Gabriel Varga

Gabriel Varga (born May 16, 1985) is a Canadian kickboxer who competes in the Featherweight division. A martial artist since his childhood, Varga started out in Shotokan karate and made the switch to kickboxing at seventeen. After becoming a Canadian, North American and two-time world champion during his amateur career, he turned professional in 2009 and won two more world championships in the pro ranks inside the space of seven months during 2011. Varga has since competed in the K-1, Glory, and Bellator Kickboxing promotions and has won 6 professional kickboxing world titles.

Gabriel Varga
Varga in 2016 posing with his various championships.
Born	(1985-05-16) May 16, 1985 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	64.9 kg (143 lb; 10.22 st)
Division	Lightweight Welterweight Featherweight
Reach	73.8 in (187 cm)
Style	Kickboxing, Kadgamala Karate, Shotokan Karate
Fighting out of	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Team	Varga Bros. Martial Arts
Trainer	Aaron Varga
Rank	4th degree black belt in Shotokan and Kadgamala
Years active	2006-present
Kickboxing record
Total	24
Wins	18
By knockout	4
Losses	6
By knockout	1
Draws	0
Mixed martial arts record
Total	2
Wins	1
By knockout	1
Losses	1
By decision	1
Amateur record
Total	15
Wins	15
By knockout	7
Losses	0
Draws	0
last updated on: February 3, 2018

Early life

Gabriel Varga was born in Toronto, Ontario and spent part of his childhood in Australia and New Zealand before settling in Victoria, British Columbia in 1999.[1] He was introduced to martial arts at an early age by his father, Keith, a boxer and karateka. Also a classically trained pianist, Varga formally began training in Shotokan at the age of eight and eventually earned the rank of fourth degree black belt. He made the switch to kickboxing and Muay Thai, along with his brothers Aaron and Jacob, at seventeen years old.[2][3]

Kickboxing career

Amateur career

Varga began competing as an amateur in 2006 at the age of twenty and, after amassing an 8-0 record by 2008, spent three months training in Thailand at Eminent Air, Fairtex, Por Pramuk and Sinbi Muay Thai.[4]

Upon his return to Canada, he was given the chance to fight for his first title and he outpointed Carlos Garcia to take the ISKA Amateur North American Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship.[4] He then stopped Chuck Mady with body shots in the first round for the ISKA Amateur Canadian Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental title on August 15, 2008.[5]

Now a national and continental belt holder, Varga faced Joe Concha in an ISKA super lightweight amateur world title match in his hometown of Victoria on January 24, 2009. He scored a knockdown in the fifth and final round and won by decision.[6] He made the first defence of this title against Emil Salva on April 4, 2009 in Langford, British Columbia. After being dropped with a right overhand late in round one, Varga was able to rally back to win by a third round technical knockout that sent the Romanian through the ropes at the end of round three.[7] On June 12, 2009, he made his final title defence with a wide points victory over Matt Embree in Victoria, British Columbia.[8]

Following this, Varga moved back up in weight to challenge for the ISKA amateur light welterweight world title against Devon Henry in Victoria on July 20, 2009. He won by split decision after a back-and-forth fight.[9] In his final bout as an amateur, he took a unanimous decision over Nathan Smandych on October 3, 2009 in Victoria to defend his ISKA light welterweight strap and bring his record to 15-0.[10]

Professional career

Having fought mostly under Oriental rules during his amateur career, Varga ventured into the Muay Thai ruleset after turning professional and spent the early part of his career fighting abroad. In his pro debut on December 12, 2009, he travelled to Flushing, New York, United States and defeated local fighter Omar Ahmed by unanimous decision.[11] He followed this up with another unanimous decision win over Justin Greskiewicz on February 19, 2010[12] before being invited to compete in an eight-man tournament held in New York on July 17, 2010. Despite entering as the tournament favourite, he was eliminated at the quarter-final stage when he lost to Terrence Hill via a controversial unanimous decision.[13] The Varga camp attempted to have the result overturned and filed a complaint with the WKA a week later. Their bid was rejected, however, as it had been submitted too late.[4] A rematch with Greskiewicz was set for December 3, 2010 at The Warriors Cup XIII in Lincroft, New Jersey, US but fell through when Justin was injured in a motorcycle accident.[14][15] He was nominated for the 2010 "North American Fighter of the Year" award by Muay Thai Authority but lost out to Kevin Ross.[16][17]

