Yetkin Özkul (born July 6, 1986) is a Turkish

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

who competes in the

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

and

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

divisions. After beginning his martial arts training in

taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

, he switched to kickboxing and Muay Thai and won a bronze medal at the 2004 WMF World Championships.

Early life

Yetkin Özkul was born in

Akdeniz Akdeniz is a municipality and district of Mersin Province, Turkey. Its area is 265 km2, and its population is 255,946 (2022). It covers the central and eastern part of the city of Mersin and the adjacent countryside. History The municipal ...

, Turkey and started

at the age of twelve, eventually earning his black belt. After taking up kickboxing and then Muay Thai, he moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 2005 to continue his career but a year later relocated to Paris, France and the RM Boxing gym.

Career

Özkul had an extensive amateur career, compiling a record 96-15-4 with 35

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

s and representing Turkey at the 2004 WMF World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand where he picked up a bronze medal in the -57 kg/125 lb division. He was a two-time national champion of Turkey, once under Muay Thai rules and once in kickboxing, but did not come to prominence on the international scene until his relocation to France. He won the French Muay Thai title at -60 kg/132 lb in

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

, France, in April 2008 by defeating Xavier Bastard on points. Özkul took the first two rounds and forced a

standing eight count A standing eight count, also known as a protection count, is a boxing judgment call made by a referee during a bout in order to give an overwhelmed fighter an eight-second respite. When it is invoked, the referee stops the action and counts to e ...

on Bastard early in the first only for Bastard to rally back and take the third and fourth, thus making round five decisive. Bastard was docked a point in the final round for a low blow and Özkul took the judges' decision and the belt. He was set to fight Rob Storey for the European title in England on June 26, 2008 but he was unable to enter the country due to

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

issues and was replaced by Xavier Bastard. Özkul and Bastard rematched in Paris on December 6, 2008, with the Turk scoring an early right

hook A hook is a tool consisting of a length of material, typically metal, that contains a portion that is curved/bent back or has a deeply grooved indentation, which serves to grab, latch or in any way attach itself onto another object. The hook's d ...

knockdown followed up by a barrage of unanswered punches to force a first round

technical knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

and retain the French title. Despite having beaten a number of Thai opponents previously, Özkul took a huge step up in class when he faced Saenchai Sor. Kingstar at the ''S-8 Thaiboxing'' event in

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

, Germany, on April 3, 2010. In round two of the bout, Saenchai's pedigree began to show as he stunned Özkul with a high kick before dropping him with a left hook. He beat the referee's count only to be sent to the canvas again when the Thai great caught his kick and countered with a left

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

which rendered him unable to continue. He faced another top Thai in the form of

Rungravee Sasiprapa Rungravee Sasiprapa is a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer. He is the Channel 7 Stadium Muaythai Champion and MTAA World Muaythai Champion. Biography Rungravee Sasiprapa (รุ่งราวี ศศิประภายิม) was born as ''Rungrav ...

in Paris on October 29, 2010, losing a close

majority decision A majority decision (MD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (at ...

in a back-and-forth, punch-heavy affair. The pair were set to rematch at ''M-One: Thailand vs. America'' in Los Angeles, California, United States on October 21, 2011 but Özkul was replaced by Andres Martinez for undisclosed reasons. On November 5, 2011, Yetkin Özkul won the eight man -59 kg/130 lb tournament at ''Super Showdown 2'' in

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

, Scotland. He made quick work of Darren O'Connor in the quarter-finals, flooring him three times en route to a TKO win, before outpointing Jose Varela in the semis. He then knocked out Ilias el Hajoui with a ferocious left hook inside the first round of the final. The Yetkin Özkul-Rungravee Sasiprapa rematch finally came to fruition at ''Le Choc des Légendes'' in Paris on March 10, 2012, with the Turk getting his revenge by winning on points. He faced another familiar foe the following month when he again knocked out Ilias el Hajoui in the first round to claim the A1 World Combat Cup -61 kg/134 lb strap in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, Netherlands. In his second title fight in as many months, he TKO'd Thomas Adamandopoulos in the fourth round to win the

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was est ...

