On Saturday, July 8th in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Enfusion Live returns with Enfusion Live #51. The headliner on this one is one of the best in the world in Iman Barlow taking on Canada’s own Ashley Nichols.

Fightcard
Iman Barlow vs. Ashley Nichols
Thomas Dalziel vs. Ariel Abreu
Mark MacKinnon vs. Joey George
Justin Condie vs. Matthew Kendell
Chris McMillan vs. Kyle Nelson
Lenny Wheeler vs. Desmond Johnson

Even more bad news for Enfusion Live fans looking forward to more Mohammed Jaraya fights in the Enfusion League: he’s out. It’s official, as Edin van Os, the promotion’s owner, confirmed it in an interview with Combat Point (see below with subtitles). At least sort of. Van Os claimed that there would be a punishment handed down to Jaraya and that they’d have to work around the suspension, but that he will not compete in the final tournament in Abu Dabi as punishment.

MMAPlus has a part of the transcript from the above interview where van Os talks about a blow to the Enfusion Live image considering how much they’ve promoted Jaraya and relied on him as one of the promotion’s stars.

“The reactions of Jaraya and the Fighting Talents Den Bosch team are inexcusable and can’t be ignored,” van Os stated. “The last couple of years we’ve done a lot to promote Mohammed. He’s an example for a lot of people, but didn’t realise it at that moment. After we talked, he has realised it and apologised to the FOG.”

Van Os confirms that the suspension should allow for Jaraya to fight in other parts of the world, but due to the FOG’s agreements in a few European countries — such as Belgium where they had scheduled Jaraya to participate in a fight there — that it would be wise to remove him from the league. The decision to remove him from the league was the promotion’s, claims van Os, as further fights would happen outside of FOG’s reach. That being said, for a promotion that wishes to continue running shows in the FOG’s jurisdiction, defying them seems like a bad idea. Other suspensions include the upcoming -85kg league fighter Hicham el Gaoui, who is serving a six-month suspension.

It’s unclear if Jaraya will take place in the scheduled bout in Belgium or not. There are those saying that he will, while other sources are claiming that to do so would put the promotion’s ability to run shows in the Netherlands in jeopardy.

In other FOG news, Nordin Ben Moh was denied his appeal from his fight with Tayfun Ozcan for an illegal blow, but Enfusion has decided to take matters into their own hands and award Ben Moh another point in the league, making things even stranger.

Bottom line: Do not attack an official. Ever.

On September 16th Enfusion Live kicks off their 85kg Enfusion League with a big event in Zwolle, the Netherlands. With three big league fights headlining the card they also found room for the vacant Women’s 61kg World Championship to be decided between Niahm Kinehan and Orinta van der Zee.

The league fights are Ulrik Bokeme vs. Mehdi Bouanane, Filip Verlinden vs. Loren Javier Jorge and Ibrahim el Boustati vs. Mauricio Costa Cardoso.

Enfusion Live #52 Zwolle, The Netherlands Sept. 16
72.5kg: Khalid el Bakouri vs. Robin Ciric
72.5kg: Endy Semeleer vs. Regilio Ven Den Ent
Enfusion 61kg World Championship: Niahm Kinehan vs. Orinta van der Zee
72.5kg: Aziz Kallah vs. Anour Lahmaj
85kg Enfusion League: Ulrik Bokeme vs. Mehdi Bouanane
85kg Enfusion League: Filip Verlinden vs. Loren Javier Jorge
85kg Enfusion League: Ibrahim el Boustati vs. Mauricio Costa Cardoso

For five years now, Enfusion has been bringing to the world its own brands of interesting events. Most of us in the kickboxing world have forgone their extraneous branding of Enfusion Live for their proper events, Enfusion Kickboxing Talents for their undercards, Enfusion Rookies for their up-and-comers and Enfusion Reality for their reality television series. Most of us just call everything “Enfusion” and let the rest be sorted out afterwards.

As the promotion continues to run more and more events, acquiring bigger and better names in the world of kickboxing and hosting events in new and exciting venues, they’ve decided to consolidate and rebrand everything to just one, simple name: Enfusion. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Alongside their media specialty partner of Fighting Spirit, Enfusion is looking to take a bold move forward without the overdone nomenclature.

This rebranding begins on their September 16th event, Enfusion #52. So yes, that’s not Enfusion Live #52, it’s simply Enfusion #52. That should make things a bit more simple.

