super featherweight champion. As of December 20, 2023, he is ranked #4 in the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai rankings and ranked #5 in the ONE Flyweight Kickboxing rankings.
Martine Michieletto is an Italian muay thai kickboxer. She is the reigning ISKA featherweight K-1 champion and the former WKU featherweight muay thai champion.
Gloria Peritore is an Italian kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. She is the current ISKA World Flyweight Kickboxing and Oriental Rules champion. In October 2022, she was ranked as the tenth best pound-for-pound women's kickboxer in the world by Beyond Kick.
Reda Oudgou is a French professional kickboxer. He is the current MTGP kickboxing world champion in the Light Cruiserweight division. He holds the ISKA world title at 85 kg in the K-1 category.