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Global Fighting Championship was a
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
-based
kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...
and
mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, inc ...
(MMA) promotion. Fighters from around world on the roster included
Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
,
Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...
,
Gökhan Saki Gökhan Saki (born 18 October 1983Zabit Samedov Zabit Samedov ( az, Zabit Səmədov, russian: Забит Самедов, born July 21, 1984) is an Azerbaijani kickboxer and muay thai fighter. He is the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Finalist, when he lost to Badr Hari in the quarter-finals by unan ...
. It was considered as the biggest kickboxing and MMA promotion in
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.


Overview

Each event had a 4 Man Tournament in the heavy weight division with a winning amount of AED 1 Million. Along with the 4 Man Tournament, 7 superfights were conducted with kickboxers and MMA fighters from around the world. A total of 8 fight series had to be conducted, with each winner progressing towards the grand prix of $1 Million. The first series, took place at
Dubai World Trade Centre The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) ( ar, مركز دبي التجاري العالمي), historically called Sheikh Rashid Tower, is a 38-storey and a height 184 m skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was erected in 1979. It is a purp ...
on 29 May 2014 and featured
Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...
,
Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
and
Stefan Leko Stefan Leko (born June 3, 1974) is a German heavyweight kickboxer. He is the current WKA Super-Heavyweight world champion in kickboxing, and former Muay Thai world heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, WMTA, WKN, ...
.


GFC Series

GFC Fight Series 1 took place on 29 May 2014 at
Dubai World Trade Centre The Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) ( ar, مركز دبي التجاري العالمي), historically called Sheikh Rashid Tower, is a 38-storey and a height 184 m skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which was erected in 1979. It is a purp ...
, with
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
Moroccan
Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
emerging as winner of the AED 1 Million defeating
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...
Peter Graham in the final and advancing to the GFC Grand Prix.
Michael Buffer Michael Buffer (born November 2, 1944) is an American ring announcer (or " MC") for boxing, professional wrestling, and National Football League matches. He is known for his trademarked catchphrase: "Let's get ready to rumble!" Early life Bu ...
was the presenter with Mike Markham taking over as
Ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, ...
and
Michael Schiavello Michael Schiavello (born 10 April 1975) is an Australian sports commentator and journalist. He has commentated for AXS TV, K-1, Dream, Maximum Fighting Championship, King of the Cage, ONE Championship and '' The Contender Asia''. He has also w ...
as the Commentator. GFC Fight Series 2 took place on 16 October 2014 at
Dubai Duty Free Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the company responsible for the duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. Founded in December 1983, DDF recorded first-year sales of US$20 million and has grown into one ...
Tennis Stadium, with Moroccan Ismael Lazar emerging as winner of the AED 1 Million defeating
Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ðž ...
's Sem Tevette by TKO in Round 2 in the final and advancing to the GFC Grand Prix. Mike Markham was the
Ring announcer A ring announcer is an in-ring (and sometimes on-camera) employee or contractor for a boxing, professional wrestling or mixed martial arts event or promotion, who introduces the competitors to the audience. In boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, ...
along with Steve Patrick Moore. Moroccan
Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
was supposed to fight French
Patrice Quarteron Patrice "The Dark Ronin" Quarteron (; born in Sevran on 20 March 1979) is a French heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Évry, Essonne. He is two time French and European Muay Thai champion and current IKF Muay Thai Super Heavyweight World cham ...
in the Exhibition Superfight, but the fight fell through.
Patrice Quarteron Patrice "The Dark Ronin" Quarteron (; born in Sevran on 20 March 1979) is a French heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Évry, Essonne. He is two time French and European Muay Thai champion and current IKF Muay Thai Super Heavyweight World cham ...
was eventually replaced with Lithuanian
Arnold Oborotov Arnold Oborotov (born December 4, 1989) is a Lithuanian kickboxer. Career He faced Jarrell Miller at the ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16'' on October 14, 2012. Although he was able to land some powerful low kicks on Miller, the ...
.
Melvin Manhoef Melvin Manhoef (born 11 May 1976) is a retired Surinamese-born Dutch mixed martial artist and kickboxer. In kickboxing, he is a former It's Showtime Middleweight Champion, and in MMA he was the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion. In mixed mar ...
was replaced with Sem Tevette days before the fight due to an injury. He still came to support his replacement who lost the finals to Ismael Lazzar. GFC Fight Series 3 took place on 17 April 2015 at
Dubai Duty Free Dubai Duty Free (DDF) is the company responsible for the duty-free operations at Dubai International Airport and Al Maktoum International Airport. Founded in December 1983, DDF recorded first-year sales of US$20 million and has grown into one ...
Tennis Stadium once again. The fight card included
Zabit Samedov Zabit Samedov ( az, Zabit Səmədov, russian: Забит Самедов, born July 21, 1984) is an Azerbaijani kickboxer and muay thai fighter. He is the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Finalist, when he lost to Badr Hari in the quarter-finals by unan ...
,
Danyo Ilunga Danyo "Dibuba" Ilunga (born January 31, 1987) is a Congolese-German Muay Thai kickboxer currently competing in GLORY. Ilunga is a four-time kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion - most notably being the former It's Showtime 95MAX World Champi ...
and Ismael Lazaar.
Gökhan Saki Gökhan Saki (born 18 October 1983Sebastian Ciobanu Sebastian Ciobanu (born March 17, 1985) is a Romanian Super heavyweight kickboxer fighting in the K-1 and SUPERKOMBAT promotions. Career K-1 He made his K-1 debut in 2009 at K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP against Ser ...
.


Controversy

Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
vs
Patrice Quarteron Patrice "The Dark Ronin" Quarteron (; born in Sevran on 20 March 1979) is a French heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Évry, Essonne. He is two time French and European Muay Thai champion and current IKF Muay Thai Super Heavyweight World cham ...
was the much-awaited fight among fans for GFC Fighter Series 2. Due to Quarteron's unsportsmanlike conduct, he was axed from the fight. Hari went on to say "About Patrice... he has been saying a lot about me. I don't care, I have been through those kind of clowns many times so he's nothing special,". Quarteron had made quite a hype about the fight across all social media platforms bashing Hari with memes. He was eventually replaced with
Arnold Oborotov Arnold Oborotov (born December 4, 1989) is a Lithuanian kickboxer. Career He faced Jarrell Miller at the ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16'' on October 14, 2012. Although he was able to land some powerful low kicks on Miller, the ...
who lost to
Badr Hari Badr Hari (born 8 December 1984) is a Moroccan-Dutch kickboxer. He is a former K-1 Heavyweight World Champion (2007–2008), It's Showtime Heavyweight World Champion (2009–2010) and ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 and 2009'' finalist. Born an ...
by KO in round 1.


References

{{MMA organizations Sports organizations established in 2012 Mixed martial arts organizations Kickboxing organizations Companies based in Dubai