This Saturday, September 30th, Enfusion Live puts forth Enfusion Live #53 in what is one of the strongest cards of any promotion this year to date. There is more Enfusion League 72.5kg action featuring Nordin Ben Moh vs. Diogo Neves, Tayfun Ozcan vs. Redouan Laarkoubi and, remarkably, Mohammed Jaraya vs. Yassin Baitar, this coming in the wake of Jaraya’s suspension in the Netherlands by the FOG for assaulting a judge post-fight.

Jahfarr Wilnis will look to defend his Enfusion Heavyweight World Title against Louis Tavares and the main event is one of the best fights all year in Mohamed Khamal taking on Superbon Banchamek.

Enfusion Live #53 Antwerp Belgium 30.9.2017

21.00 Local start time

3X3 67Kg FEMALE
Najat Hasnouni Alaoui (Morocco) Vs Dolly Mc Bean (The Netherlands)

2.3X3 67Kg

Youssef El Haji (Morocco) Vs Olivier De Feyter (Belgium)

3.3X3 72.5Kg ENFUSION LEAGUE

Nordin Ben Moh (Morocco) Vs Diogo Neves (Portugal)

4.3X3 72.5Kg ENFUSION LEAGUE

Tayfun Ozcan (Turkey) Vs Redouan Laarkoubi (The Netherlands)

5.3X3 72.5Kg ENFUSION LEAGUE

Mohammed Jaraya (Morocco) Vs Yassin Baitar (Belgium)

6. 5X3 Heavyweight ENFUSION WORLD TITLE

Jahfarr Wilnis (The Netherlands) Vs Louis Tavares (The Netherlands)
7. 3X3 70Kg

Mohamed Khamal (Morocco) Vs Superbon Banchamek (Thailand)

Enfusion presented Enfusion Live 53 this weekend in a blockbuster event that saw Superbon Banchamek continue his reign of dominance in the realm of 70kg kickboxing by defeating the always great Mohamed Khamal. Luis Tavares upset Enfusion Heavyweight Champion Jahfarr Wilnis via decision on a night that wasn’t great for either Wilnis brother.

Jaraya returned to action after being suspended in the Netherlands for assaulting a judge after an unfavorable decision, defeating Yassin Baitar in the Enfusion League, while Tayfun Ozcan was able to lock up the league with a round one TKO over Redouan Laarkoubi. Nordin Ben Moh defeated Diogo Neves in the league as well.

Enfusion Live 53 
Superbon Banchamek (R3 – Decision) Mohamed Khamal
Enfusion Heavyweight Championship: Luis Tavares (R3 – Decision) Jahfarr Wilnis(C)
Mohammed Jaraya (R3 – Decision) Yassin Baitar
Tayfun Ozcan (R1 – TKO) Redouan Laarkoubi
Nordin Ben Moh (R3 – Decision) Diogo Neves

Kickboxing promotion Enfusion will be celebrating five years of its existence in 2018 and doing so in style on their 5th Anniversary event on February 17th with the return of K-1 legend Andy Souwer to fight Enfusion League winner Tayfun Ozcan in a blockbuster main event. Souwer, who hasn’t competed in kickboxing since late 2016 and has instead been focused on professional MMA, amassing a 2-2 record since 2015, will make his return to the sport that made him famous against one of the very best 70kg fighters.

Souwer last fought for Enfusion in April of 2015 when he competed against Jonay Risco and lost a controversial decision in the extra round to the Spanish fighter in Spain. He competed once prior in Enfusion, scoring a dramatic knockout victory over Ardalan Sheikholeslami.

Enfusion’s 5th Anniversary show will be held in Eindhoven on February 17th.

On December 8th Enfusion will be holding an 8-man, 100,000euros tournament at 72kg featuring the best in the world. Already qualified for the tournament are Nordin Ben Moh, Superbon Banchamek, Mohamed Khamal and Diogi Calado. On November 11th in the Netherlands Enfusion will find the rest of the field with some huge qualifying fights.

Yassin Baitar and Mohamed Didouh will vie for the reserve fight, as will Marvin Monteiro and Anour Lahmaj.

For the actual tournament Jordan Watson will take on Endy Semeleer, Regilio van den Ent takes on Redouan Laarkoubi, Aziz Kallah takes on Ludo Millet and fan-favorite Tayfun Ozcan will take on Petchchaiyo Banchamek.

Enfusion Live #55 Amsterdam The Netherlands 11.11.2017

21.30 Local start time GMT Time 19.30

1.