World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.3 lb)

Oriental The Orient is a term referring to the East in relation to Europe, traditionally comprising anything belonging to the Eastern world. It is the antonym of the term ''Occident'', which refers to the Western world. In English, it is largely a meto ...

Championship at ''Urban Boxing United'' in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, on May 19, 2012. Özkul challenged Jomthong Chuwattana for his

WBC Muaythai The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

World Lightweight (-61.235 kg/135 lb) title at ''Battle for the Belts'' in Bangkok on June 9, 2012, losing out by unanimous decision as Jomthong was able to his height and technical skills to keep him at bay for the duration of the fight. Despite this setback, he was still ranked at #5 when the world lightweight rankings were first published by ''LiverKick'' in September 2012. He moved up in weight to -63 kg/138 lb to take on world #1

Masaaki Noiri is a Japanese Kickboxing, kickboxer, currently competing in the Featherweight Division of ONE Championship, where he is the List of ONE Championship champions#Featherweight World Championship, interim Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion. He ...

under Oriental rules at ''Krush.24'' in Tokyo, Japan on November 10, 2012. After a close first two rounds, Özkul was dropped with a

flying knee A knee strike (commonly referred to simply as a knee) is a strike (attack), strike with the knee, either with the kneecap or the surrounding area. Kneeing is a disallowed practice in many combat sports, especially to the head of a downed opponent. ...

from Noiri in the third and final, resigning him to a unanimous decision loss. He took to the ring again two weeks later to face Saksongkram Poptheeratham at ''Best of Siam 2'' in Paris on November 22, 2012. It marked his return to Muay Thai as well as his natural weight class of -61 kg/135 lb, although Saksongkram was still the larger fighter. He lost by TKO due to a cut in round four after being dominated to bring his losing streak to three. He put a halt to his three fight skid with a disqualification win over Pokaew Fonjaengchonburi at ''Le Choc des Légendes'' in Paris on March 10, 2013. Özkul dropped Pokaew, who was coming up from featherweight and taking his first fight internationally, in round one but the Thai only came back stronger. At the end of the second round, Pokaew continued to attack Özkul after the bell and opened a cut with a

knee In humans and other primates, the knee joins the thigh with the leg and consists of two joints: one between the femur and tibia (tibiofemoral joint), and one between the femur and patella (patellofemoral joint). It is the largest joint in the hu ...

to the face, resulting in a disqualification. ''Best of Siam 4'' in Paris played host to a highly anticipated match between Yetkin Özkul and fellow brawler Pornsanae Sitmonchai on June 20, 2013, with the Turk coming in as a slight underdog. The fight lived up to expectations and Özkul came out throwing hard shots straight from the first bell. In round two, however, Pornsanae almost dropped him with a series of counter punches. Pornsanae started utilizing his trademark

low kick A low kick (also known as a leg kick) is a kick in which the attacker strikes the opponent's lower body (thigh or calf) with the shinbone or foot. Under different names, such kicks are utilized in numerous martial arts, including as karate, taek ...

s midway through the third round, and Özkul in turn began to incorporate spinning heel kicks into his arsenal and ended the round by landing seven of them consecutively. Özkul began to pull away in round four as Pornsanae faded and won the fight by unanimous decision but not before a display of macho posturing and taunting in the fifth and final. He competed in ''La 20ème Nuit des Champions'' -62 kg/136 lb tournament in Marseille, France on November 23, 2013, beating Masahiro Yamamoto on points in the semi-finals before losing to Karim Bennoui by the same margin in the final. Özkul defeated Pornsanae Sitmonchai via third round TKO in a rematch at ''Le Choc des Légendes 2014'' in

Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine (; literally "Audoin (bishop), St. Audoin on Seine") is a Communes of France, commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France, located from the Kilometre zero, centre of Paris. It is part of the Seine-Saint-Denis Department ...

, France on March 8, 2014 to win the

World Lightweight (-61.2 kg/135 lb) Championship. There was considerable controversy surrounding the match as the Sitmonchai camp claimed post-fight that Pornsanae had only been informed of the title on the line in the days leading up to the fight and that Özkul had been prevented from making the contracted weight due to stomach problems and instead weighed in around 72 kg/160 lb, although no official weigh-ins took place. Sitmonchai reluctantly accepted the fight due to their dependency on the promoter to pay them and get them back to Thailand. He lost his ISKA world super lightweight title in his first attempted defence when he lost to Koya Urabe via unanimous decision at ''Best of Fight'' in

Guéret Guéret (; Occitan: ''Garait'') is a commune and the prefecture of the Creuse department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in central France. Geography Guéret is a light industrial town, the largest in the department, with a big woodland a ...

