Karate Combat 45 Dubai is set to go down on April 20. This will be the company’s first foray into the market and the action emanates from Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium.
During this inaugural foray into the Middle East for Karate Combat, the headline attraction will see Luke Rockhold clash with Joe Schilling.
Rockhold has not competed since last April when he collided with Mike Perry in a BKFC contest. The former UFC and Strikeforce middleweight champion looks to return to the win column as he segues into yet another combat sport. Luke Rockhold has been to a few Karate Combat events in analyst and special guest roles with a bout seemingly being inevitable. The wait is finally over and Rockhold now has a locked in opponent and date for KC action.
Schilling is a prolific knockout artist across mixed martial arts, kickboxing, and Muay Thai competitions. Stitch ‘Em Up has not competed since a setback in Bellator MMA in 2019. Many are curious as to how he comes back after half a decade outside of the competitive spotlight.
Karate Combat 45 Dubai
This event will be hosted by Bas Rutten, Georges St Pierre, and Salman Khan. The company has become known for its use of 3D VFX backgrounds. But this time, the Dubai skyline will add a unique splash of colors to the scene.
In a quote from Karate.com, President of Karate Combat Awesome aka Asim Zaidi stated, “Bringing Karate Combat to Dubai is a milestone for us and for the sport of karate. Dubai’s reputation for hosting world-class sporting events makes it the perfect stage for our athletes to showcase the beauty and intensity of karate. We are excited to offer a unique and thrilling experience to martial arts fans in the Middle East and beyond.”
Beyond the exciting main event, veritable human highlight reel Raymond Daniels will also be returning to the pit here. Plus there is action beyond the high octane stand-up arts. Grappling will also take center stage at Karate Combat 45. Names set to submission grapple include Craig Jones, Kaynan Duarte, and Osamah Almarwai to name but a few.
The full card for KC 45 can be found below.
KC 45
Main Event: Luke Rockhold vs Joe Schilling
Double champ fight: Luiz Rocha vs Myrza-bek Tebuev
Karate vs Muay Thai:
Eddie Farrell vs Raymond Daniels
Vitalii Dubina vs Edgar Skrivers
Yodkaikaew Fairtex vs Saybyokub Kakhramonv
Pakistan vs India:
Shahzaib Rind vs Rana Singh
Uloomi Karim vs Himanshu Kaushik
Rizwan Ali vs Pawan Gupta
Adam Noi vs Ali Motamed
Huang Shuai Lu vs Ali Zainfar
Pit Submission Series:
Craig Jones vs Andre Muniz (main event)
Pouya Arahmani vs Kaynan Duarte (co-main event)
Zayed Alkhaterri vs Osamah Almarwai