3X3 61Kg FEMALE

Chellina Chirino (Curacao)                       Vs       Michaela Michl (Germany)

2.

3X3 72Kg RESERVE FIGHT

Mohamed Didouh (Morocco)      Vs       Yassin Baitar (Belgium)

3.

3X3 72Kg RESERVE FIGHT

Marvin Monteiro (Cape Verde)      Vs       Anour Lahmaj (Morocco)

4.

3X3 72Kg €100,000 Tournament Qualifier

Jordan Watson (England)                         Vs       Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands)

5.

3X3 72Kg €100,000 Tournament Qualifier

Regilio van Den Ent (The Netherlands) Vs       Redouan Laarkoubi (The Netherlands)

6.

3X3 72Kg €100,000 Tournament Qualifier

Aziz Kallah (Morocco)                      Vs       Ludo Millet (France)

7.

3X3 72Kg €100,000 Tournament Qualifier

Tayfun Ozcan (Turkey)                    Vs       Petchchaiyo Banchamek (Thailand)

Enfusion held Enfusion #55 in Amsterstam this past Saturday, featuring qualifiers for their -72kg 100,000euro tournament. Yassin Baitar defeated Paul Jansen in the reserve fight, while Endy Semeleer shocked the world by picking up a TKO victory over Jordon Watson in an extension round. Redouan Laarkoubi picked up a 4th round decision over Regilio van Den Ent while Aziz Kallah TKO’d Ludo Millet in the third round. Fan favorite Tayfun Ozcan beat Petchchaiyo via decision to earn his spot.

RESULTS Enfusion #55,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Saturday 11.11.2017

1.
3X3 FEMALE
61Kg
Chellina Chirino (Curacao) Vs Ruby Mesu (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Chellina Chirino (Curacao)

2.
3×3 RESERVE TOURNAMENT FIGHT
-72Kg
Yassin Baitar (Belgium) Vs Paul Jansen (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Yassin Baitar (Belgium) POINTS

3.
3X3 €1000,000 TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER
-72Kg
Jordan Watson (England) Vs Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands) 4TH RD TKO

4.
3X3 €1000,000 TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER
-72Kg
Regilio van Den Ent (The Netherlands) Vs Redouan Laarkoubi (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Redouan Laarkoubi (The Netherlands) AFTER 4TH RD

5.
3X3 €1000,000 TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER
-72Kg
Aziz Kallah (Morocco) Vs Ludo Millet (France)
WINNER: Aziz Kallah (Morocco) RD 3 TKO

6.
3X3 €1000,000 TOURNAMENT QUALIFIER
-72Kg
Tayfun Ozcan (Turkey) Vs Petchchaiyo Banchamek (Thailand)
WINNER: Tayfun Ozcan (Turkey) POINTS

RESULTS Enfusion Talents #40, Amsterdam The Netherlands 11.11.2017

1.
3X3 -67Kg
Nabil Haryouli (Morocco) Vs Arthur Neyezhko (Russia)
WINNER: Nabil Haryouli (Morocco) RD 1 KO

2.
3X3 -67Kg
Yassine Ambari (Morocco) Vs Abdel Rahhab (Morocco)
WINNER: Yassine Ambari (Morocco) RD 1 TKO

3.
3X3 -63Kg
Deniz Demirkapu (Turkey) Vs Tarik Lyachat (Morocco)
WINNER: Deniz Demirkapu (Turkey) POINTS

4.
3X3 -72Kg
Marvin Monteiro (Cape Verde) Vs Anour Lahmaj (Morocco)
WINNER: Marvin Monteiro (Cape Verde) RD 1 KO

5.
3X3 Heavyweight
Marcello Adriaansz (Suriname) Vs Martin Pacas (Slovakia)
WINNER: Martin Pacas (Slovakia) RD 2 TKO

6.
20.27 3X3 -65Kg
Hamza Essalih (Morocco) Vs Islem Hamech (France)
WINNER: Hamza Essalih (Morocco) POINTS

RESULTS Enfusion Talents #41, Amsterdam The Netherlands 11.11.2017

1.
3X2 -60Kg
Roan Korver (The Netherlands) Vs Mahamed Ahmed (Somaila)
WINNER: Roan Korver (The Netherlands) POINTS

2.
3X2 -70Kg
Nino Van Vugt (The Netherlands) Vs Ismail Ouzgni (Morocco)
WINNER: Ismail Ouzgni (Morocco) RD 3 TKO

