Ray Sefo

Ray Sefo
Ray Sefo
Born	15 February 1971; Auckland, New Zealand
Other names	Sugarfoot
Nationality	New Zealander
Height	185 cm 6ft
Weight	120 kg (265 lb; 18 st 13 lb)
Division	Light Heavyweight ; Cruiserweight ; Heavyweight ; Super Heavyweight
Reach	75 in (191 cm)
Style	Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Boxing
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Las Vegas, Nevada, US
Team	Xtreme Couture ; Ray Sefo's Fight Academy
Years active	1989–2012 (Kickboxing); 1989–2012 (Muay Thai); 1994–2001 (Boxing); 2005–2013 (MMA)
Professional boxing record
Total	6
Wins	5
By knockout	4
Losses	1
Kickboxing record
Total	79
Wins	56
By knockout	38
Losses	22
By knockout	11
Draws	1
Mixed martial arts record
Total	4
Wins	2
By knockout	1
By submission	1
Losses	2
By knockout	1
By submission	1
Other information
Notable relatives	Rony Sefo, brother; Antz Nansen, cousin; Baby Nansen, cousin; Fai Falamoe, cousin
	Boxing record from BoxRec
	Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
	last updated on: 11 May 2011

Ray Sefo (born 15 February 1971) is a New Zealand fight promoter and retired[1] kickboxer, boxer, and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent.[2][3] He is a six-time Muay Thai World Champion[4] and eight time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant. He is the president of MMA promotion Professional Fighters League.[5] In kickboxing, he defeated world champions Jerome Le Banner, Peter Aerts, Stefan Leko, Mike Bernardo, and Mark Hunt.

Background

Training in Wing Chun as a youth, Sefo moved to Muay Thai under Thai fighting legend Kiosot, then continued training under Lollo Heimuli at the infamous Balmoral Lee Gar Gym.

Career

Early career

Sefo had an impressive unbeaten record as an amateur and a professional in the Oceania kickboxing league. Early in his career, he trained at Balmoral Lee Gar gym alongside Jason Suttie, Jayson Vemoa, Doug Viney, John Conway, and his brother, Rony Sefo. In 1996, Ray Sefo fought Andre Mannaart in a kickboxing match and overwhelmed Manaart with devastating speed and elusive footwork, knocking him down on numerous occasions. In the ring after the fight, Mannaart took the microphone and said, "...you should call him Sugarfist, not Sugarfoot..." Sefo's first major breakthrough was becoming a WKA Cruiserweight Champion. He also acted as a sparring partner for fellow New Zealander David Tua, when Tua first returned to New Zealand for a fight after turning pro.

K-1

Sefo made his K-1 debut against future four-time World Grand Prix Champion, Ernesto Hoost. Sefo held his own against the much more experienced Hoost but was finally knocked out in the 4th round by a leg kick. Sefo gained respect for standing up to such an elite fighter in just his first fight. Sefo gained more respect in his third K-1 fight where he knocked out K-1 legend Jerome Lebanner in the 1st round. Sefo's hard right hand was enough to break the Frenchman's jaw in four places.

Sefo had an up and down first few years in K-1, unable to make it past the quarter finals in the K-1 World Grand Prix against the likes of Sam Greco and Andy Hug. In 2000, he made it to the WGP final after knocking out Japanese star Musashi and French kickboxer Cyril Abidi, before losing again to Hoost. In 2002, Sefo defeated Dutch legend Peter Aerts in the quarter finals but lost again to his nemesis Hoost in the semi-finals.

In 2007, Sefo was thought to be a legitimate challenger to dethrone four-time World Grand Prix Champion Semmy Schilt for the new Super Heavyweight title. In the 1st round, Sefo became only the second man in history to knock Schilt down. However, he would go on to lose by KO in the second round. He went on to lose five more fights and would not find the winners circle again until he beat Hong Man Choi, Yosuke Nishijima, and Ionut Iftimoaie, all by decision.

Sefo was then asked to fight at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16 on ten days notice against Tyrone Spong. Sefo put up a decent fight on short preparation but was beaten by decision.

MMA and retirement

In mid-February 2011, Sefo had his third MMA fight in a reserve fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament. He fought Valentijn Overeem, brother of Alistair Overeem, the 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix champion. Overeem had 50 MMA fights behind him and beat Sefo by submission in the first round. Sefo's striking on the feet looked good, but as an inexperienced grappler, he lost early on by neck crank.