He returned to the ring on January 8, 2011 at a Canada vs. China event in Jinan, China where he won by unanimous decision under sanshou rules.[4] With this, he earned himself a shot at the World Kickboxing Network (WKN) World Lightweight (-64.4 kg/142 lb) Oriental Championship. Fighting in Victoria for the first time as a professional on March 12, 2011, he heavily utilized knees and sweeps over five rounds to take the unanimous decision and come away with the belt.[18][19] His rematch with Justin Greskiwicz was rescheduled for Battle at Bally's 2 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, US on August 11, 2011 but fell through again.[20] Instead he took a second consecutive title match in which Varga knocked out Roy Tan in the third round to take the World Kickboxing Federation (WKF) World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142 lb) K-1 belt in Vienna, Austria on September 24, 2011.[21][22]

After a year out of the ring, he signed with K-1 and made his promotional debut at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Los Angeles in California on September 8, 2012 against Lerdsila Chumpairtour.[23] Varga dropped the three-time Rajadamnern Stadium champion with a spinning backfist in the opening round but it was ruled a slip by the referee. Nonetheless, he kept a high tempo and fought aggressively en route to winning by unanimous decision.[24]

He was recruited into Glory's 65 kg/143 lb class in 2013 and was amongst the division's eight elite fighters at the Glory 8: Tokyo - 2013 65kg Slam tournament in Tokyo, Japan on May 3, 2013. He dominated Abdellah Ezbiri en route to a unanimous decision win in the quarter-finals, but lost to the eventual champion Yuta Kubo by the same margin in the semis.[25][26]

Varga was set to face Shane Oblonsky at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US on October 12, 2013.[27] However, Oblonsky withdrew due to injury and was replaced by Jose Palacios.[28] Varga defeated Palacios via unanimous decision.[29]

He was then set to make a defence of his WKN title for the first time against Jessy Petit-Jean in Belgium on November 9, 2013[30] but the bout was cancelled for undisclosed reasons.[31]

Varga won the 2014 Glory Featherweight Contendership Tournament at Glory 17: Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, US on June 21, 2014, defeating Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai in the semi-finals and Shane Oblonsky in the final, both via unanimous decision.[32][33]

On April 3, 2015 Varga defeated #1 ranked Mosab Amrani to become the inaugural GLORY Featherweight World Champion. The title fight took place on Glory 20 in Dubai. The decision win was unanimous with the 3 judges scoring 50-46, 48-47, and 49-46.

On July 14, 2018 in Rome, Italy Varga won his 6th professional world title. He defeated Kevin Ross by 1st-round TKO to win the Bellator Kickboxing Featherweight World Title.

Mixed martial arts career

In 2019, Varga made the transition to mixed martial arts competition for Bellator.[34] He made his debut against Jamese Taylor at Bellator 224 on July 12, 2019. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.

Championships and awards

Kickboxing

• Bellator Kickboxing
  • Bellator Kickboxing Featherweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) Champion
• Hero Legends
  • Hero Legends 2016 Featherweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) Champion
• Glory
  • Glory Featherweight Champion (two times; first)
  • 2015, 2016 Glory Featherweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) Champion
  • 2014 Glory Featherweight (-65 kg/143.3 lb) Contender Tournament Winner
• International Sport Karate Association
  • ISKA Amateur Canadian Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship
  • ISKA Amateur North American Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship
  • ISKA Amateur World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship
  • ISKA Amateur World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship
• World Kickboxing Association
  • WKA Amateur British Columbia Light Welterweight (-64 kg/141.1 lb) Championship
• World Kickboxing Federation
  • WKF World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142 lb) K-1 Championship
• World Kickboxing Network
  • WKN World Lightweight (-64.4 kg/142 lb) Oriental Championship