3.
3X3 -72.5Kg
Mohammed Ali El Hor (Morocco) Vs Bilal Lazaar (Morocco)
WINNER: Bilal Lazaar (Morocco) RD 1 TKO

4.
3X3 Heavyweight
Jeffrey Van Overbeek (The Netherlands) Vs Ashwin Chan a Hung (Surinam)
WINNER: Jeffrey Van Overbeek (The Netherlands) RD 1 KO

5.
3X3 -70Kg
Raci Bostanci (Armenia) Vs Sonny van Soest (Indonesia)
WINNER: Raci Bostanci (Armenia) PONITS AFTER 4TH RD

6.
3X3 -67Kg
Mohamed Boutassa (Morocco) Vs Ahmad Chikh Mousa (Syria)
WINNER: Mohamed Boutassa (Morocco) POINTS

7.
3X3 -75Kg
Serrano Voorn (The Netherlands) Vs Thomas Droeve (Indonesia)
WINNER: Thomas Droeve (Indonesia) RD 2 KO

Kickboxing is a sport that tends to just chug along. Events happen, fights happen, fighters win, they lose and occasionally something weird happens. Sometimes something REALLY weird happens, and what’s really odd is when it doesn’t involve Buakaw or Badr Hari. For the second time this year Enfusion is grabbing headlines for the strange actions of their fighters, and for the second time in Ibrahim el Boustati’s career in Enfusion he’s been involved in a mind-boggling result.

The first was his win over Filip Verlinden. Verlinden was originally announced as the winner of the fight, but el Boustati, a young fighter who prided himself on his undefeated record, ran a campaign to overturn the decision, finding himself victorious after months of appeals. Now, in his fight with Ulrik Bokeme, he was on the verge of being knocked out when he went down after the referee had separated the two men, and, inexplicably, looks to have taken a dive to score himself a disqualification victory.

Bokeme was on the road to a clear victory when the referee had called for the bell, but had yet to step in between the two men. Bokeme landed a shot “after the bell” and el Boustati went down and, in the eyes of some, was acting like he was knocked out after the bell and not really hurt. It’s difficult to determine definitively if he was playing possum and cheated his way to victory or if he was genuinely hurt, but the limited fan reaction out there, and those inside of the ring while announcing the result, seem to believe that it was all a big show.

Of course, Bokeme can’t publicly talk about the decision or have it overturned because it happened in the Enfusion League.

Some bits from the Enfusion league rules. Apply at random. pic.twitter.com/AxOzxQlAr4

— Kiksie (@KiksieDB) November 18, 2017

You be the judge.

RESULTS Enfusion #56,
Groningen, The Netherlands Saturday 18.11.2017

1. 3X3 FEMALE
54Kg
Ilsury Hendrikse (Colombia) Vs Georgina Van Der Linden (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Georgina Van Der Linden (The Netherlands) POINTS

2. 3X3
-80Kg
Robin Ciric (Serbia) Vs Santino Verbeek (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Robin Ciric (Serbia) Points after a 4th Rd

3. 5×3 ENFUSION WORLD TITLE
-63Kg
Soufiane Kaddouri (Morocco) Vs Ilyas Niya (Morocco)
WINNER: Soufiane Kaddouri (Morocco) Points

4. 3X3 ENFUSION LEAGUE
-85Kg
Loren Javier Jorge (Spain) Vs Mehdi Bouanane (France)
WINNER: Loren Javier Jorge (Spain) Points

5. 3X3 ENFUSION LEAGUE
-85Kg
Mauricio Costa Cardoso (Brazil) Vs Filip Verlinden (Belgium)
WINNER: Filip Verlinden (Belgium) Points

6. 3X3 ENFUSION LEAGUE
-85Kg
Ibrahim El Boustati (Morocco) Vs Ulrik Bokeme (Congo)
WINNER: Ibrahim El Boustati (Morocco) Disqulification to Ulrik 1st Rd

7. 3X3
-75Kg
Nordin Van Roosmalen (The Netherlands) Vs Brahim Kallah (The Netherlands)
WINNER: Nordin Van Roosmalen (The Netherlands)

The big news coming out of this past weekend was that elusive bad boy of the kickboxing world, Badr Hari, had finally put his name on the dotted line with GLORY kickboxing. For the 33-year-old fighter who has lost years off of the prime of his career by searching for money fights while spending time in and out of the courtrooms and prison cells, this was the most logical decision and the best way to cement his legacy. Kickboxing isn’t exactly a sport that a fighter can jump around from promoter to promoter and make a steady living like boxing in Europe.

