Zelg Galešić

Zelg Galešić (born 16 February 1979) is a Croatian mixed martial artist. A professional competitor who began his career in 2004, he fought for Bellator MMA, Cage Rage, PRIDE, DREAM, UCMMA, the SFL, and K-1 Hero's. He is the former Cage Rage British Middleweight Champion.[1]

Zelg Galešić
BornZelg Galešić
(1979-02-16) 16 February 1979
Pula, SR Croatia, SFR Yugoslavia
Other namesBenkei
ResidencePula, Croatia
NationalityCroatian
Height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight209 lb (95 kg; 14.9 st)
DivisionLight Heavyweight
Middleweight
Reach72.0 in (183 cm)
StanceOrthodox
Fighting out ofPula, Croatia
TeamLondon Shootfighters
RankFourth degree black belt in Taekwondo
Years active2004–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total20
Wins11
By knockout9
By submission2
Losses9
By knockout2
By submission7
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Background

Galešić began Tae Kwon Do when he was 10 years old and is a master of the sport, being a three-time ITF European Champion, two-time ITF World Champion, and two-time ITC Full Contact World Champion. He was undefeated in amateur rules in the UK at the Combat Sports Open Trials, where all but one of his fights were won in under a minute.[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

His first professional MMA bout was on 12 September 2004 at Ultimate Combat 11: Wrath of the Beast, where he won against Jim Bentley when the referee stopped the fight after 16 seconds.[3]

On 30 August 2007, while Cage Rage British Middleweight Champion, he was made an offer to fight for K-1 Hero's, which he accepted. He lost his only fight with them, against Yoon Dong-sik.[4]

DREAM

His first fights with DREAM, in 2008, were victories against Magomed Sultanakhmedov then Taiei Kin. However, in Galešić's most recent fights he has lost to Ronaldo Souza[5] and Kazushi Sakuraba.[6]

Having lost to former PRIDE veteran Kazushi Sakuraba, Galešić took 15 months off. He returned to fight on Liverpool's OMMAC promotion, where he took on a local fighter, Lee Chadwick. Galešić won the fight with a knockout in the first round.[7]

Bellator

Galešić competed in the eight man Bellator Season 5 Middleweight Tournament. In the quarter-finals at Bellator 50 he lost to Alexander Shlemenko by guillotine choke in the first round.[8]

He next competed on India's Super Fight League's third event, SFL 3, against former WEC Light Heavyweight Champion Doug Marshall.[9] He won the fight via KO early into the first round due to a flying knee.[10]

Galešić moved to Light Heavyweight in order to compete in the Bellator 2012 Heavyweight Tournament.[11] He was beaten by Attila Vegh at Bellator 71 in the quarter finals via a submission in the first round.

He fought Linton Vassell for UCMMA Light Heavyweight Championship on 2 February 2013.[12] Zelg opened the fight with few punches and kicks and proved that he is still great puncher but Vassell moved the fight on the ground and won the fight by 1st round TKO.

Kickboxing career

Zelg made his kickboxing debout against #12 Glory ranked fighter Makoto Uehara at the R.I.S.E. 100 event on 12 June 2014. He dropped Uehara early in round one with punches and knees but rushed it and lost by KO at 1:25 of the first round.[13]

Championships and accomplishments

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing Record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown
20 matches 11 wins 9 losses
By knockout 9 2
By submission 2 7
By decision 0 0
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 11–9 Ricco Rodriguez Submission (armbar) Final Fight Championship 8 25 October 2013 1 2:10 Zagreb, Croatia Catchweight 95 kg.
Loss 11–8 Linton Vassell TKO (punches) UCMMA 32 2 February 2013 1 4:31 London, England For UCMMA Light Heavyweight Championship.
Loss 11–7 Attila Vegh Submission (rear-naked choke) Bellator 71 22 June 2012 1 1:00 Chester, West Virginia, United States Light Heavyweight debut; Bellator 2012 Light Heavyweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
Win 11–6 Doug Marshall KO (flying knee) SFL 3 6 May 2012 1 0:34 New Delhi, Delhi, India
Loss 10–6 Alexander Shlemenko Submission (standing guillotine choke) Bellator 50 17 September 2011 1 1:55 Hollywood, Florida, United States Bellator 2011 Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal.
Win 10–5 Lee Chadwick KO (punch) OMMAC 9: Enemies 5 March 2011 1 2:40 Liverpool, England
Loss 9–5 Kazushi Sakuraba Submission (kneebar) DREAM 12 26 October 2009 1 1:40 Osaka, Japan
Loss 9–4 Ronaldo Souza Submission (armbar) DREAM 6: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Final Round 23 September 2008 1 1:27 Saitama, Saitama, Japan DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinal.
Win 9–3 Taiei Kin TKO (elbow injury) DREAM 4: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 Second Round 15 June 2008 1 1:05 Yokohama, Japan DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal.
Win 8–3 Magomed Sultanakhmedov Submission (armbar) DREAM 2: Middleweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round 29 April 2008 1 1:40 Saitama, Saitama, Japan DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Opening Round.
Win 7–3 Taiei Kin TKO (doctor stoppage) HERO'S 2007 in Korea 28 October 2007 1 0:36 Seoul, South Korea Catchweight 95 kg.
Loss 6–3 Yoon Dong-sik Submission (armbar) Hero's 10 17 September 2007 1 1:29 Yokohama, Japan
Loss 6–2 Makoto Takimoto Submission (kimura) PRIDE 34 8 April 2007 1 5:40 Saitama, Saitama, Japan
Win 6–1 Mark Weir KO (punches) Cage Rage 19 9 December 2006 1 0:50 London, England Won Cage Rage British Middleweight Championship.
Win 5–1 James Evans-Nicolle TKO (stomp and punches) Cage Rage 18 30 September 2006 1 2:02 London, England
Win 4–1 Curtis Stout Submission (armbar) Cage Rage 17 1 July 2006 1 1:10 London, England
Win 3–1 Michael Holmes TKO (punches) Cage Rage 15 4 February 2006 1 1:41 London, England
Win 2–1 John Flemming KO (punches) Urban Destruction 2 30 July 2005 1 N/A Bristol, England
Loss 1–1 Paul Taylor TKO (punches) Urban Destruction 1 10 April 2005 3 1:42 Bristol, England
Win 1–0 Jim Bentley KO (punch) UC 11: Wrath of the Beast 12 September 2004 1 1:16 Bristol, England

References

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