This should be the Olympic Karate ruleset #KarateCombat pic.twitter.com/WfCxDRdRDC
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) April 27, 2018
Sherdog.com has learned from a source close to the promotion the date and location for Karate Combat’s second event, as the first mainstream professional full-contact karate league will stream live from Athens on July 28.
Four-time UK national champion Jerome Brown will take on European champ and 11-time French national ace Davy Dona, while world champion finalists Achraf Ouchen and Franklin Mina will collide in a heavyweight contest in the co-main event.
Karate Combat’s second event will take place at the historic Zappeion Courtyard, just steps away from the Parthenon, where the first Olympics were held.
“This location for our League’s second event of the season has me awestruck,” said Michael DePietro, CEO of Karate Combat. “I am proud to launch the live European Karate Combat debut from this hallowed ground.”
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion Bas Rutten will be joined by Sean Wheelock, the former voice of Bellator MMA, in the commentating booth.
Their first event, Karate Combat “Inception,” was a smashing hit with fans back in April. Brown, who will headline their second event, defeated Pedro Roig by first round TKO. Mixed martial arts veteran Josh Quayhagen, who fought for Bellator four times, was knocked out 56 seconds into the first round by Abdalla Ibrahim. The first event was chock full of stunning and violent knockouts and received quite a bit of press as well.
The promotion utilizes a pit-like area where the combatants compete, which is surrounded by 45 degree embankments. Karate Combat actually uses a similar ruleset to the unified rules of MMA, with no low blows, eye gouging or biting. However, elbows, knees and uppercuts are not allowed, as the promotion emphasizes traditional martial arts with a 10-point must judging structure. Only five seconds of grappling is allowed at a time and takedowns are permitted.