Career
Daniels had humble beginnings as a junior competitor in sport karate competitions. [3] By the age of 19, he would go on to become a top ranked fighter for both the National Black Belt League (NBL) and the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA). Among his titles are eight NBL World Championships, [8] at least two NASKA world championships, a second-place finish at the $50,000 World Pro Taekwondo Championship in Croatia in 2010, [9] and nine overall championships at the W.A.K.O Irish Open. [10] [11] [12]
Don Rodrigues, coach and co-founder of the famed Team Paul Mitchell Karate, recruited Daniels in 1999. Daniels left the Paul Mitchell Team in 2001, joining other teams in successive years. [3]
In 2006, Daniels began fighting for Chuck Norris' World Combat League as captain of the Los Angeles Stars. [13] Daniels fought in the 80 kg/178 lbs and 88 kg/195 lbs weight divisions, compiling a 17–0–0 (9 KO) fight record. [14] Daniels had a highly anticipated bout with fellow undefeated kickboxing star Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. Daniels initially won the bout by technical knockout due to a knee injury suffered by Thompson. [15] However, this was later overturned into a no contest. [16]
Daniels defeated Peyton Russell via third-round TKO (three knockdown rule) at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas on August 11, 2007. [17]
Daniels defeated Michael Page at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2008, winning gold in the 84 kg semi-contact division. [18]
Daniels would then set his sights on the world of mixed martial arts and was touted by Strikeforce as "the next Cung Le". [19] On June 27, 2008, he made his MMA debut against twelve fight veteran Jeremiah Metcalf [20] at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson . Daniels was defeated by submission via rear-naked choke in the second round. [21]
Daniels defended his gold, in the 84 kg semi-contact division, in a rematch against Michael Page at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2009. [22]
Daniels defeated Michael Page in their trilogy bout at the W.A.K.O. Irish Open 2011, securing gold in the 84 kg semi-contact division. [23]
In his first outing under full Oriental kickboxing rules, Daniels defeated two opponents in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 2011, to win the four man 84 kg/185 lbs tournament at the Pain and Glory event. After knocking out English Muay Thai fighter Andy Bakewell with a spinning heel kick in the semi-finals, he took a split decision over Irish kickboxer Mark Casserly in the final. [24]
He then signed with Glory in 2013 and was set to debut at Glory 5: London on March 23, 2013, in London, England [25] but was later removed from the card for undisclosed reasons. [26]
Daniels defeated Brian Foster with a first-round spinning heel kick at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, on October 12, 2013. [27] [28]
He replaced Marc de Bonte in the Glory 13: Tokyo - Welterweight World Championship Tournament in Tokyo, Japan on December 21, 2013, for undisclosed reasons [29] and suffered his first kickboxing loss at the hands of Joseph Valtellini in the semi-finals. He initially caused some problems for Valtellini with his unorthodox karate style but by round two the Canadian began to hurt Daniels with low kicks. Daniels was knocked out by a high kick in the third round. [30]
Daniels scored a spinning kick KO over François Ambang inside the opening round at Glory 16: Denver in Broomfield, Colorado, United States on May 3, 2014. [31] His performance was hailed by Glory as the "Knockout of the Century." [32]
On February 6, 2015, Daniels was part of a one-night, four-man welterweight tournament at Glory 19: Virginia. In the semifinals, he faced Jonatan Oliveira and won via TKO. Daniels knocked Oliveira down with a spinning heel kick to the head in the first round and scored another knock down with a spinning kick to the body early in the second round. A knee to the groin of Oliveira led to a short intermission, after which Daniels hit Oliveira with another spinning kick to the body, forcing the TKO at 2:15 of the second round. In the finals, he faced Nieky Holzken and was knocked down early in the first round by a punch to the body. Daniels was unable to deal well with Holzken's pressure, who cut off the ring and locked Daniels up in the corners whenever possible. The second round saw Daniels being knocked down twice more, before scoring a controversial down himself in the third with one of his spin kicks. Holzken then locked Daniels up in a corner once more and knocked him down with a right hook to the head, forcing the stoppage at 1:25 of the third round after four knock downs. [33]
He defeated Justin Baesman on May 8, 2015, in the co-main event at Glory 21: San Diego by KO (liver kick) after just 51 seconds inside the first round. [34]
After Joseph Valtellini vacated his title due to health issues, Raymond Daniels was set to face Nieky Holzken for the welterweight world championship at Glory 23: Las Vegas on August 7, 2015. [35] Daniels won the first two rounds on the judges scorecards due to a higher output of strikes. In the third round, Holzken managed to corner him and scored a combination which ended with a jump right knee that cut him above the eye prompting referee John McCarthy to stop the match. [36]
On November 28, 2015, Daniels won gold at the W.A.K.O. World Championships 2015 (Dublin) in the 89 kg semi-contact division. [37]
Bellator Kickboxing
He defeated Francesco Moricca at Bellator Kickboxing 1 on April 16, 2016, in Turin via TKO (liver kick) in the first round. [38] [39]
He defeated Stefano Bruno at Bellator Kickboxing 2 on June 24, 2016, in St. Louis via TKO (liver kick) in the first round. [40]
He defeated Zsolt Benedek at Bellator Kickboxing 3 on September 17, 2016, in Budapest via unanimous decision. [41]
He defeated Csaba Gyorfi at Bellator Kickboxing 6 on April 14, 2017, in Budapest via TKO (liver kick). [42]
He defeated Karim Ghajji at Bellator Kickboxing 7 on September 23, 2017, in San Jose via TKO (doctor stoppage). [43]
He defeated Giannis Boukis at Bellator Kickboxing 8 on December 9, 2017, in Florence via unanimous decision (29-28, 30–27, 30-27). [44]
He defeated Djibril Ehouo at Bellator Kickboxing 9 on April 6, 2018, in Budapest via unanimous decision (50-44, 50–44, 50-43). [45]
He defeated Zakaria Laaouatni at Bellator Kickboxing 11 on December 1, 2018, in Genoa via majority decision (29-29, 29–28, 29-28). [46]
Mixed martial arts
More than a decade after his first MMA bout, Daniels returned to mixed martial arts and faced Wilker Barros at Bellator Birmingham on May 4, 2019. [47] He won the fight via knockout in the first round. [48]
Daniels next faced Jason King at Bellator 238 on January 25, 2020. [49] He won the fight via TKO in the first round.
Daniels faced Peter Stanonik at Bellator 245 on September 11, 2020. [50] The bout ended in a No Contest after multiple intentional groin kicks from Daniels rendered Stanonik unable to continue. [51]
As the last bout of his prevailing contract, Daniels faced Peter Stanonik in an immediate rematch on April 16, 2021, at Bellator 257. [52] [53] He won the bout via unanimous decision. [54]
Karate Combat
Daniels announced that he had signed an exclusive multi-fight contract with Karate Combat. [55] Daniels made his debut at Karate Combat 35 on August 27, 2022, where he defeated Franklin Mina via unanimous decision. [56]
Daniels next faced former karate world champion and 2020 Olympic silver medalist Rafael Aghayev for the interim Karate Combat Welterweight Championship at Karate Combat 37 on December 17, 2022. Daniels lost by unanimous decision. [57]