Of course, there are options out there, albeit GLORY or Kunlun were the most logical. There are other European promotions and Enfusion has been making a serious push over the last year to penetrate the marketplace a bit more than their regional European audience that they’ve reached since their inception in 2012. One of the names that Enfusion co-promoters have been trying to lock up has been Badr Hari, with Fightsense, an Enfusion promoter, making a serious play for Hari when Badr and Rico were battling in the media, only for GLORY to still have those negotiation rights with Rico and the fight ultimately happening in a GLORY ring.

Enfusion have been making moves to bring in a wider audience, with signings like big name Thais like Superbon, who fought this past weekend at Enfusion 59 and lost for the first time in eons. Enfusion’s structure is still a bit more “classic” European kickboxing with the employ of local promoters to help with costs, venues and other things, so it makes sense that confusion could happen without a more modern structure that we see in many other kickboxing organizations like GLORY, Kunlun, SuperKombat, etc., where there is one company and while they might employ local promoters as contractors, generally speaking the original promotion is the promoter of the event, not the other way around.

All of this is important because Badr Hari reportedly also signed an agreement with Enfusion to fight in May against Luis Tavares. According to Saïd Hamzaoui, the owner of Ringfight Promotions, another Enfusion partner, there was an agreement in place with Badr Hari to not fight before May, which Badr Hari has now breached by signing a multi-fight deal with GLORY that starts in March. According to Badr Hari’s legal team Hamzaoui was late with the initial, agreed-upon payment and only a draft agreement was in place, which was breached when the money didn’t make it to them by the deadline. Hamzaoui claims that it was only half an hour of a delay and that it was in writing, but without seeing these documents it’s difficult to tell which side has merit.

What it seems like is that Badr Hari played both sides against each other and took the better agreement. It also doesn’t sound like the deal with Ringfight Promotions was for more than one fight in May. So it seems that Badr Hari’s legal problems are far from over and that this bright talent’s career remains mired in controversy no matter where he goes or what he does.

This past weekend Enfusion held Enfusion 58, featuring a -72kg tournament with some of the best fighters in the world. The biggest shock of them all was that Superbon Banchamek lost in the finals to a very, very game Endy Semeleer. Superbon has been considered by many (including the LiverKick Rankings) to be the top lightweight in the world, especially after defeating Sitthichai in China.

Now Semeleer, when given the chance to fight one of the best in the world, has proven himself and captured the crown in a great turn of events.

RESULTS Enfusion #58,
Abu Dhabi, UAE Friday 08.12.2017

3X3 -67Kg
Nabil Haryouli (Morocco) Vs Igor Fernandes (Portugal)
RESULTS: Nabil Haryouli (Morocco) By KO Rd 1

3X3 RESERVERVE TOURNAMENT FIGHT
-72Kg
Yassin Baitar (Belgium) Vs Petchchaiyo Banchamek (Thailand)
RESULTS: Yassin Baitar (Belgium) winner points

3×3 TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL-72Kg
Nordin Ben Moh (Morocco) Vs Marvin Monteiro (Cape Verde)
RESULTS: Nordin Ben Moh (Morocco) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL -72Kg
Mohamed Khamal (Morocco) Vs Aziz Kallah (Morocco)
RESULTS: Mohamed Khamal (Morocco) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL –72Kg
Superbon Banchamek (Thailand) Vs Regilio van Den Ent (The Netherlands)
RESULTS: Superbon Banchamek (Thailand) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL -72Kg
Diogo Calado (Portugal) Vs Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands)
RESULTS: Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands) Rd 3 KO

RESULTS Enfusion #59,
Abu Dhabi, UAE Friday 08.12.2017

3X3 TOURNAMENT SEMI FINAL -67Kg
Jesus Romero (Spain) Vs Youssef El Haji (Morocco)
RESULTS: Youssef El Haji (Morocco) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT SEMI FINAL -67Kg
Walid Hamid (Morocco) Vs Petchtanong Banchamek (Thailand)
RESULTS: Petchtanong Banchamek (Thailand) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT SEMI FINAL-72Kg
Nordin Ben Moh (Morocco) Vs Superbon Banchamek (Thailand)
RESULTS: Superbon Banchamek (Thailand) after a 4th round

3X3 TOURNAMENT SEMI FINAL -72Kg
Mohamed Khamal (Morocco) Vs Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands)
RESULTS: Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands) Points

