Kunlun Fight facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kunlun Fight

Type	Private
Industry	Kickboxing promotion
Founded	January 2014; 11 years ago (2014-01)
Headquarters	Beijing, China
Key people	Jiang Hua (Founder)
Owner	Kunsun Media

Kunlun Fight (or KLF) is a big company from Beijing, China, that puts on exciting kickboxing shows. It started in 2014 and is now known as one of the best kickboxing groups in the world. Their events are shown on Jiangsu Television in China and on many other TV channels around the globe.

The very first Kunlun Fight event happened in Pattaya, Thailand, on January 25, 2014. Since then, they have held more than 20 events every year.

History

How it Started

The first event in Pattaya, Thailand, on January 25, 2014, featured exciting fights. It also had a special 4-person kickboxing tournament. Famous fighters like Andrei Kulebin took part. After this first show, Kunlun Fight held two more events in Thailand.

Signing Buakaw Banchamek

On June 7, 2015, Kunlun Fight announced big news. They signed Buakaw Banchamek, one of the most famous kickboxers ever. He had won the K-1 World Max Championship twice. Buakaw signed a deal for six fights, and he has kept fighting with Kunlun Fight even after that first contract.

The Business Side

In March 2016, Kunlun Fight got a lot of money from big investors. This made the company worth over $350 million! This made Kunlun Fight the most valuable combat sports company in China. By early 2017, its value grew to over $500 million.

Kunlun Fight also has its own gyms and places for events. These include the Kunlun Fight World Combat Sports Center in Beijing. There is also the Kunlun Fight Stadium in Tongling, Anhui, China.

70 kg Tournaments

Kunlun Fight holds a big world championship tournament every year for fighters weighing 70 kilograms (about 154 pounds).

• In 2014, Dzianis Zuev won the first tournament. He beat Victor Nagbe in the final fight.
• For 2015, the tournament became much bigger with 64 fighters! Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong became the champion. Many top kickboxers competed, like Marat Grigorian and Superbon Banchamek.
• The 2016 tournament was won by Superbon Banchamek. He even beat the previous year's winner, Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong.
• In 2017, Marat Grigorian won the tournament. He defeated Superbon Banchamek in the final.
• The 2018 tournament champion was Davit Kiria.
• The 2019 tournament was planned for December 31, 2019, but it was put off. It was then set for March 8, 2020. However, it had to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The 70 kg tournament is set to return in 2024. It will start on April 27 at Kunlun Fight 97 in Beijing.

Kunlun Combat Professional League

On September 22, 2018, Kunlun Fight started a new league called Kunlun Combat League. This league is for up-and-coming fighters. It has 16 teams and fights in 6 different weight classes. Many league events are held at a Kunlun Fight venue in Tongling. In just a few months in 2018, 71 events were held!

Now, the league starts in March with 16 teams. They are split into two groups. The best teams from each group then move on to a knockout stage. The final event happens at the end of the year.

In 2019, the league changed its name to Kunlun Combat Professional League (KCPL). Its first full season began on March 16, 2019. Team Shenzhen won the first season. They beat Team Shenyang in the finals on December 24, 2019.

The 2020 season was also affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It was supposed to start in March. The season was then moved to mid-May, with no fans watching live.

Kunlun Fight City Hero

This series of events started in 2016. It is a third-level series that includes both professional and amateur fights.

Kunlun Fight Events

Broadcast Coverage

Kunlun Fight events are shown on many TV channels and online platforms. Some current broadcasters include Jiangsu Television and ByteDance platforms like Douyin and Xigua Video.

In the past, events were shown on channels like Fox Sports Asia and Kix in Asia. They were also on RMC Sport 4, Fight Network, and FightBox in many countries. Other past broadcasters include Workpoint TV in Thailand and Eurosport. In 2017, Kunlun Fight MMA events were shown monthly in China on CCTV-5.

Rules of the Fights

Kunlun Fight mostly holds fights under kickboxing rules. However, they also have fights under MMA rules. Sometimes, they even have Muay Thai, Boxing, and Lethwei fights.

• Kickboxing rules: Fighters cannot hold onto each other for a long time. They can use knees when holding briefly. No throws or elbows are allowed. If a fighter gets a yellow card, they lose 25% of their prize money and one point. A red card means they are disqualified.
• Mixed martial arts rules: These fights follow the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.
• Muay Thai rules: Knees are allowed to the body, legs, and head. Fighters can hold and throw each other. Elbows are also allowed to the body, legs, and head. A yellow card means losing 25% of prize money and one point. A red card means disqualification.

