New York, NY - Trailblazing full-contact professional karate league Karate Combat today announced Thursday, July 1 as the worldwide premiere date for Karate Combat: Season Three.
The 12-episode season features Georges St-Pierre and Lyoto Machida in ‘season sensei’ roles, four world title fights, the introduction of a new weight class and, with more than half of fights ending inside the distance, the highest number of finishes of any Karate Combat season.
Living legend Bas Rutten reprises his role as host and lead commentator, joined as always by Josh Palmer and Layla-Anna Lee. New for this season are highly-respected Marc Goddard as senior official, real-time action analysis from Robin Black and reportage from former WWE announcer Andrea Ocampo.
Produced in the promotion’s trademark ‘fightsport of the future’ style, with real fights taking place against incredible backdrops generated by the Epic Games Unreal Engine (Fortnite, Mandalorian), this season’s virtual arenas take viewers on a journey through time from 1800s Japan through to the near future via 1980s Hollywood.
“This is the biggest season of Karate Combat ever - and I’m not just saying that. From having GSP and Lyoto Machida involved through to the fights themselves, this season takes things to a whole new level for Karate Combat. I think this season is going to blow people away,” said Adam Kovacs, President, Karate Combat.
Title fights this season include Louisiana’s Josh ‘The Preacher’ Quayhagen defending the welterweight belt against Dominican rival Dionicio ‘El Capitan’ Gustavo and Latvia’s Edgar ‘The Bear Slayer’ Skrivers defending his lightweight title against Brazilian contender Bruno ‘The White Dragon’ Assis.
Karate Combat: Season Three premieres worldwide on Thursday, July 1.
In the US, the season airs exclusively on CBS Sports Network at 10:00PM ET.
Broadcast details for Brazil, South America, Europe and the UK will be announced in the coming days.
The confirmed fighter line-up for Karate Combat: Season Three is as follows:
Josh ‘The Preacher’ Quayhagen (USA)
Karate Combat World Welterweight Champion
Edgar ‘The Bear Slayer’ Skrivers (Latvia)
Karate Combat World lightweight Champion
Dionicio ‘El Capitan’ Gustavo (Dominican Republic)
Karate Combat Welterweight Championship Challenger
Bruno ‘The White Dragon’ Assis
Karate Combat Welterweight Championship Challenger
Samuel Ericsson (Sweden)
“Joe Rogan’s favorite karateka”, social media sensation
Eoghan Chelmiah (Ireland)
Irish prospect on mission to “do for karate what Conor McGregor did for MMA”
Kamariddin Khasanov (Tajikistan)
Survived kidnap and some dangerous Russian streets thanks to karate
Myrza-Bek Tebuev (Russia)
Russian black belt with a PhD in Aeronautical Propulsion (aka “Rocket Science”)
Nikolasz Lukacs (Hungary)
This 18-year-old is the youngest fighter in Karate Combat history
Abdesslam Ameknassi (Morocco)
An outstanding competitor on the Middle East / North Africa circuit
Kevin Azouz (France)
Member of the French national team, brother of Tommy Azouz
Luiz Victor Rocha (Brazil)
Fighting out of Team Pitbull, Rocha is one of the most experienced fighters on the roster
Teeik Silva (Brazil)
Colorful, charismatic - Silva is not a fighter you’ll soon forget
Ilies ‘The Madman’ Mardhi (France/Morocco)
French contender from one of the toughest neighborhoods in Paris
Vasilii Antokhii (Russia)
The amateur circuit found him too hot to handle; Karate Combat gave him a home
Davy Dona (France)
‘The Hurricane’ is a gritty veteran from the same mean streets as Illies Mahdi
Christina Kavakopoulou (Greece)
A member of the Greek national team and a superb technician
Zsolt Habda (Hungary)
This special forces veteran is a man on a mission
Gabriele Cera (Italy)
Born, raised and trained in the shadow of Rome’s Colosseum, Cera is a modern-day gladiator
Tommy Azouz (France)
Brother of Kevin Azouz and, like him, a member of the French national team
Deivis Ferreras (Dominican Republic)
Known as ‘The Rage’, Ferreras earned his nickname for good reason.
Maximilian Mathes (Germany)
Ordained monk Mathes lives in a Buddhist monastery and considers himself a new-era samurai
Jorge Perez (Dominican Republic)
Army captain Perez is one of the most explosive fighters in Karate Combat - don’t blink.
Nikos Gidakos (Greece)
A member of the Greek national team and two-time European bronze medallist
Gilmarcos de Bastos Jr (Brazil)
Born and raised in a karate family, he began training at three years old
Gabriel Brito (Brazil)
‘The White Tiger’ is a five-time national champion in his native Brazil
Jessica Linhares de Paula (Brazil)
Shorin-Ryu black belt and two-time bronze medallist in the Pan-American Championships
Velimir Jeknic (Serbia)
The towering Jeknic spent several years in Dubai training police in hand-to-hand combat
Alberto Ramirez (Venezuela)
Venezuela national team member
Mouley Oudoud (France)
Shotokan black belt and law student
Reda Messaoudi (Morocco)
‘The Cobra’ has an infamously powerful spinning back kick
Shahin Atamov (Azerbaijan)
This unassuming Azeri has dynamite in both hands. One mistake, the fight is over.
Bryan Van Waesberghe (Belgium)
A young obsession with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles led ‘The Rampage’ into karate
Omaira Molina (Venezuela)
NYC resident ‘La Guerrera’ is a Venezuelan national champion and member of the national team
Erica Santos (Brazil)
Ten-time Brazilian national champion, nine-time Pan-American champion
Vitalie Certan (Portugal)
Certain lives life on the edge - he’s a stuntman as well as professional fighter
Daniel Viveros (Ecuador)
‘The Black Diamond’ represents Ecuador on the national team
Lazar Kukuličić (Montenegro)
‘The Lion King’ is a Balkan regional champion looking to put Montenegro on the map
Tim Ha (Czech Republic)
This young Czech newcomer has set his sights on lightweight champion Skrivers
Fabiola Esquivel (Mexico)
Mexican national squad member, Shito-Ryu black belt
Ana Villanueva (Dominican Republic)
Five-time Pan-American champion, teammate of welterweight contender Gustavo
Jesús Paucarcaja Lopez (Peru)
Jesús fights in memory of his brother, who trained him until the day he was shot dead in front of him
Nikita Yanchuk (Russia)
Russian national champion in Kudo, one of the karate world’s hardest fighting competitions
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