On 12 June 2013, Sefo announced that he would return to fighting.[6] At WSOF 3, Sefo announced that he would be facing Dave Huckaba.[7] The two fought at World Series of Fighting 4 on 10 August 2013. Sefo lost the fight via TKO in the second round. In an interview in April 2015, Sefo said, "I actually made a promise to myself that this year will be my last year." He did not fight again after losing against Huckaba.[8] While he considered fighting again, Sefo officially announced his retirement in 2018.[1]

Executive career

Sefo is the current president of MMA promotion Professional Fighters League.[5] He was named president when the promotion was still known as World Series of Fighting. He helped the promotion ink a deal with NBC Sports to air 8 to 10 events on its network.

Titles

2000 K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Runner Up.
1997 WKA World Super Heavyweight World champion.
1996 WMTF World Heavyweight champion.
1996 ISKA World Super Cruiserweight Champion.
1995 ISKA World Cruiserweight Champion.
1994 ISKA World Light Cruiserweight Champion.
1992 WMTF World Light Heavyweight Champion.
1992 South Pacific Cruiserweight Champion.
1991 New Zealand Cruiserweight Champion.
1990 New Zealand Heavyweight Champion.

MMA accomplishments

Hero's

Superfight winner at K-1 Hero's 2

Personal life

Sefo lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and continues to train out of Xtreme Couture Mixed Martial Arts.[9]

