Karate Combat returns to Miami, Florida’s Mediapro Studios tonight as Karate Combat 39 goes down live with ten fights on tap.
The main event is an all-Brazil affair, as lightweight champion and Pitbull Brothers product Luiz Rocha defends his belt against Lyoto Machida protege Bruno Souza. The champion will put his belt on the line for the first time tonight, despite having already fought as champion when he defeated welterweight champion Joshua Quayhagen in a Superfight at Karate Combat 35. This fight will be his 11th in the promotion, and is coming into the contest with an impressive 8-2 record.
Since debuting with the promotion at Karate Combat 35, UFC veteran “The Tiger” Souza has competed in three of the last four events for the promotion. He won his aforementioned debut against Maciej Tercjak, then dropped his next fight in a razor-close decision to former champion Edgars Skrivers in the Karate Combat 37 main event. His last fight, the co-main event of Karate Combat 38 against Bruno Assis which he won by decision after a rare overtime round, has widely been considered one of the most exciting fights in promotional history.
The co-main event comes in the middleweight division, as legendary striker Raymond Daniels and UFC veteran Sasha Palatnikov both look to rebound from their first loss in the promotion. After dominating Franklin Mina at Karate Combat 35, Daniels lost an interim welterweight title fight to Rafael Aghayev in the main event of Karate Combat 37, which is the event which Palatnikov debuted on. “Gwei-Lo” scored a TKO victory over Rob Buxton at that event, but was stifled in a decision loss to Adrian Hadribeaj in the next event at Karate Combat 38. He will compete in on the promotion’s third straight card as both fighters look to stake their claim for a title shot against champion Ross Levine in a division desperate for new challengers.
Before that is a lightweight matchup between Shahzaib Rindh, who is coming off of an electric debut at Karate Combat 38, and the always-game Frenchman Tommy Azouz. A pair of debutants will kick off the main card in the quickly-developing heavyweight division, as UFC veteran Antonio Arroyo battles American Shotokan specialist Cody Jerabek.
This event will also debut a new rule change that was announced as a result of the aforementioned Souza/Assis fight at the last event. If a fight is a split decision after three rounds, fights will now automatically go to a fourth overtime round, where the winner of that round will win the fight.
MMA Sucka has fight fans covered with Karate Combat 39 results, with the event available live on YouTube starting at 7pm ET/4pm PT.
Karate Combat 39 Results
Main Card
Luiz Rocha def. Bruno Souza via Unanimous Decision, defends Karate Combat Lightweight Championship
Raymond Daniels def. Sasha Palatnikov via Unanimous Decision
Shahzaib Rindh def. Tommy Azouz via Unanimous Decision
Antonio Arroyo def. Cody Jerabek via TKO (Ankle Injury) at 1:50 of Round 2
Preliminary Card
Gabriel Stankunas def. Ignacio Capllonch via Unanimous Decision After Overtime Round
Alberto Ramirez def. Maciej Tercjak via Unanimous Decision
Elijah Everill def. Rahul Bhowmick via KO (Head Kick and Punches) at 0:49 of Round 1
Ana Luiza Ferreira da Silva def. Nathalia Dinis via KO (Left Hook) at 0:23 of Round 1
Zakaria Benbouchta def. Adam Rosa Ramos via Unanimous Decision After Overtime Round
Will Esparza def. Jonathan Broad via Split Decision After Overtime Round