, France, on May 1, 2014. His preparation for the fight was somewhat disrupted when he received sixteen stitches in his hand after a domestic accident. He was set to rematch Saenchai PKSaenchaimuaythaigym in a fight for the WMC World Lightweight (-61.2 kg/135 lb) Championship at ''Monte Carlo Fighting Masters 2014'' in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on June 14, 2014. Saenchai was replaced by his stablemate Pakorn PKSaenchaimuaythaigym for undisclosed reasons, however, and Özkul lost by unanimous decision.

Championships and awards

Kickboxing

* A1 World Combat Cup **A1 World Combat Cup -61 kg/134 lb Championship *French Kickboxing **French -60 kg/132 lb Muay Thai Championship *

International Sport Karate Association The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was es ...

**ISKA World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.3 lb) Oriental Championship *La Nuit des Champions **La 20ème Nuit des Champions -62 kg/136 lb Tournament Runner-up *Super Showdown **Super Showdown 2 –59 kg/130 lb Tournament Championship *Turkish Kickboxing **Turkish Kickboxing Championship **Turkish Muay Thai Championship *

World Boxing Council Muaythai The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

**WBC Muaythai World Lightweight (-61.2 kg/135 lb) Championship *World Muaythai Federation **2004 WMF World Championships -57 kg/125 lb Bronze Medalist

Kickboxing record

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Zakaria Zouggary Zakaria Zouggary (born June 6, 1995) is a Dutch-Moroccan kickboxer, currently competing in the featherweight division of Glory (kickboxing), Glory. As of April 2023, he ranked the #1 Glory featherweight. He was ranked as a top ten featherweight ...

, , Glory 41 Holland, ,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

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Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

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Monte Carlo, Monaco Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to a larger district, the Mont ...

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2014-04-01 , , Loss , , align=left, Koya Urabe , , Best of Fight , , Guéret, France , , Decision (unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2014-03-08 , , Win , , align=left, Pornsanae Sitmonchai , , Le Choc des Légendes 2014 , , Saint-Ouen, France , , TKO (punches) , , 3 , , 0:52 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2013-11-23 , , Loss , , align=left, Karim Bennoui , , La 20ème Nuit des Champions, Final , , Marseilles, France , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2013-11-23 , , Win , , align=left, Masahiro Yamamoto , , La 20ème Nuit des Champions, Semi Finals , , Marseilles, France , , Decision , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2013-06-20 , , Win , , align=left, Pornsanae Sitmonchai , , Best of Siam 4 , ,

, , Decision (unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2013-03-10 , , Win , , align=left, Pokaew Fonjangchonburi , , Le Choc des Légendes , ,

, , DQ (Pokaew continued to attack after the bell) , , 2 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2012-11-22 , , Loss , , align=left, Saksongkram Poptheeratham , , Best of Siam 2 , ,

, , TKO (cut) , , 4 , , , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2012-11-10 , , Loss , , align=left,

, , Krush.24 , ,

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

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Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, 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 estim ...

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Marseille, France Marseille (; ; see below) is a city in southern France, the prefecture of the department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the Provence region, it is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, ...

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, , France vs. Lumpinee , ,

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Biarritz, France Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques Departments of France, department in the French Basque Country in Southern France, southwestern France. It is located fr ...

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, , Decision , , 5 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#cfc;" , 2007-11-17 , , Win , , align=left, Delom Carrilho , , Premier Round , ,

Lille, France Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

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, , Decision , , 5 , , 3:00 , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

Official Krush profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozkul, Yetkin Living people 1986 births Turkish male kickboxers Featherweight kickboxers Lightweight kickboxers Turkish male Muay Thai practitioners Turkish male taekwondo practitioners Turkish expatriate sportspeople in France Turkish expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands People from Akdeniz, Mersin Sportspeople from Mersin Province Martial artists from Paris 21st-century Turkish sportsmen