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

56 Wins (38 (T)KO's, 18 Decisions), 21 Losses, 1 Draw

Fails to qualify for K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final.
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time	Record
2012-03-10	Loss	Mirko Cro Cop	Cro Cop Final Fight	Zagreb, Croatia	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	56-22-1
2010-10-02	Loss	Tyrone Spong	K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16	Seoul, South Korea	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	56-21-1
2010-05-21	Win	Ionuţ Iftimoaie	K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Bucharest	Bucharest, Romania	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	56-20-1
2009-12-31	Win	Yosuke Nishijima	Dynamite!! 2009	Saitama, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	55-20-1
2008-12-06	Win	Choi Hong Man	K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final	Yokohama, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	54-20-1
2008-09-27	Loss	Gokhan Saki	K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Seoul Final 16	Seoul, Korea	Ext.R Decision	4	3:00	53-20-1
Fails to qualify for K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final.
2008-07-13	Loss	Zabit Samedov	K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Taipei	Taipei City, Taiwan	2nd Ext.R Decision (Split)	5	3:00	53-19-1
2008-04-13	Loss	Badr Hari	K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	2:43	53-18-1
2007-09-29	Loss	Peter Aerts	K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Seoul Final 16	Seoul, South Korea	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	1	3:00	53-17-1
Fails to qualify for K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 Final.
2007-08-11	Loss	Bjorn Bregy	K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	Decision (Split)	3	3:00	53-16-1
2007-03-04	Loss	Semmy Schilt	K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	KO (Punch)	2	0:26	53-15-1
Fight was for K-1 Super Heavyweight Title.
2006-12-02	Win	Melvin Manhoef	K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 Final	Tokyo, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	1	0:40	53-14-1
2006-09-30	Loss	Stefan Leko	K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Osaka Opening Round	Osaka, Japan	Ext.R Decision (Unanimous)	4	3:00	52-14-1
Loses fight but invited to K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 Final as Reservist.
2006-08-12	Win	Azem Maksutaj	K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas II	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	3	2:02	52-13-1
2006-06-03	Win	Ruslan Karaev	K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Seoul	Seoul, South Korea	KO (Right Hook)	1	1:42	51-13-1
2006-03-05	Win	Francois Botha	K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Auckland	Auckland, New Zealand	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	50-13-1
2005-11-19	Loss	Semmy Schilt	K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 Final	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	49-13-1
2005-09-23	Win	Kaoklai Kaennorsing	K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Osaka - Final Elimination	Osaka, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	49-12-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 Final.
2005-06-14	Win	Ruslan Karaev	K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Hiroshima	Hiroshima, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	0:37	48-12-1
2004-12-31	Win	Gary Goodridge	K-1 PREMIUM 2004 Dynamite!!	Osaka, Japan	KO (Right Uppercuts)	1	0:24	47-12-1
2004-11-04	Loss	Musashi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final	Tokyo, Japan	Ext.R Decision (Unanimous)	4	3:00	46-12-1
2004-09-25	Win	Hiromi Amada	K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final Elimination	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	46-11-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final.
2004-08-07	Win	Marvin Eastman	K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Las Vegas II	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	1:32	45-11-1
2004-06-26	Win	Bob Sapp	K-1 Beast 2004 in Shizuoka	Shizuoka, Japan	KO	2	0:29	44-11-1
2003-12-06	Loss	Musashi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	43-11-1
2003-10-11	Win	Carter Williams	K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Elimination	Osaka, Japan	Decision (Majority)	3	3:00	43-10-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final.
2003-07-13	Win	Tatsufumi Tomihira	K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Fukuoka	Fukuoka, Japan	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	5	2:15	42-10-1
2003-03-30	Win	Pelé Reid	K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Saitama	Saitama, Japan	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	3	1:15	41-10-1
2002-12-07	Loss	Ernesto Hoost	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Shin Injury)	1	1:49	40-10-1
2002-12-07	Win	Peter Aerts	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Split)	3	3:00	40-9-1
2002-10-05	Win	Martin Holm	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final Elimination	Saitama, Japan	Decision (Majority)	3	3:00	39-9-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final.
2002-07-14	Win	Gilbert Yvel	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Fukuoka	Fukuoka, Japan	KO (Low Kicks)	2	2:07	38-9-1
2002-06-02	Win	Julio Cesar Santana	K-1 Survival 2002	Toyama, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	1	0:37	37-9-1
2002-03-03	Win	Mike Bernardo	K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Nagoya	Nagoya, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	5	3:00	36-9-1
2001-10-08	Win	Mark Hunt	K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka	Fukuoka, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	35-9-1
2001-06-24	Loss	Remy Bonjasky	K-1 Survival 2001	Sendai, Japan	Ext.R TKO (Corner Stoppage)	4	3:00	34-9-1
2001-04-29	Win	Adam Watt	K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Osaka	Osaka, Japan	TKO (Right Hook)	1	2:20	34-8-1
2001-03-17	Win	Michael McDonald	K-1 Gladiators 2001	Yokohama, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	1	1:56	33-8-1
2000-12-10	Loss	Ernesto Hoost	K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Final	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	32-8-1
Fight was for K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 title.
2000-12-10	Win	Cyril Abidi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Final	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	1:45	32-7-1
2000-12-10	Win	Musashi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Final	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	1:38	31-7-1
2000-08-20	Loss	Cyril Abidi	K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	2	3:00	30-7-1
2000-08-20	Win	Frank Otto	K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	2:24	30-6-1
2000-08-20	Loss	Peter Aerts	K-1 The Millennium	Osaka, Japan	KO (Right Low Kick)	3	2:24	29-6-1
1999-12-05	Loss	Sam Greco	K-1 World Grand Prix 1999 Final Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	3	3:00	29-5-1
1999-10-03	Win	Samir Benazzouz	K-1 World Grand Prix '99 Opening Round	Osaka, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	1	2:14	29-4-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 1999 Final.
1999-06-06	Win	Jim Mullen	K-1 Survival '99	Sapporo, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	2	0:45	28-4-1
1999-04-25	Loss	Andy Hug	K-1 Revenge '99	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	4	3:00	27-4-1
1998-12-13	Loss	Andy Hug	K-1 World Grand Prix 1998 Final Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage/Two Knockdowns)	2	2:28	27-3-1
1998-09-27	Win	Stefan Leko	K-1 World Grand Prix '98 Opening Round	Osaka, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	5	3:00	27-2-1
Qualifies for K-1 World Grand Prix 1998 Final.
1998-05-24	Loss	Matt Skelton	K-1 Braves '98	Fukuoka, Japan	TKO (Corner Stoppage)	2	3:00	26-2-1
1998-04-09	Draw	Francisco Filho	K-1 Kings '98	Yokohama, Japan	Draw	5	3:00	26-1-1
1998-01-23	Win	Stephane Reveillon	N/A	N/A	KO	2	N/A	26-1
Won WKBF Super Heavyweight title.
1997-10-00	Win	Jean-Claude Leuyer	N/A	N/A	Decision	5	3:00	25-1
1997-07-20	Win	Jean-Claude Leuyer	K-1 Dream '97	Nagoya, Japan	Decision (Unanimous)	7	3:00	24-1
Won WKBA Super Heavyweight title.
1997-04-29	Win	Jérôme Le Banner	K-1 Braves '97	Fukuoka, Japan	KO (Right Hook)	1	1:31	23-1
1997-03-16	Win	Petar Majstorovic	K-1 Kings '97	Yokohama, Japan	TKO (Referee Stoppage)	4	1:36	22-1
1996-12-08	Loss	Ernesto Hoost	K-1 Hercules '96	Nagoya, Japan	KO (Low Kicks)	4	0:25	21-1
1996-09-09	Win	Kirkwood Walker	N/A	Hong Kong	KO	N/A	N/A	21-0
Won WMTF World Heavyweight title.
1996-08-01	Win	Lee Swaney	New Zealand vs England	Auckland, New Zealand	KO	N/A	N/A	20-0
1996-02-25	Win	Andre Mannaart	NZ - AUS - HOL	Auckland, New Zealand	KO (Punches)	4	N/A	19-0
Wins I.S.K.A. Super Cruiserweight World title.
1995-08-25	Win	Michael McDonald	N/A	Auckland, New Zealand	KO (Right Hook)	3	N/A	18-0
Won ISKA World Light Cruiserweight title.
1995-04-27	Win	Rob Martin	N/A	Auckland, New Zealand	KO (Left Hook)	1	N/A	17-0
Won WMTF Light Heavyweight title.