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record

18 Wins (4 (T) KO's, 13 decisions), 6 Losses Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time Record 2019-10-12 Win Cristian Faustino Bellator Kickboxing 12 Milan, Italy Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 18-6 Defends the Bellator Kickboxing Featherweight Championship. 2018-12-01 Win Shan Cangelosi Bellator Kickboxing 11 Genoa, Italy KO (Punch) 1 2:42 17-6 Defends the Bellator Kickboxing Featherweight Championship. 2018-07-14 Win Kevin Ross Bellator Kickboxing 10 : Rome Rome, Italy TKO (Ref. Stoppage/Punches) 1 2:08 16-6 Wins the Bellator Kickboxing Featherweight Championship. 2018-02-03 Loss Tie Yinghua Glory of Heroes: Chengdu Chengdu, China Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00 15-6 2017-12-09 Win Roberto Gheorghita Bellator Kickboxing 8: Florence Florence, Italy TKO (Ref. Stoppage) 2 2:49 15-5 2017-06-25 Win Lu Yichen Hero Legends Shenzhen, China Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 14-5 2017-04-14 Loss Gabor Gorbics Bellator Kickboxing 6: Budapest Budapest, Hungary Decision (Split) 3 3:00 13-5 2016-10-21 Loss Robin van Roosmalen Glory 34: Denver Broomfield, Colorado TKO (corner stoppage) 4 3:00 13-4 Loses the Glory Featherweight Championship. 2016-07-22 Win Serhiy Adamchuk Glory 32: Virginia Norfolk, Virginia Decision (majority) 5 3:00 13-3 Wins the Glory Featherweight Championship. 2016-01-16 Win Liu Wei Hero Legends Hainan, China Decision(unanimous) 3 3:00 12-3 Wins the Hero Legends Featherweight Championship. 2015-11-06 Loss Serhiy Adamchuk Glory 25: Milan Monza, Italy Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00 11-3 Losses the Glory Featherweight Championship. 2015-04-03 Win Mosab Amrani Glory 20: Dubai Dubai, UAE Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 11-2 Wins the Glory Featherweight Championship. 2014-06-21 Win Shane Oblonsky Glory 17: Los Angeles - Featherweight Contender Tournament, Final Inglewood, California, US Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 10-2 Wins the Glory Featherweight Contender Tournament. 2014-06-21 Win Yodkhunpon Sitmonchai Glory 17: Los Angeles - Featherweight Contender Tournament, Semi Finals Inglewood, California, US Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 9-2 2013-10-12 Win Jose Palacios Glory 11: Chicago Hoffman Estates, Illinois, US Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 8-2 2013-05-03 Loss Yuta Kubo Glory 8: Tokyo - 65 kg Slam Tournament, Semi Finals Tokyo, Japan Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 7-2 2013-05-03 Win Abdellah Ezbiri Glory 8: Tokyo - 65 kg Slam Tournament, Quarter Finals Tokyo, Japan Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 7-1 2012-09-08 Win Lerdsila Chumpairtour K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Los Angeles Los Angeles, California, US Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 6-1 2011-09-24 Win Roy Tan Fight for a Dream Vienna, Austria KO 3 5-1 Wins the WKF World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142 lb) K-1 Championship. 2011-03-12 Win Yohan Ha Van Quest for the Title Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 4-1 Wins the WKN World Lightweight (-64.4 kg/142 lb) Oriental Championship. 2011-01-08 Win Xiao Jie Canada vs. China Jinan, China Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 3-1 2010-07-17 Loss Terrence Hill Take-On Productions, Quarter Finals New York City, New York, US Decision (unanimous) 3 3:00 2-1 2010-02-19 Win Justin Greskiewicz Friday Night Fights New York City, New York, US Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 2-0 2009-12-12 Win Omar Ahmed The New York Showdown II New York City, New York, US Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00 1-0 Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Amateur kickboxing record

