These fighters are putting the “high” in “hi-yah”!
On Thursday, Karate Combat, the first professional full-contact karate league, is bringing martial art battles to new heights: the observatory deck of One World Trade.
“Fighting at the top of the world’s most remarkable building is so exciting,” says Elhadji “Black Magic” Ndour, a native of Senegal who now lives and trains in West Hempstead, LI. “I feel like I’m fighting in my hometown.” The heavyweight will be taking on Adilet Shadykanov from Kyrgyzstan.
It will be the first time any sporting event has been staged on the Freedom Tower’s 102nd floor, and this competition — which will be livestreamed worldwide free on Karate.com — is a big step forward for the new league, which kicked off in Miami in April.
Karate Combat is the brain child of investment banker-turned-entrepreneur Michael DePietro, who was interested in a new sports venture and noticed there were limited professional fighting opportunities in karate, which will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2020. While most karate competitions are semi-contact and disqualify fighters for knocking out their opponents or using too much force, the fiercer Karate Combat is won by knockouts or judges’ decisions.
However, fighters aren’t allowed to use elbows and knees to deliver blows.
DePietro says the rule allows combatants to go full throttle while minimizing the bloodshed seen in mixed martial arts.
“These fighters are into the art of the sport rather than that in-your-face rage,” says DePietro, 43.
To add more excitement, DePietro came up with the idea to stage the battles in exotic locations by installing a patent-pending pit with 45-degree walls that fits in any environment. It also keeps costs down since they don’t have to stage matches in an arena and sell tickets. So far, they’ve had fights in Miami Beach and the courtyard of the Zappeion Exhibition Hall in Athens, Greece. The bouts themselves are short, consisting of three three-minute rounds. Fighters are on contracts and are eligible for bonuses depending on their performance. But as the league progresses, the purses will grow and, DePietro hopes, become substantial.
No one is happier about the new venture than Ndour. The 29-year-old, seven-time Senegalese national champion has been disqualified from competitions for inadvertently knocking other people out.
“My hands and legs have victimized so many people by accident. Now it’s on purpose,” he says of the league.
Ndour isn’t the only local fighter hoping to capitalize on their hometown advantage. Adham Sabry, a 25-year-old Egyptian who lives in Great Neck, LI, promises to knock out Hungary’s Andras Virag with a roundhouse kick and bring some flash to the fledgling sport.
“It means a lot to me that they are taking karate to the pro level, what it deserves. The athletes they have are world champions,” says Sabry, who is opening A-Plus Martial Arts in Great Neck. “The fighters are better than MMA fighters.”
Abdalla Ibrahim, who won his fight in Miami with a knockout, put his job as a waiter on hold for a month to train for his bout with Dominican Dionicio Gustavo. The 24-year-old Ozone Park resident thinks the view is exciting but could also be distracting.
“I am going there early to take pictures and make sure I see [the skyline], so when the fight starts I can focus on the guy,” Ibrahim says.
While DePietro promises to deliver dazzling fights, he also expects Karate Combat to produce a crossover celebrity in the mold of Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey.
Ndour is hellbent on being that celebrity.
“I am a big deal, and whoever is gonna fight me knows I’m a big-deal guy. Not just the star. I want to be the superstar. Star is for the regular fighter. I am a super-fighter.”
DePietro hopes this fight night elevates the league, but he says the sky is the limit for his traveling dojo.
“We have tons of locations in mind,” he says. “If this Elon Musk guy can shuttle people to the moon, maybe we’ll do a fight there.”