Full lineup set for Karate Combat 36 on October 29, including debut of UFC vet James Vick

ORLANDO, Fla. – As regions across Florida rebuild following the devastation wreaked by Hurricane Ian, Karate Combat has announced that any Florida residents wishing to attend Karate Combat 36 on Saturday, October 29.event can have their tickets for free.

Florida residents can secure their free tickets to the Halloween weekend event by visiting Karate.com/tickets and selecting the “Florida Resident General Admission” ticket option. Residents using free tickets are asked to bring a valid Florida State ID with them to the venue on fight night.

“We’ve been staging events on the Backlots at Universal Studios Orlando this year and the city has been a great home to us,” Karate Combat president Adam Kovacs said. “We have been shocked and saddened to see the destruction caused in Orlando and across the state of Florida by Hurricane Ian and as a team we have felt this personally, as we have colleagues and local partners who have been directly affected,

“Two more events are scheduled to take place in Orlando this year, and we are committed to proceeding with those events as planned. Orlando and its residents have shown great support to Karate Combat during 2022, and we would like to reciprocate as best we can. 

“To that end, any Florida residents who want tickets for our Karate Combat 36 event on October 29 can get them for free via our website. It’s a small gesture, and for many residents, entertainment is the last thing on their minds now, but we hope that for some it will be a welcome distraction.”

Middleweight contenders will collide in a clash unlikely to go the distance when heavy-hitters Igor “The Iberian Bull” De Castaneda and Franklin Mina face off in the co-main event. 

The match is one of several new bouts announced recently, as Karate Combat confirmed the full card for its return to The Backlot at Universal Studios Orlando later this month. 

Coming off a stoppage loss to bitter American rival “Turbo” Ross Levine in his last outing, De Castenada is burning for revenge and looking for a statement victory which will put him into title contention for the middleweight championship Levine now holds.

Raymond Daniels has been described by Georges St-Pierre as “the best striker I have ever seen,” but that is no comfort to Mina, who dropped a decision to the legendary Daniels in August. He’s also looking for a statement win to remind the middleweight division of the threat he poses.

A non-stop firefight is also expected in a welterweight match which sees Karate Combat veteran Fernando Paz face off with newcomer Diego Avendano, a Canada-based Venezuelan who trains in Toronto with former GLORY Kickboxing world welterweight champion “Bazooka” Joe Valtellini.

An experienced striker in various disciplines, Avendano has the reputation of being Valtellini’s top student and enters the Karate Combat ranks tipped as a potential future contender. But Paz has no intention of hosting a launch party for Avendano and is headed to Orlando looking to derail any hype train before it can even leave the station.

The U.K.’s Mitchell Thorpe returns to action in a lightweight bout with Ikboljon “The Samurai” Uzakov, a national champion in his native Uzbekistan.

In ancient times, Uzbekistan was the jewel in Genghis Khan’s empire, traversed by the lucrative “Silk Road” which linked Europe and Asia. No smooth path awaits Uzakov in Orlando, as the gritty Thorpe will put his size advantage to use in looking to make it a short night for his adversary.

Karate Combat 35 hosted the debut of Orlando’s own Maximo Nunes, who trains and fights out of American Top Team. His dynamic performance won him an army of new fans and opened the door to other fighters from his team, which heavyweight Chayil Calaway now steps through.

The young Floridian scored some outstanding wins in his amateur kickboxing and muay Thai career, but has a karate base and is now turning professional for the upcoming Karate Combat 36 bout on October 29.

Meeting him in the middle of The Pit will be Elvin Aghayev, another Central Asia fighter with a strong pedigree. Fighting out of Azerbaijan’s capital city of Baku, his training partners include namesake Rafael Aghayev – possibly the most successful karate fighter in history – and former Karate Combat middleweight champion Shahin Atamov.

Last time Greek power-puncher Nikos Gidakos was in the pit, he scored a knockout win which went viral online. He’s looking to repeat the feat in Orlando and blast his way into title contention. Opposite him, Kenji Grillon, a member of the French national team who won multiple world titles as an amateur. 

Morocco’s Abdessalam Ameknassi took part in the bantamweight grand prix which played out across “Karate Combat: Season 3.” Ireland’s Eoghan Chelmiah eventually won the world title, but Ameknassi is a threat and has his eyes on the title. First he has to get past Latvia’s Kalvis Kalnins, who competed at the 2020 Olympic Games and is now entering the professional ranks.

Also in the bantamweight division, the undercard opens with a contest between the USA’s Damian Villa and Uruguay’s Maximiliano Larrosa.

Christina Kavakopoulou is now 2-0 in Karate Combat and looking for a third win to build herself an irrefutable argument for a title shot in the strawweight division. She faces American newcomer Kaye Asesor, who brings with her a formidable reputation built on the U.S. regional circuit.

The complete Karate Combat 36 lineup includes:

• Bruno Souza vs. Edgars Skrivers
• Igor De Castaneda vs. Franklin Mina
• James Vick vs. Jorge Perez
• Fernando Paz vs. Diego Avendano
• Ikboljon Uzakov vs. Mitchell Thorpe
• Elvin Aghayev vs. Chayil Calaway
• Nikos Gidakos vs. Kenji Grillon
• Abdessalam Ameknassi vs. Kalvis Kalnins
• Christina Kavakopoulou vs. Kaye Asesor
• Maximiliano Larrosa vs. Damian Villa