3X3 -75Kg
Imad Assli (Morocco) Vs Youssef Challouki (Belgium)
RESULTS: Youssef Challouki (Belgium) BY Disqualification

3X3 FEMALE -61Kg
Orinta Van der Zee (The Netherlands) Vs Nora Cornolle (France)
RESULTS: Orinta Van der Zee (The Netherlands) after a 4th round

3X3 TOURNAMENT FINAL -67Kg
Youssef El Haji (Morocco) Vs Petchtanong Banchamek (Thailand)
RESULTS: Petchtanong Banchamek (Thailand) Points

3X3 TOURNAMENT QUARTER FINAL -72Kg
Superbon Banchamek (Thailand) Vs Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands)
RESULTS: Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands) Points

Last week we learned that GLORY had secured the services of Badr Hari and that he’ll be fighting on March 3rd in Rotterdam. Today we learned that his opponent will be none other than Hesdy Gerges, a man that has a win over him via DQ back in 2010. But what about that claim from an Enfusion promoter that Enfusion had secured Badr Hari’s rights for a fight in May against Luis Tavares? He hasn’t forgotten.

The latest on the case sounds like things are relatively hopeless for the Enfusion team, because they know they can’t stop him from fighting. According to the lawyer for the Enfusion side, Walter van Steenbrugge, they will be pursuing a lawsuit against Badr Hari and his team for damages suffered from this affair. The claim is that they were planning on running an event in Antwerp’s sport palace, which can hold up to 18,000 fans. It’s unclear if they actually secured the venue for an actual date or if this is simply what they wanted to do, but they plan on moving forward with a civil lawsuit that somehow Badr Hari signing with a competitor has cost them $1,000,000 in damages.

To date there has yet to be an Enfusion show with anywhere near that large of an audience, in fact GLORY doesn’t usually attempt to go that big, but they seem to truly believe that Badr Hari vs. Luis Tavares would be one of the biggest fights in modern European kickboxing that would draw nearly 20,000 fans. They also believe that they’re losing out on a million dollars.

By continuing to push the issue in the press one wonders why they continue to give press to Badr Hari, who is now fighting for a competitor, and are essentially helping his upcoming fight with GLORY get more attention.

This weekend Enfusion hits the Netherlands again with Enfusion 61 and 62. Enfusion 62 proves to be a solid card headlined by Ismael Lazaar looking to regain his Enfusion Heavyweight Championship from the current-champion Luis Tavares as well as Andy Souwer fighting one of the best in the world in Tayfun Ozcan.

Enfusion #61, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Saturday 17.02.2018

Start 18.00 local time (17.00 GMT)

1. 3X3 FEMALE -67Kg

Sheena Widdershoven (The Netherlands) Vs Djamara Vers (Suriname)

2. 3X3 -70Kg

Yassine Ambari (Morocco) Vs Jhon Binkhorst (Colombia)

3. 3X3 HEAVYWEIGHT

Mohammed Dadoo (Morocco) Vs Perry Reichling (The Netherlands)

4. 3X3 -85Kg

Boubaker El Bakouri (Morocco) Vs Vlad Koshel (Ukraine)

5. 3X3 -67Kg

Anass Aaras (Morocco) Vs Andre Estevao (Angola)

6. 3X3 -70Kg

Paul Jansen (The Netherlands) Vs Percy De Maeyer (Belguim)

7. 5X3 ENFUSION WORLD TITLE -75Kg

Nordin Van Roosmalen (The Netherlands) Vs Redouan Laarkoubi (The Netherlands)

Enfusion #62, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Saturday 17.02.2018

Start 20.30 local time (19.30 GMT)

1. 3X3 -67Kg

Khalid El Moukadam (Morocco) Vs Youssef El Haji (Morocco)

2. 3X3 -72.5Kg

Bilal Loukili (Morocco) Vs Moreno Monti (The Netherlands)

3. 3X3 -70Kg

Ismael Benali (Morocco) Vs Engin Kutuk (Turkey)

4. 3X3 -63Kg

Soufiane Kaddouri (Morocco) Vs Baris Karabas (Turkey)

5. 5X3 ENFUSION WORLD TITLE Heavyweight

Luis Tavares (The Netherlands) Vs Ismael Lazaar (Morocco)

6. 3X3 -72.5Kg

Nordin Ben Moh (Morocco) Vs Albert Kraus (The Netherlands)

7. 5X3 ENFUSION WORLD TITLE -72.5Kg

Tayfun Ozcan (Turkey) Vs Andy Souwer (The Netherlands)

Enfusion held Enfusion 61 and 62 over the weekend from the Netherlands in a stacked card featuring multiple title fights. Originally scheduled to feature three title fights, Ismael Lazaar reportedly failed a drug test, which canceled his fight with Luis Tavares for the Enfusion Heavyweight Championship. Redouan Laarkoubi defeated Nordin van Roosmalen for the 75kg championship while Tayfun Ozcan was able to defend his 72.5kg championship against the legend Andy Souwer via knockout.

