It’s always special when King of Kings returns to Vilnius, Lithuania for a KOK World Series event.
Big crowds of over 10,000 fans turn out to see the events held at the Siemens Arena, with top Lithuanian fighters competing with top talent from overseas.
This Saturday’s KOK 69 fight card is no exception. KOK has put together a stacked card, which includes a KOK World Lightweight Title fight, the return of an Ultimate Fighter veteran, and a light heavyweight match up between popular Sergej “Kuvalda” Maslobojev and the dangerous Fraser Weightman.
Matei Defends Against Viksraitis
Rugged Vitalie Matei of Moldova makes his first defense of the KOK Lightweight Title against top contender Henrikas Viksraitis of Lithuania.
Matei is used to fighting away from Moldova. He’s faced Estonian star Mirko Moissar in Tallinn, and won a contender’s tournament in Latvia last year. His best weapons are probably his boxing and footwork.
Viksraitis is more of a technician, and shown good counterpunching and all-round skills. He’ll also have the big hometown crowd behind him. It should be a good one.
Lithuanian Sledgehammer Battles British KO Artist
Lithuanian star Sergej Maslobojev is regarded as one of the world’s top light heavyweights.
“Kuvalda”,(Sledgehammer in English), is the reigning KOK Light Heavyweight (-93 kg) Champion and recently went undefeated in the ONE Super Series.
Maslobojev faces a dangerous opponent in Saturday’s non-title bout. Weightman is a veteran of GLORY and Road to GLORY, and competed at the KOK event at York Hall last summer.
The British fighter scores most of his victories by stoppage (14 KOs in 22 wins), and with Maslobojev also known as a hard-hitter, this one may not last the distance.
Stoliarenko, Forsberg, Petrauskas
KOK fight cards are often multi-discipline and feature MMA and boxing matches, in addition to KOK rules kickboxing.
Saturday’s event features KOK rules kickboxing (no throws or elbows), MMA, professional boxing, and full-rules Muay Thai.
Julija Stoliarenko, who recently competed on The Ultimate Fighter TV series, returns to KOK. Stoliarenko faces Natalia Diachkova of the Russian Federation in an MMA rules bout in the 62 kg weight category.
In another MMA bout, Sambo World Cup winner Sergei Firsov meets Tomas Pakutinskas.
Number two ranked middleweight Daniel Forsberg of Finland faces Tomas Steponkevicius in a fight to be held under Muay Thai rules. Forsberg fights out of the Turku Muay Thai gym in Finland. His teammate Lauri Suomela faces young Lithuanian contender Jan Naus in a 69 kg kickboxing contest.
In a boxing match up, 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalist Evaldas Petrauskas meets Nadzir Bakhshyiev. Petrauskas turned pro last September, and looks for his second win in as many bouts.
How to Watch/Fight Card
Saturday’s KOK 69 event will be broadcast worldwide.
FightBox HD will broadcast all the action beginning at 18:30 local Vilnius time, which is 16:30 in London and 12:30 p.m. in New York. Fans who don’t have access to the channel from their cable provider can watch via filmboxlive.
The action will also be broadcast internationally on the KOK Fights TV platform. Currently, there’s an early bird discount special for fans interested in purchasing the event.
As well KOK federation have signed new contract with another broadcaster PLAY7TV.com and you are able to watch the live streaming there as well.
Here is the fight card (subject to change).
All bouts are under KOK rules unless otherwise indicated.
KOK World Series Fights (Start Time: 22:00 Local Time, 20:00 London, 4 p.m. New York)
-93 kg: Fraser Weightman (United Kingdom) vs. Sergej Maslobojev (Lithuania)
-71 kg: Mikhail Supredka (Belarus) vs. Mindaugas Narauskas (Lithuania)
-65 kg: Saliou Mouhamadou (Italy) vs. Igor Osinin (Lithuania)
-85 kg (Muay Thai): Daniel Forsberg (Finland) vs. Tomas Steponkevicius (Lithuania)
-69 kg: Lauri Suomela (Finland) vs. Jan Naus (Lithuania)
FightBox Hero’s Series (Start Time: 18:30 Local Time, 16:30 London, 12:30 p.m. New York)
-71 kg: Vitalie Matei (c) (Moldova) vs. Henrikas Viksraitis (Lithuania)
+93 kg (MMA): Sergei Firsov (Belarus) vs. Tomas Pakutinskas (Lithuania)
-Junior Middleweight (Boxing): Nadzir Bakhshyiev (Belarus) vs. Evaldas Petrauskas (Lithuania)
-75 kg: Danilo Mangione (Italy) vs. Raimondas Avlasevicius (Lithuania)
-62 kg (MMA): Natalia Diachkova (Russian Federation) vs. Julija Stoliarenko (Lithuania)
-75 kg (MMA): Mindaugas Verzbickas (Lithuania) vs. Vitoldas Jagelo (Lithuania)
-80 kg: Daniel Kolasinski (Poland) vs. Ricardas Kulis (Lithuania)
-62 kg (MMA): Tekle Iaganashvili (Georgia) vs. Ernesta Kareckaite (Lithuania)
-67 kg: Hubert Dylewski (Poland) vs. Mantas Pultarazinskas (Lithuania)
Preliminary Fights
-85 kg: Paulius Mitkus (Lithuania) vs. Naglis Kanisauskas (Lithuania)
-85 kg (MMA): Dmitry Zasiniets (Belarus) vs. Erikas Golubovskis (Lithuania)
-67 kg: Lukas Banevicius (Lithuania) vs. Laurynas Sriubiskis (Lithuania)
-60 kg: Ismail Alkasi (Cyprus) vs. Dovydas Levickis (Lithuania)
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