Weight Classes

Champions

Kickboxing Champions

Tournament Champions

Weight Class	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date	Tournament Bracket
2014 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Dzianis Zuev	Victor Nagbe	Kunlun Fight 13	November 16, 2014	70 kg World Max Tournament 2014 bracket
2015 100+ kg World Championship Tournament	Jahfarr Wilnis	Hesdy Gerges	Kunlun Fight 26	June 7, 2015	Super Heavyweight Tournament 2015 bracket
2016 Female 52 kg World Championship Tournament	E Meidie	Anissa Meksen	Kunlun Fight 32	October 28, 2015	Female 52 kg Tournament 2015 bracket
2015 80 kg World Championship Tournament	Artur Kyshenko	Dmitry Valent	Kunlun Fight 35	December 19, 2015	80 kg Tournament 2015 bracket
2015 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong	Enriko Gogokhia	Kunlun Fight 37	January 23, 2016	70 kg World Max Tournament 2015 bracket
2016 75 kg World Championship Tournament	Zheng Zhaoyu	Zhang Yang	Kunlun Fight 47	July 10, 2016	75 Kg Tournament 2016 bracket
2016 65 kg World Championship Tournament	Wei Ninghui	Abdellah Ezbiri	Kunlun Fight 51	September 10, 2016	65 Kg Tournament 2016 bracket
2016 100+ kg World Championship Tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Tsotne Rogava	Kunlun Fight 52	September 11, 2016
2016 80 kg World Championship Tournament	Alexander Stetsurenko	Dmitry Valent	Kunlun Fight 55	December 10, 2016
2016 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Superbon Banchamek	Jomthong Chuwattana	Kunlun Fight 56	January 1, 2017	70 kg World Max Tournament 2016 bracket
2017 70 kg World Championship Tournament	Marat Grigorian	Superbon Banchamek	Kunlun Fight 69	February 4, 2018	70 kg World Championship Tournament bracket

One Night Tournament Champions

Weight Class	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date	Tournament Bracket
4-Man 67 kg tournament	Petsangnuan Luktupfah	Andrei Kulebin	Kunlun Fight 1	January 25, 2014	67 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 80 kg tournament	Simon Marcus	Vehas Topking	Kunlun Fight 2	February 16, 2014	80kg tournament bracket
Female 52 kg tournament	Jemyma Betrian	E Meidie	Kunlun Fight 3	March 30, 2014	Female 52 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 95 kg tournament	Massinissa Hamaili	Ivan Bartek	Kunlun Fight 4	April 27, 2014	95 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 70 kg tournament	Victor Nagbe	Li Zikai	Kunlun Fight 5	June 1, 2014	70 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 100 kg tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Dmitry Bezus	Kunlun Fight 6	June 29, 2014	100 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 75 kg tournament	Xu Zhenguang	Kiryl Chanka	Kunlun Fight 8	August 24, 2014	75 kg tournament bracket
Female 60 kg tournament	Valentina Shevchenko	Irina Mazepa	Kunlun Fight 9	August 31, 2014	Female 60 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 95 kg tournament	Andrei Gerasimchuk	Wang Chongyang	Kunlun Fight 10	September 13, 2014	95 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 65 kg tournament	Yang Zhuo	Phosa Nopphorn	Kunlun Fight 12	October 26, 2014	60 kg tournament bracket
4-Man 75 kg tournament	Nuerla Mulali	Wang Yuhu	Kunlun Fight 34	November 21, 2015	75 kg tournament bracket
8-Man 61.5 kg tournament	Saeksan Or. Kwanmuang	Wang Wenfeng	Kunlun Fight 66	November 5, 2017
8-Man 100+ kg tournament	Roman Kryklia	Iraj Azizpour	Kunlun Fight 80	February 24, 2019
8-Man 75 kg tournament	Vitaly Gurkov	Saiyok Pumpanmuang	Kunlun Fight 81	July 27, 2019
8-Man 61 kg tournament	Ali Zarinfar	Jianglong Li	Kunlun Fight 94	January 19, 2024

Women's Lightweight Champions

-60 kg (-132.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
2	Wang Cong def. Valentina Shevchenko	Kunlun Fight 33 Changde, China	October 31, 2015
1	Valentina Shevchenko def. Irina Mazepa	Kunlun Fight 9 Shangqiu, China	August 31, 2014	1. def. Chali Bassinah at Kunlun Fight 11 on October 5, 2014

Muay Thai Champions

Middleweight Championship

-70 kg (-154.3 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Buakaw Banchamek def. Dylan Salvador	Kunlun Fight 53 Beijing, China	September 24, 2016

MMA Champions

Middleweight Championship

84 kg (185 lbs); this division used to be 79 kg (175 lbs) until 2017.

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Wang Sai def. Sergey Proskuryakov	Kunlun Fight 36 Shanghai, China	January 9, 2016	1. def. Horiuchi Yasuhiro at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 6 on October 21, 2016

Welterweight Championship

77 kg (170 lbs); this division used to be 75 kg (165 lbs) until 2017.

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
2	Zhang Lipeng def. Beibit Nazarov	Kunlun Fight 37 Sanya, China	January 23, 2016	1. def. Takashi Noto at Kunlun Fight 43 on April 26, 2016
1	Beibit Nazarov def. Bruno Amorim	Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 2 Almaty, Kazakhstan	April 4, 2015	1. def. Wu Haotian at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 3 on June 7, 2015 2. def. Massimo Capusella at Kunlun Fight - Cage Fight Series 4 on October 4, 2015

Flyweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Oscar Suarez Fleitas def. Zhang Meixuan	Kunlun Fight MMA 14	August 28, 2017

Female Strawweight Championship

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
1	Weili Zhang def. Maira De Souza	Kunlun Fight 53 Shanghai, China	September 24, 2016	1. def. Karla Benitez at Kunlun Fight MMA 7 on December 15, 2016

Notable Fighters

Kickboxing

67 kg (143.3 lb) and under

70 kg (154.3 lb)

75 - 85 kg (165.3 - 187.4 lb)

95 kg (209.4 lb) and over

Women

MMA

See also

In Spanish: Kunlun Fight para niños

• Kunlun Fight World Combat Sports Center