Ben Edwards (kickboxer)

Ben "The Guvner" Edwards (born 17 February 1985) is an Australian Heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter. Edwards was formerly a Super Heavyweight kickboxer and Heavyweight boxer. He is the current K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Canberra tournament champion.[1] Edwards won the tournament by three 1st-round KO's the fastest win in K-1 history in total time of 3 minutes and 28 seconds breaking the previous record held by Jerome Le Banner of 4 minutes and 4 seconds in K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Osaka. Fighting out of Bulldog Gym, Canberra, Australia, he has competed in the K-1, Capital Punishment, Kings of Kombat, SUPERKOMBAT and It's Showtime promotions and is currently signed to GLORY.

Ben Edwards
BornBenjamin Edwards
(1985-02-17) 17 February 1985
Sydney, Australia
Other namesThe Guvner, Bangin'
NationalityAustralian
Height1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Weight121.5 kg (268 lb; 19.13 st)
DivisionSuper Heavyweight
Reach76.0 in (193 cm)
StyleKickboxing
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofCanberra, Australia
TeamBulldog Gym Canberra
TrainerJohn Verran (2003–2009) Jamie McCuaig (2009–present)
Years active7 (2003–present)
Professional boxing record
Total5
Wins4
By knockout4
Losses0
Draws1
Kickboxing record
Total50
Wins38
By knockout33
Losses10
By knockout6
Draws2
Mixed martial arts record
Total6
Wins5
By knockout5
Losses1
By decision1
Other information
UniversityDickson College
Boxing record from BoxRec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: 3 May 2014

Biography and career

Ben Edwards was born in Sydney and has been living in Canberra since he was 4, currently residing in Queanbeyan. Edwards played Rugby league until he was 19. He represented the Canberra Raiders sides in both Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball sides. He went to Dickson College where he played first grade for the Queanbeyan Blues.

Ben Edwards started kickboxing in 2003 at the Bulldog Gym under late John Verran his coach and mentor.

After winning multiple ISKA kickboxing titles he made his K-1 debut at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Canberra. He knocked out all three of his opponents in the first round, including tournament favourite, Paul Slowinski, whom he had lost to twice in his career. He still maintains the record for the fastest kickboxing tournament in K-1 history, at 3 minutes and 28 seconds. At the K-1 Final 16, in the main event he lost to the eventual World Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem in the first round.

Following the loss he decisioned Carter Williams and knocked out Mighty Mo in 2011. He finished the year with a loss against Roman Kleibl in the semi-finals of the SUPERKOMBAT Fight Club tournament. After being dropped by Daniel Sam in the quarter finals he finished off his opponent in the second round. Despite dropping Kleibl in the second round he was TKOed in the final round after running out of energy.

He started out 2012 with a decision win against Ricardo van den Bos. He is now scheduled to face Rico Verhoeven on March, 17 in Australia.[2]

He faced Raul Cătinaş at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16 on 14 October 2012[3][4] and won via TKO in round two.[5]

Edwards was drawn against Zabit Samedov in the quarter-finals of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 Final, held on 15 March 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia.[6] However, he decided not to compete[7] as he was already booked to fight Paul Slowinski for the fourth time on 23 March 2013 in Canberra, Australia at Capital Punishment 7.[8] He defeated Slowinski by decision.[9]

He joined Glory in July 2013.[10]

He won the vacant Kings of Kombat Heavyweight Championship with a majority decision win over Cătălin Moroșanu at Kings of Kombat 10 in Melbourne, Australia on 7 September 2013, relying heavily on low kicks in the fight rather than use his usual brawling style.[11][12][13]

In a slugfest at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City on 23 November 2013, Edwards landed numerous unanswered shots on Jamal Ben Saddik throughout round three before eventually putting him away with a big right hand towards the end.[14][15][16][17]

He was initially set to face Errol Zimmerman in the main event of Glory 15: Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey on 12 April 2014[18] but the match was transferred to the semi-finals of the Glory 16: Denver - Heavyweight Contendership Tournament in Broomfield, Colorado, US on 3 May 2014.[19][20] He lost to Zimmerman via TKO, suffering two knockdowns in the first round.[21][22]

Titles

Kickboxing

  • 2013 Kings of Kombat Heavyweight champion
  • 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix in Canberra champion
  • 2009 ISKA Super-heavyweight World champion (2 title def.)
  • 2008 ISKA Super-heavyweight South Pacific title

Mixed Martial Arts

  • 2013 C8 Heavyweight Champion

Boxing

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
Boxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
6 matches 5 wins 1 loss
By knockout 5 0
By decision 0 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 5–1 Francimar Barroso Decision (unanimous) PFL 6 8 August 2019 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win 5–0 Wallace To'o TKO MFC 29 16 Feb 2019 2 Canberra, Australia
Win 4–0 Felise Leniu TKO Hex Fight Series 14 30 Jun 2018 1 Melbourne, Australia
Win 3–0 Jeremy Joiner KO MFC 26 11 Dec 2017 1 1:35 Canberra, Australia
Win 2–0 Brandon Sosoli TKO (submission to strikes) MFC 25 17 Jun 2017 1 3:53 Canberra, Australia
Win 1–0 Donnie Lester TKO Combat8:03 29 Aug 2013 1 Sydney MMA debut.
Wins C8 Heavyweight Title.

See also

References

  1. "Ben Edwards K-1 profile". k-1.co.jp/en/. Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  2. "Emotion charged fight". queanbeyanage.com.au/. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2010.
  3. K-1 Final 16 Matches Unveiled
  4. K-1 WGP Final 16, Finalized Fight Card For This Sunday, 14 October
  5. K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 Live Results
  6. K-1 WGP Final 8 Match-Ups
  7. Badr Hari to Replace Ben Edwards in K-1 World Grand Prix
  8. Capital Punishment 7 in Canberra Line-Up
  9. Weekend Winners: Ben Edwards, Sanny Dahlbeck, Suleiman Magomedov, Errol Koning
  10. Hesdy Gerges and Ben Edwards to Fight for GLORY
  11. Walsh, Dave (4 July 2013). "Ben Edwards vs. Catalin Morosanu on Sept. 7th in Australia". Liver Kick. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  12. "Ben Edwards vs Catalin Morosanu in Melbourne". FightMag. Archived from the original on 5 July 2013.
  13. Walsh, Dave (8 September 2013). "Ben Edwards Bests Catalin Morosanu in Australia". Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  14. Ky Hollenbeck vs. Shemsi Beqiri and Jamal Ben Saddik vs. Ben Edwards official for Glory 12 Archived 21 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  15. Glory 12 Results and Recap: Andy Ristie shocks the world with two huge knockouts Archived 3 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  16. GLORY 12 Live Results and Updates
  17. GLORY 12 results: Upsets galore as Giorgio Petrosyan falls short to tourney winner Andy Ristie Archived 28 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  18. GLORY Announces GLORY 15 Card
  19. GLORY Announces GLORY 16 Card – Pat Barry's Debut
  20. Glory 16 Denver Fight Card
  21. UFC Veteran Pat Barry Suffers First-Round Knockout Loss to Zack Mwekassa at Glory 16
  22. Glory 16 Results Archived 20 March 2015 at the Wayback Machine
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
David Levi
Australian heavyweight Championship Succeeded by
Peter Graham
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