Murat Direkçi

Murat Direkçi
Born	Murat Direkçi July 17, 1979 (1979-07-17) (age 32) Antwerp, Belgium
Nationality	Turkish Belgian
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	70 kg (150 lb; 11 st)
Division	Welterweight
Style	Kickboxing, Muay Thai
Team	Universal Gym
Kickboxing record
Total	82
Wins	68
By knockout	57
Losses	12
By knockout	2
Draws	2
last updated on: November 10, 2010

Murat Direkçi (born 17 July 1979,^[1] Antwerp, Belgium) is a Turkish-Belgian welterweight kickboxer, fighting out of Universal Gym, Antwerp, Belgium. He is a former 2 time It's Showtime 70MAX Champion.

Early life

Direkçi was born in Antwerp, Belgium as the youngest son of three siblings to a family originally from Konya, Derebucak, Turkey. His sister Nuray passed away at the age of 4 due to a brain tumor, and his brother Ercan died in 2004 as a result of a traffic accident at 29. After completing his school education, Direkçi studied at technical school with the intention of becoming an electrician. After a short while, he found a job as a doorman at a nightclub in Antwerp, however, and took up this career.

Career

Direkçi began training in martial arts at the age of 15 and was originally trained by Jan Gooyvaers. In 1999, he began training under Jan Pasztjerik.

After becoming the Belgian, European and World champion in kickboxing and muay Thai, he made his K-1 debut against Fikri Tijarti at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Amsterdam in May 2006, winning by technical knockout in round 3. In February the following year, he faced former K-1 world champion Albert Kraus at the K-1 World MAX 2007 Japan Tournament in Tokyo and shocked the world by knocking Kraus out in the first round. After winning two more fights in K-1, over Joerie Mes and Satoruvaschicoba, he took part in the final 16 of the 2008 K-1 World MAX at K-1 World MAX 2008 World Championship Tournament Final 16 in April 2008 but lost to Yoshihiro Sato via decision.

On February 8, 2009, he became the first ever It's Showtime 70MAX Champion by defeating Armenian Gago Drago via technical knockout at Fights at the Border presents: It's Showtime 2009 in his hometown of Antwerp. He made his first defence of the title against Morocco's Chahid Oulad El Hadj at It's Showtime 2009 Lommel in October 2009, before losing it to Congolese Muay Thai fighter Chris Ngimbi at Yiannis Evgenikos presents: It’s Showtime Athens in December 2010.

Titles

• 2009-10 It's Showtime 70MAX Champion (2 title defences)
• 2003 W.F.C.A. Thai-Boxing World Champion -70 kg
• 2003 Kick-Boxing European Champion
• Belgium Champion (7 Times)

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record

68 Wins (57 (T)KO's, 11 decisions), 12 Losses, 2 Draws Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time 2011-09-24 Chris Ngimbi BFN Group & Music Hall presents: It's Showtime "Fast & Furious 70MAX" Brussels, Belgium 2010-12-11 Loss Chris Ngimbi Yiannis Evgenikos presents: It’s Showtime Athens Athens, Greece Decision (5-0) 5 3:00 Loses his It's Showtime 70MAX Championship. 2010-10-10 Win Enriko Kehl Mix Fight Gala 10 Darmstadt, Germany KO (Left Hook) 1 2:37 2010-05-29 Loss Artur Kyshenko It's Showtime 2010 Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands Decision (4-1) 3 3:00 2009-11-21 Win William Diender It's Showtime 2009 Barneveld Barneveld, Netherlands Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 2009-10-24 Win Chahid Oulad El Hadj It's Showtime 2009 Lommel Lommel, Belgium TKO (Doctor Stoppage, Cut) 1 Retains It's Showtime 70MAX Championship. 2009-05-16 Win Brian Lo-A-Njoe It's Showtime 2009 Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands TKO (Referee Stoppage) 1 2:23 2009-02-08 Win Gago Drago Fights at the Border presents: It's Showtime 2009 Antwerp, Belgium TKO (Referee Stoppage) 1 2:23 Wins inaugural It's Showtime 70MAX Championship. 2008-11-29 Win Perry Ubeda It's Showtime 2008 Eindhoven Eindhoven, Netherlands Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 2008-10-05 Loss Tarik El Idrissi Tough Is Not Enough Rotterdam, Netherlands TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 2 Fight was for W.I.P.U. "King of the Ring" K-1 Rules super welterweight title -70 kg. 2008-05-24 Loss Chahid Oulad El Hadj Gentleman Promotions Fightnight Tilburg, Netherlands TKO (Referee Stoppage) 3 2008-04-09 Loss Yoshihiro Sato K-1 World MAX 2008 Final 16 Hiroshima, Japan Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 Fails to qualify for K-1 World MAX 2008 Final 8. 2008-03-15 Draw Faldir Chahbari It's Showtime 75MAX Trophy Final 2008, Super Fight 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Decision Draw 3 3:00 2007-10-03 Win Satoruvaschicoba K-1 World MAX 2007 Final, Reserve Fight Tokyo, Japan KO (Left Hook) 2 0:39 2007-06-23 Win Joerie Mes K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 1 1:40 2007-03-24 Draw Salah Edine Ait Naceur It's Showtime Trophy 2007, Super Fight Lommel, Belgium Decision Draw 3 3:00 2007-02-05 Win Albert Kraus K-1 World MAX 2007 Japan Tournament Tokyo, Japan KO (Left Hook) 1 1:27 2006-11-12 Win Ray Staring 2H2H Ahoy Rotterdam, Netherlands TKO (Doctor Stoppage) 2006-05-13 Win Fikri Tijarti K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands TKO (Referee Stoppage) 3 2:10 2006-02-03 Win Abdil Boukari WFCA Gala Roosendaal, Netherlands Decision 5 3:00 2005-11-13 Loss Faldir Chahbari WFCA Thai-Kickbox Gala Nijmegen, Netherlands Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 Fight was for W.F.C.A. Thai-boxing junior middleweight European title -69.85 kg. 2005-09-25 Win Roland Vörös Thaiboxing Gala, Arenahal Deurne, Belgium TKO 2 2005-06-12 Loss Gago Drago It's Showtime 2005 Amsterdam Amsterdam, Netherlands Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 2005-04-30 Win Melvin Rozenblad Queens Fight Night Eindhoven, Netherlands KO 2004-02-28 Win Janos Szenasi Thaiboxing Gala Mons, Belgium Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 2004-01-12 Win Nadir Larecht Fights at the Border III Lommel, Belgium KO 1 2003-10-18 Win Anthony Bassnett Gala in Deurne Deurne, Belgium TKO 3 Wins W.F.C.A. Thai-Boxing World title -70kg. Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest       Notes

See also

• List of K-1 events
• List of It's Showtime champions
• List of male kickboxers
• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of kickboxing organizations

References

1. ^ Fighter Profile

External links

• [1]
• Universal GYM official Web page
• Direkci vs Tijarti
• K-1 World Max Japan Tournament Fight Card

Persondata
Name	Direkci, Murat
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	July 17, 1979
Place of birth	Antwerp, Belgium
Date of death
Place of death