Mike Zambidis is a Greek kickboxer famous for his spectacular fighting style. For ten years he was one of the strongest professionals, but he never managed to win the main trophy - the K-1 Grand Prix. Nevertheless, his popularity was huge, the fights of Mike Zambidis attracted more spectators than the fights of his more successful competitors.
Characteristic
The Greek fighter spent most of his professional career in Australia, where after the end of the Kostya Tszyu era he became the main idol of local martial arts fans. Mike Zambidis was one of the most technical and skillful kickboxers of his decade. Gymnastics classes in childhood were not in vain for him, he had excellent coordination of movements, stretching, was incredibly flexible.
In the ring, he was very emotional, preferring to conduct a fierce, attacking battle. Preferring to dominate the match, Zambidis sometimes unreasonably risked, running into powerful counterattacks. Nevertheless, the maximum stiffness of the Greek was his calling card, for which he was nicknamed "Iron Mike."
A native of Athens beat his legs and arms equally well, but most fans remembered his smashing hooks - short and deadly hooks, most often on the right. Thus, he knocked out many rivals. This is eloquently indicated by the statistics of Mike Zambidis. He spent 171 fights, winning in 150, with 86 Greek wins by knockouts.
Greek period
One of the most famous fighters of our time was born in 1980 in Greece - in the homeland of pankration and classical wrestling. Mike's parents, wanting the harmonious development of their child, first sent him to the gymnastics section, where he worked out for two years. At the age of eight, Zambidis became interested in martial arts.
The Greek's first love was a karate-setokan, his brother Spyros and friend Lazaros Filipos made up his company. However, after a few years, Mike Zambidis began to lean toward a more militant and realistic form of martial arts - kickboxing. In parallel, he began to study Muay Thai, whose tough style was the best suited to Mike's character.
The Athenian boy began to progress rapidly and already at a young age became one of the best fighters in the country. The first big victory in the biography of Mike Zambidis was his triumph at the 1998 European Championship, where an eighteen-year-old junior confidently defeated the strongest fighters of the continent. In total, Mike won the Greek championship three times, became the champion of the Balkans, Europe.
Relocation to Australia
By the age of twenty, Mike Zambidis realized that he had long outgrown the level of Greece and made an important decision to move to Australia. The green continent was one of the main centers for the development of professional kickboxing, and here the Greek fighter had every chance to grow into an excellent athlete. Mike did not lose, already in 2000 he became the world champion in welterweight, however, according to the version of not the most authoritative and significant organization - WOKA.
First fights
It is time to fight the best fighters of those years, and Mike Zambidis in 2001-2002 tries his hand at the most prestigious tournaments of that time - the K1 Grand Prix and Le Grand Tournoi. The Greek athlete did not even manage to break into the main stage of the competition, but he was remembered by specialists and fans.
Moreover, in both cases, his defeats were random in nature - fights were stopped due to Mike's cuts, which did not allow him to continue to fight on. In the battle with Michael Cope, he completely sent an experienced opponent to the knockdown.
Victories and defeats
Mike Zambidis is not limited to kickboxing and is actively trying himself in Muay Thai. In 2002, he won the prestigious Thai boxing tournament King of the Ring, which took place in Italy. During the competition, Iron Mike confidently defeated three opponents, forcing fans of this tough kind of martial arts to talk about himself. In the same year, he successfully toured in his homeland, defeating the kickboxing legend from the nineties Hassan Kassrioui in Athens in front of an enthusiastic public.
However, the young hot fighter was not always stable at the beginning of his career, high-profile victories alternated with frank failures. One of such failures was his voyage to Holland, where he managed to lose to the little-known Noel Soares, information about which is even hard to find on the Internet, as well as Youness El Mhassani.
Nevertheless, he continued to be considered one of the most promising fighters and confirmed his status in November 2002. For the first time in his life, Mike won the qualifying tournament for participation in the K1 Grand Prix, defeating Wayne Parr, the favorite of the Australians in the final.
First Grand Prix
In 2003, Mike Zambidis held one of the most decisive battles in his life. A promising newcomer was opposed by seasoned Albert Kraus, who was in the rank of the current winner of the K1 Grand Prix. Experts believed that it would be nice if Mike at least stay on his feet until the end of the fight, but he did not want to recognize the authorities and impudently knocked down the Dutchman with a powerful right hook in the second round.
This unexpected victory made the Greek the first ranking number in the weight division to 70 kg, many called him the favorite of the upcoming K1 Grand Prix. Here, however, Zambidis was haunted by failure.
The rival in the quarterfinals was the Japanese Masato, also one of the leading fighters on the planet. Feeling confident in his abilities, Mike began methodically firing at the Japanese and, according to the fans, controlled the course of the fight. However, in one of the episodes, a native of Athens slipped, which is why the judges mistakenly counted him a knockdown. Due to an imaginary knockdown, Zambidis lost the fight, having dropped out of the tournament.
Grand Prix 2010
In 2010, the Greek fighter was in great shape and was very close to the final victory in the final of the K1 Grand Prix. Mike fans still sadly recall those fights, believing that the judges unjustly stopped their favorite on the way to triumph.
It all started for Mike Zambidis just fine. During the tournament, he knocked out the strongest fighters Shahid El Haj and Nagashima. In the semifinals, he was opposed by Giorgio Petrosyan, who was considered the main favorite of the entire Grand Prix. Mike acted in his favorite aggressive style, constantly attacking his opponent and acting number one.
Nevertheless, for the time being, Petrosyan successfully defended himself, occasionally stinging Mike with precise counterattacks. Only once he missed a pretty powerful blow, after which he collapsed into the ring. The judges could begin to count the knockdown, but Giorgio instantly got to his feet and continued the fight, bringing him to the final victory. It is this moment that haunts Mike's fans, who believe that he is the real winner of this confrontation.
Mike's Decade
For ten years, Mike Zambidis confidently entered the elite of the world kickboxing, consistently participating in all the finals of the Grand Prix. However, he did not manage to win the final victory. The semifinals, to which he reached in 2010 and 2012, became a fatal barrier for him.
Despite this, Zambidis was more popular than most of its winners. This is explained by the spectacular manner of waging the battle of the Greek, who never sat out on the defensive and preferred to go in exchange with blows. Mike Zambidis’s training is still gaining hundreds of thousands of views on the Internet. Curiosity is caused by his method of training, for example, exercises in a vest weighing 30 kg.
Failures in K1, he compensated for successful performances in less prestigious competitions. Over the years of his career, he became the owner of the A-1, WKBF, W5 belts.