Amateur kickboxing record

15 Wins (7 (T) KO's, 8 decisions), 0 Losses Date Result Opponent Event Location Method Round Time 2009-10-03 Win Nathan Smandych Quest for the Title IV Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Decision (unanimous) 5 2:00 Retains the ISKA Amateur World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2009-07-20 Win Devon Henry Quest for the Title III Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Decision (split) 5 2:00 Wins the ISKA Amateur World Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2009-06-12 Win Matt Embree Summer Slugfest III Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Decision 5 2:00 Retains the ISKA Amateur World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2009-04-04 Win Emil Salva Quest for the Title II Langford, British Columbia, Canada TKO (punches) 3 2:00 Retains the ISKA Amateur World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2009-01-24 Win Joe Concha Quest for the Title I Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Decision 5 2:00 Wins the ISKA Amateur World Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2008-08-15 Win Chuck Mady Summer Slugfest Victoria, British Columbia, Canada KO (body punches) 1 Wins the ISKA Amateur Canadian Super Lightweight (-62.3 kg/137.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2008-00-00 Win Carlos Garcia Decision 4 2:00 Wins the ISKA Amateur North American Light Welterweight (-64.5 kg/142.2 lb) Oriental Championship. 2006-04-15 Win Ronnie Alampour Battle at the Bear Victoria, British Columbia, Canada KO (punches) 1 Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
2 matches	1 win	1 loss
By knockout	1	0
By submission	0	0
By decision	0	1

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Los	1–1	Teejay Britton	Decision (split)	Bellator 239	February 21, 2020	3	5:00	Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States
Win	1–0	Jamese Taylor	TKO (punches)	Bellator 224	July 12, 2019	2	3:23	Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States

References

1. Eric Rivera. "Profiles in Muay Thai: Global Edition – Vol. 1 – Gabriel Varga". Muaythaiislife.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
2. "Gabriel Varga: Home Grown Ring King". ¸LYF Marketing Blog.
3. "totalmuaythai.com". Totalmuaythai.com. Archived from the original on 2013-06-30. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
4. "Story". Official Site for Gabriel Varga and Varga Bros.
5. Colonist, Times (2008-08-15). "Warren, Wilson featured in five-round grudge match". Canada.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on May 31, 2015. Retrieved May 11, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "Varga Defends World Amateur Title". Iskaworldhq.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
8. "Varga Brothers Win Again!". Iskaworldhq.com. 2009-06-12. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
9. "QUEST FOR THE TITLE 3". Iskaworldhq.com. 2009-07-20. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-28. Retrieved 2013-05-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
11. ChampionsWay (2009-12-12). "Wka Usa". Wka Usa. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
12. ChampionsWay (2010-02-19). "Wka Usa". Wka Usa. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
13. ChampionsWay (2010-07-17). "Wka Usa". Wka Usa. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
17. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 8, 2014. Retrieved September 17, 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
18. Parviz Iskenderov (15 March 2011). "Gabriel VARGA wins WKN World title in Canada, March 12". Fightmag. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
19. "Gabriel Varga First Canadian in History to Become World Professional Champion of the WKN". FILES News.
20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 19, 2012. Retrieved May 11, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
21. Travis Paterson. "Thai fighter: Canada's kickboxing champ in the Far East". Victoria News.
22. "Fighter, Gabriel Varga wins Second Professional World Title in Austria". FILES News.
23. Christian J. Stewart. "Gabriel Varga Signs Deal to Fight in the K1". The Independent Sports News.
24. Christian J. Stewart. "Gabriel Varga Wins First K1 Bout". The Independent Sports News.
25. Rian Scalia. "GLORY 8 Tokyo Live Results". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
26. "Gabriel Varga Returns Home From Glory 8 World Series Kickboxing Event in Tokyo". The Independent Sports News. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
27. "Three New Fights Confirmed for GLORY 11 Chicago". Gloryworldseries.com. 2013-09-12. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
28. Dave Walsh. "GLORY 11 Full Event Card Announced". LiverKick. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
29. Dave Walsh. "GLORY 11 Chicago Live Results and Discussion". LiverKick.com. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
30. Parviz Iskenderov (20 August 2013). "Canadian Varga to defend his WKN title in Belgium". Fightmag. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
31. "MMA Opinion". Mmaopinion.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-07-10. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
32. "Glory 17 and Last Man Standing Live Results". Liverkick.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
33. Fraser Coffeen (22 June 2014). "Glory results: Artem Levin, Rico Verhoeven and Joseph Valtellini take home Glory gold". Bloody Elbow.
34. Nolan King. "Kickboxing champ Gabriel Varga nervous for MMA debut at Bellator 224, but that's how he wants it". MMAJunkie.com. Retrieved 2019-07-12.

External links

• Official site