Results via CombatPress.

72.5kg Championship: Tayfun Ozcan (R4 – KO) Andy Souwer
Nordin Ben Moh (R3 – Dec) Albert Kraus
Soufiane Kaddouri (R3 – Dec) Baris Karabas
Ismael Benali (R1 – KO) Engin Kutuk
Bilal Loukili (R1 – KO) Moreno Monti
Youssef El Haji (R3 – Dec) Khalid El Moukadam
75kg Championship: Redouan Laarkoubi (R3 – Dec) Nordin van Roosmalen
Paul Jansen (R3 – KO) Percy De Maeyer
Anas Aaras (R3 – Dec) Andre Estevao
Vladislav Koshel (R3 – Dec) Boubaker El Bakouri
Perry Reichling (R3 – Dec) Mohammed Dadoo
Yassine Ambari (R3 – Dec) Jhon Binkhorst
Sheena Widdershoven (Ext.R – Dec) Djamara Vers

To those who have been faithfully following Dutch kickboxing the last few years, the name Mohammed Jaraya is one that they know well. For everyone else? This weekend will be the GLORY debut of the former-Enfusion dynamo. The former -67kg champion in Enfusion before moving up in weight, Jaraya is known not just for his highlight-reel KOs, but for his thrilling wars with fighters like Nordin Ben Moh and Tayfun Ozcan.

His arrival in GLORY comes after some controversy, but that professional GLORY shine and spotlight will perhaps help to propel this should-be star to the next level of worldwide success. This weekend he fights Miles Simpson and is hoping to make a big impact. Watch GLORY’s introduction video below.

This Friday, live from Abu Dhabi, Enfusion returns with another big card, this time bringing out the big guns. Jonay Risco will fight Buakaw Banchamek with the winner taking home the Enfusion 70kg Championship. The main event sees Enfusion Heavyweight Champion Luis Tavares looking to defend his title against Fatih Ulusoy.

The event will be streamed live on Fite.tv.

Enfusion Talents #47 Abu Dhabi UAE 09.03.2018 Start time 16.30 (GMT Time 12.30)

1. 3X3 64Kg Catch weight
Mohammed Boutasaa (Morocco) Vs Islem Hamech (France)

2. 3X3 56Kg FEMALE

Amber Kitchen (England) Vs Catia Batista (Portugal)

3. 3X3 83Kg Catch weight
Marino Schouten (The Netherlands) Vs Robin Ciric (Serbia)

4. 3X3 67Kg

Nabil Haryouli (Morocco) Vs Fabio Reis (Portugal)

5. 3X3 67Kg

Ilias Zouggary (Morocco) Vs Amar Karraz (Morocco)

6. 3X3 64Kg Catch weight

Tarik Lyachat (Morocco) Vs Naqqash Khan (Pakistan)

7. 3X3 72.5Kg
Regilio Van Den Ent (The Netherlands) Vs Anouar Lahmaj (Morocco)

Enfusion #63 Start Time 19.15 (GMT Time 15.15)

8. 3X3 72.5Kg

Imad Assli (Morocco) Vs Tomoyuki Nishikawa (Japan)

9.3X3 Heavyweight

Levi Rigters (The Netherlands) Vs Bruno Susano (Portugal)

10. 5X3 60Kg Enfusion World Title

Ilias Ennahachi (Morocco) Vs Krobsut Fairtex (Thailand)

11. 3X3 Heavyweight Elimination fight, winner will have a world title shot
Martin Pacas (Slovakia) Vs Hicham Achalhi (Morocco)

12. 5X3 70Kg Enfusion World Title

Jonay Risco (Spain) Vs Buakaw Banchamek (Thailand)

13. 3X3 72.5Kg

Endy Semeleer (The Netherlands) Vs Redouan Laarkoubi (the Netherlands)

14. 5X3 Heavyweight Enfusion World Title

Luis Tavares (The Netherlands) Vs Fatih Ulusoy (Turkey)

There was a time when I personally felt that drug testing athletes was imperative and that taking performance enhancing drugs was the largest sin possible in combat sports. The years have helped to erode those beliefs, especially when young, promising athletes, who often times are paid poorly for their sacrifices, are heavily fined and prevented from making a living for looking to science to help them prepare for their fights. Perhaps if there were common-sense punishments and oversight it would make a lot more sense, but there isn’t and to say that testing is inconsistent is to be kind.

