Zabit Samedov

He was recruited by top martial arts organization K-1 after achieving several titles in various events between 2004 and 2006. He began to fight with consistency by attaining the title of K-1 Fighting Network in Riga in 2006 in Latvia.

On August 17, 2007, following the K-1 World GP 2007 in Las Vegas event the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) issued a statement that Samedov tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid.[5]

On 26 April 2008, Samedov competed in K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam, dispatched Doug Viney and Brian Douwes respectively. However, he was beaten by Errol Zimmerman in the final on points.

On November 29, 2008, Samedov faced Tyrone Spong for the inaugural It's Showtime 95MAX World title, and lost by unanimous decision.

Samedov fought at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Łódź where he beat, Mindaugas Sakalauskas by unanimous decision and Raul Catinas and Sergei Lascenko to finally make it to the Final 16. At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16 Samedov was knocked out by Badr Hari in the first round. He's now set to fight Igor Jurković on United Glory 15.[6]

He faced Xavier Vigney at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16 on October 14, 2012[7][8] and totally outclassed the young American, flooring him three times in the first round to win via TKO.[9]

He was scheduled to face Andrei Stoica for the inaugural SUPERKOMBAT Super Cruiserweight Championship at the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2012 Final in Bucharest, Romania on December 22 but pulled out due to illness.[10]

At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 Final on March 15, 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia, he was originally drawn against Ben Edwards in the quarter-finals.[11] However, Edwards withdrew due to having a fight booked with Paul Slowinski a week later, and was replaced by Badr Hari.[12] Samedov was knocked down in round one and received a standing eight count in three, losing a unanimous decision.[13][14]

Samedov scored a first round high kick KO over Wiesław Kwaśniewski at SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes 3 in Vienna, Austria on May 10, 2013.[15][16][17][18][19]

A third fight with Badr Hari took place at Legend 1 in Moscow, Russia on May 25, 2013.[20] Samedov dropped Hari late in round one, and sent him to the canvas again with a left hook in the second. Although Hari seemed lucid, he stayed on his knees and did not beat the count, giving Samedov the KO victory.[21][22][23][24][25]

He competed in the -93 kg/205 lb tournament at Legend 2: Invasion in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013, taking a unanimous decision over Melvin Manhoef in the semi-finals. He was set to fight Pavel Zhuravlev in the final but was unable to do so due to a cut and was replaced by Agron Preteni.[26][27][28]

Returning to the ring for the first time in eight months, Samedov scored a 21-second high kick knockout over Stefan Leko on the undercard of the Ruslan Chagaev vs. Fres Oquendo boxing match in Grozny, Russia on July 6, 2014.[29]

He won three more fights, defeating Jafar Ahmadi,[30] Makoto Uehara[31] and Mert Akın by decision.

Samedov took part in the GFC Fight Series 3 tournament. He beat Steve McKinnon by decision in the semifinals, and Danyo Ilunga by an extra round decision in the finals.[32]

In the latter part of 2015, Samedov signed with Akhmat Fight Show, and fought almost exclusively for them over the next three years. In his organizational debut, he was scheduled to fight Dževad Poturak,[33] whom he beat by unanimous decision. Four months later, he beat Paul Slowinski in the same manner.[34]

In his third fight with the organization, Samedov was scheduled to fight Cătălin Moroșanu for the WBC Muaythai World Heavywheight Championship.[35] He knocked Moroșanu out in the first round, with a knee strike.[36]

Over the next two years, Samedov fought five more times: he scored stoppage wins over Evgeny Orlov[37] and Frederic Sinistra,[38] and decision wins against Errol Zimmerman,[39] Freddy Kemayo[40] and Brice Guidon.[41]

Following a 26 month hiatus from the sport, Samedov was scheduled to fight James McSweeney at the Mix Fight Championship on April 11, 2020.[42] The fight was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[43]