Boxing record

5 Wins (4 (T)KO's, 1 Decision), 1 Loss

Date	Result	Opponent	Location	Method	Round	Time	Record
2001-09-02	Loss	Chester Hughes	Elgin, Illinois, USA	KO	1	N/A	5–1
2001-06-03	Win	Joe Lenhart	Elgin, Illinois, USA	TKO	1	N/A	5–0
2001-02-11	Win	Steve Griffin	Elgin, Illinois, USA	TKO	1	N/A	4–0
1996-10-05	Win	Nicky Faamata	Auckland, New Zealand	TKO	3	N/A	3–0
1995-03-16	Win	Paul Baker	Auckland, New Zealand	PTS	4	N/A	2–0
1994-11-24	Win	Alex Katu	Auckland, New Zealand	TKO	1	N/A	1–0

Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
4 matches	2 wins	2 losses
By knockout	1	1
By submission	1	1

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location
Loss	2–2	Dave Huckaba	TKO (punches)	WSOF 4	August 10, 2013	2	4:32	Ontario, California, United States
Loss	2–1	Valentijn Overeem	Submission (baseball choke)	Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva	February 12, 2011	1	1:37	East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States
Win	2–0	Kevin Jordan	Submission (knee injury)	Strikeforce Challengers: Kennedy vs. Cummings	September 25, 2009	2	0:24	Bixby, Oklahoma, United States
Win	1–0	Kim Min-soo	KO (head kick)	Hero's 2	July 6, 2005	2	0:30	Tokyo, Japan

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References

"PFL executive Ray Sefo officially announces retirement from fighting". mmafighting.com. 4 June 2018.
"Kickboxing: Fighting among friends". The New Zealand Herald. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
Jessup, Peter (8 October 2005). "Kickboxing: Sefo makes his presence felt". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
"Kickboxer Sefo battles bankruptcy". Sunday News. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
"WSOF President Ray Sefo". MMAJunkie.com. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
"WSOF Pres. Ray Sefo Fighting on Aug. 10th Card". mmafrenzy.com.
"Company President Ray Sefo Set to Fight at World Series of Fighting 4 in August". mmaweekly.com.
"WSOF Boss Ray Sefo". MMAJunkie.com. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
"Ray Sefo Recalls Fight With Mark Hunt". Stuff.co.nz. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.

External links

Profile at K-1
Ray Sefo Interview
Professional MMA record for Ray Sefo from Sherdog
Boxing record for Ray Sefo from BoxRec

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[:0-1] "PFL executive Ray Sefo officially announces retirement from fighting". mmafighting.com. 4 June 2018.

[2] "Kickboxing: Fighting among friends". The New Zealand Herald. 17 February 2006. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[3] Jessup, Peter (8 October 2005). "Kickboxing: Sefo makes his presence felt". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[4] "Kickboxer Sefo battles bankruptcy". Sunday News. 13 December 2008. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2010.

[WSOF_President_Ray_Sefo-5] "WSOF President Ray Sefo". MMAJunkie.com. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.

[6] "WSOF Pres. Ray Sefo Fighting on Aug. 10th Card". mmafrenzy.com.

[7] "Company President Ray Sefo Set to Fight at World Series of Fighting 4 in August". mmaweekly.com.

[8] "WSOF Boss Ray Sefo". MMAJunkie.com. 21 April 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2016.

[9] "Ray Sefo Recalls Fight With Mark Hunt". Stuff.co.nz. 7 August 2016. Retrieved 26 November 2016.