Françesko Xhaja (born August 9, 1993) is an Albanian-born Italian kickboxer, currently competing in the light heavyweight division of ONE Championship. As of March 2023, he is ranked as the tenth best heavyweight kickboxer in the world by Beyond Kick.

Professional kickboxing career

Early career

Xhaja faced Jan Beljajev at Number One Fight Show: Season 10 on September 22, 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Xhaja next faced Mladen Kujundžić at Ultimate Fight Night on November 17, 2018. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Xhaja challenged

Guto Inocente Carlos Augusto "Guto" Inocente Filho (born May 29, 1986) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer currently signed to ONE Championship. A professional MMA competitor since 2005, Inocente formerly competed for the UFC and S ...

for the WGP Kickboxing Super heavyweight (+94kg) title at WGP Kickboxing #55 on June 15, 2019. He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Xhaja faced Igor Darmeshkin in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Tatneft Cup heavyweight tournament, which took place on July 19, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision, after an extra round was contested. Xhaja was able to stop Mathieu Kongolo in the second round on October 4, 2019, which earned him a place in the tournament finals, which took place on December 15, 2019, opposite Petr Romankevich. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, after an extension round was fought. Xhaja faced Strahinja Mitrić at Megdan 8: New Winners on December 18, 2020. He won the fight by split decision. Xhaja next faced Cyril Cereyon at Ultimate Fight Night on January 17, 2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision. Xhaja then faced Ahmed Krnjić at Senshi 9 on July 10, 2021. He won the fight by unanimous decision, after an extra round was contested.

ONE Championship

Xhaja faced

Rade Opačić Rade Opačić (born June 17, 1997) is a Serbian kickboxer fighting out of Belgrade, Serbia. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of ONE Championship. As of October 2022, he is ranked as the tenth best heavyweight by Beyond Kick. Bet ...

at ONE: Only the Brave on January 28, 2023, in his promotion debut with ONE Championship. He lost the fight by a second-round technical knockout. Xhaja faced

Andrei Stoica Andrei Cătălin Stoica (born May 1, 1987) is a Romanian kickboxer competing in the Light Heavyweight division of the ONE Championship where he is a former ONE Light Heavyweight Championship title challenger. He was the first t ...

at ONE Fight Night 7 on February 24, 2023. He won the fight by split decision. Xhaja challenged

Roman Kryklia Roman Olegovich Kryklia (Ukrainian: Роман Олегович Крикля; born October 11, 1991) is a Ukrainian heavyweight kickboxer currently signed to ONE Championship when he completes both Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight division in ...

for the ONE Light Heavyweight Kickboxing World Championship at

ONE Fight Night 12 ''ONE Fight Night 12: Superlek vs. Khalilov'' was a combat sports event produced by ONE Championship that took place on July 15, 2023, at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. Background A ONE Heavyweight World Championship unificati ...

on July 14, 2023.

Championships and accomplishments

*Tatneft Cup **2019 Tatneft Cup Heavyweight Tournament Runner-up *Megdan Fighting **2020 Megdan K-1 Heavyweight (+93 kg) Championship

Fight record

, - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2023-02-24 , , Win , , align=left,

, , ONE Fight Night 7 , ,

Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated population ...

, , Decision (Split) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2022-01-28 , , Loss , , align="left" ,

, , ONE: Only the Brave , , Kallang,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, , TKO (3 knockdown rule), , 2, , 2:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2021-07-10 , , Win , , align=left, Ahmed Krnjić , , Senshi 9 , , Varna, Bulgaria , , Ext. R. Decision (Unanimous) , , 4 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2021-01-17 , , Win , , align=left, Cyril Cereyon , , Ultimate Fight Night , ,

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French mi ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2020-12-18 , , Win , , align=left, Strahinja Mitrić , , Megdan 8: New Winners , ,

Sremska Mitrovica, Serbia Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is ...

, , Decision (Split) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2019-12-15 , , Loss , , align=left, Petr Romankevich , , Tatneft Cup, Tournament Final , ,

Kazan, Russia Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering an ...

, , Ext. R. Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2019-10-04 , , Win , , align=left, Mathieu Kongolo , , Tatneft Cup, Tournament Semifinal , ,

, , TKO (Retirement) , , 2 , , 1:28 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2019-07-19 , , Win , , align=left, Igor Darmeshkin , , Tatneft Cup, Tournament Quarterfinal , ,

, , Ext. R. Decision (Unanimous) , , 4 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2019-06-15 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , WGP Kickboxing #55 , , Brasilia, Brazil , , Decision (Unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2019-04-26 , , Win , , align=left, Liu Wei , , Tatneft Cup, Tournament Round of 16 , ,

, , KO (Head kick) , , 1 , , 0:05 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2019-03-16 , , Win, , align=left,

Pascal Touré Pascal Touré (born October 27, 1995) is a French Muay Thai kickboxer. As of April 2023, Touré was the #10 ranked light heavyweight kickboxer in the world according to Combat Press. Martial arts career Early career On March 16, 2019, Touré fa ...

, , Power Trophy , , Orange, France , , TKO , , 2 , , , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2018-11-17 , , Win , , align=left, Mladen Kujundžić , , Ultimate Fight Night , ,

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2018-09-22 , , Win , , align=left, Jan Beljajev , , Number One Fight Show: Season 10 , ,

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2018-05-11 , , Win , , align=left, Karim Zeghad , , Ultimate Fight Night , , Le Beausset,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2018-03-17 , , Win , , align=left, Hassen Otman , , Power Trophy 2018 , , Orange, France , , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2017-11-11 , , Loss , , align=left, David Vinš , , Night of Warriors 12 , ,

Liberec, Czech Republic Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

, , KO (Left straight) , , 3 , , 1:43 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2017-01-14 , , Win , , align=left, Alessandro Lamonica , , The Night of Kick and Punch 6 , ,

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2016-04-16 , , Win , , align=left, Danilo Coda , , Sacile in Fight , ,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, , TKO (Retirement) , , , , , - , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2015-03-28 , , Loss , , align=left, Pavel Voronin , , Kombat League, Tournament Semifinal , ,

Verona, Italy Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in north ...

, , KO (Left hook) , , 1 , , , - , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2014-06-17 , , Win , , align=left, Nico Zerbin , , , ,

Spinea Spinea is a town in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, Italy. It is within Mestre's commuter belt, and is crossed by the SP32 provincial road. Twin towns Spinea is twinned with: * Veroli Veroli ( la, Verulae) is a town and ''comune'' in ...

, , TKO , , 2 , , , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References