The latest case is Ismael Lazaar, who apparently failed a drug test that was administered around the time of his GLORY 41 fight with Rico Verhoeven on May 20th, 2017. According to SportsOfTheDay, GLORY was informed of a drug test failure on July 24th of last year. The timeline in this document here shows that Lazaar was informed in August of the failure and was given a chance to defend himself in October. A certified letter was sent to Lazaar by officials allowing him to defend himself, but they never received a response. This set the wheels in motion and by December they had come to the conclusion.

Days before Lazaar was set to fight Luis Tavares in Enfusion, he was denied a license due to the drug test failure, but believed that it was an error. It wasn’t. Now, it turns out, the Dutch commission has suspended Lazaar for four years and fined him 525 euro. He’ll be allowed to compete again on July 24th, 2021. He tested positive for stanozololol, oxandrolone and 18-noroxandrolone.

Since he did not submit a reply to the officials, he is unable to have his sentence reduced.

What’s glaring is that Mohammed Jaraya found himself with a two-year ban after an incident last year where he attacked a judge at ringside after a loss. It appears that signing with GLORY, changing gyms and a face-to-face apology was enough to get his sentence shortened, yet a physical assault by a professional athlete on an official is somehow seen as a lesser offense to taking banned substances. The original sentence for very clearly, on camera, assaulting a judge was a mere two years in comparison to Lazaar’s suspension for failing a drug test.

There are a wealth of questions in the wake of this, like if Lazaar knew and lied about knowing, what that says about him. If not, who did know? Was it his management? His gym? A family member? There was a certified letter. There was also confusion because when this story first surfaced in February, a number of contacts within GLORY claimed to know nothing about the failure and were just as confused as everyone else.

If fighters are going to have their careers taken from them in their prime then the involved official governing bodies need to ensure crystal-clear communication. Fighters can and will be held responsible in accordance to the contracts that they work under, but the oversight needs to be as clear as humanly possible.

Enfusion is, perhaps, an interesting experiment in combat sports. Risen from the ashes of the purchase of It’s Showtime by GLORY, run by a lot of similar faces as before and helping to keep European kickboxing thriving while GLORY was busy globe-trotting. Since then, Enfusion has filled an important gap for fans in the Netherlands and surrounding areas all while cultivating some top prospects.

Interestingly enough, Enfusion’s rules were, at first, a bit strange. It was kickboxing rules, which meant NOT muay thai, but there were points awarded for sweeps, dumps and takedowns. Think Shootboxing without the standing submissions. As the brand grew they did some trimming, such as losing the ‘LIVE’ part of the branding and just being called Enfusion, they also scrapped the divergent rules because, well, they didn’t exactly work.

Now Enfusion has announced that they’re getting into the MMA world, but once again doing it a bit differently. This image was posted to their official social media yesterday and shows that they’re working on Enfusion MMA, which will be — much like early Enfusion — pretty weird.

The idea is that it will be kickboxing with takedowns and groundwork, but the groundwork is limited to one minute. The impetus for the decision is to help kickboxers and boxers to grow more confident and familiar with MMA, as opposed to having to jump headfirst into full MMA rules after some training and feel lost. Their claim is that this isn’t to compete with major MMA companies, but instead help transition kickboxers and boxers into MMA and help develop new talent.

We’ll have to see how this goes. If I had to guess, I’d say that Enfusion is looking to continue growing its brand. They made some big signings in the last year or so and in general the quality of their upper-tier fights has improved, but their distribution and general show size and production hasn’t changed much. MMA is a far more popular sport worldwide and is picking up steam throughout Europe, with many big-name kickboxers training and competing in both sports, if not leaving kickboxing behind entirely. This positions Enfusion as a mix of both, but will most likely lead to them adapting full MMA rules in the future since these rules are quite different.

The post Enfusion Introducing Modified MMA Rules in Near Future appeared first on LiverKick.