New Zealander kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial arts fighter

Ray Sefo (born 15 February 1971) is a New Zealand fight promoter and retired kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent. He is a six-time Muay Thai World Champion and eight time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant. He is the president of MMA promotion Professional Fighters League. In kickboxing, he defeated world champions Jerome Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Stefan Leko, Mike Bernardo, and Mark Hunt. He is one of the greatest kickboxers to have never won the K-1 World Grand Prix.

Contents

• 1 Background
• 2 Career
  • 2.1 Early career
  • 2.2 K-1
  • 2.3 MMA and retirement
  • 2.4 Executive career
• 3 *les
• 4 MMA accomplishments
• 5 Personal life
• 6 Kickboxing record (Incomplete)
• 7 Mixed martial arts record
• 8 See also
• 9 References
• 10 External links

Background

Training in Wing Chun as a youth, Sefo moved to Muay Thai under Thai fighting legend Kiosot, then continued training under Lollo Heimuli at the infamous Balmoral Lee Gar Gym.

Career

Early career

Sefo had an impressive unbeaten record as an amateur and a professional in the Oceania kickboxing league. Early in his career, he trained at Balmoral Lee Gar gym alongside Jason Suttie, Jayson Vemoa, Doug Viney, John Conway, and his brother, Rony Sefo. In 1996, Ray Sefo fought Andre Mannaart in a kickboxing match and overwhelmed Manaart with devastating speed and elusive footwork, knocking him down on numerous occasions. In the ring after the fight, Mannaart took the microphone and said, "...you should call him Sugarfist, not Sugarfoot..." Sefo's first major breakthrough was becoming a WKA Cruiserweight Champion. He also acted as a sparring partner for fellow New Zealander David Tua, when Tua first returned to New Zealand for a fight after turning pro.

K-1

Sefo made his K-1 debut against future four-time World Grand Prix Champion, Ernesto Hoost. Sefo held his own against the much more experienced Hoost but was finally knocked out in the 4th round by a leg kick. Sefo gained respect for standing up to such an elite fighter in just his first fight. Sefo gained more respect in his third K-1 fight where he knocked out K-1 legend Jerome Lebanner in the 1st round. Sefo's hard right hand was enough to break the Frenchman's jaw in four places.

Sefo had an up and down first few years in K-1, unable to make it past the quarter finals in the K-1 World Grand Prix against the likes of Sam Greco and Andy Hug. In 2000, he made it to the WGP final after knocking out *anese star Musashi and French kickboxer Cyril Abidi, before losing again to Hoost. In 2002, Sefo defeated Dutch legend Peter Aerts in the quarter finals but lost again to his nemesis Hoost in the semi-finals.

In 2007, Sefo was thought to be a legitimate challenger to dethrone four-time World Grand Prix Champion Semmy Schilt for the new Super Heavyweight *le. In the 1st round, Sefo became only the second man in history to knock Schilt down. However, he would go on to lose by KO in the second round. He went on to lose five more fights and would not find the winners circle again until he beat Choi Hong-man, Yosuke Nishijima, and Ionut Iftimoaie, all by decision.

Sefo was then asked to fight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16 on ten days notice against Tyrone Spong. Sefo put up a decent fight on short preparation but was beaten by decision.

MMA and retirement

In mid-February 2011, Sefo had his third MMA fight in a reserve fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament. He fought Valentijn Overeem, brother of Alistair Overeem, the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion. Overeem had 50 MMA fights behind him and beat Sefo by submission in the first round. Sefo's striking on the feet looked good, but as an inexperienced grappler, he lost early on by neck crank.

On 12 June 2013, Sefo announced that he would return to fighting. At WSOF 3, Sefo announced that he would be facing Dave Huckaba. The two fought at World Series of Fighting 4 on 10 August 2013. Sefo lost the fight via TKO in the second round. In an interview in April 2015, Sefo said, "I actually made a promise to myself that this year will be my last year." He did not fight again after losing against Huckaba. While he considered fighting again, Sefo officially announced his retirement in 2018.

Executive career

Sefo is the current president of MMA promotion Professional Fighters League. He was named president when the promotion was still known as World Series of Fighting. He helped the promotion ink a deal with NBC Sports to air 8 to 10 events on its network.

*les

• K-1
  • 2000 K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Runner Up.
• World Kickboxing *ociation
  • 1997 WKA World Super Heavyweight World Champion.
• World Muay Thai Federation
  • 1996 WMTF World Heavyweight Champion.
  • 1992 WMTF World Light Heavyweight Champion.
• International Sport Karate *ociation
  • 1996 ISKA World Super Cruiserweight Champion.
  • 1995 ISKA World Cruiserweight Champion.
  • 1994 ISKA World Light Cruiserweight Champion.
• Regional
  • 1992 South Pacific Cruiserweight Champion.
  • 1991 New Zealand Cruiserweight Champion.
  • 1990 New Zealand Heavyweight Champion.

MMA accomplishments

Hero's

• Superfight winner at K-1 Hero's 2

Personal life

Sefo lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and continues to train out of Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts.

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

Mixed martial arts record

See also

• List of current WSOF fighters
• List of male kickboxers
• List of K-1 events
• Champions of Champions Elite

References

External links

• Profile at K-1
• Ray Sefo Interview
• Professional MMA record for Ray Sefo from Sherdog
• Boxing record for Ray Sefo from BoxRec (registration required)