Ruslan Saweljewitsch Karajew

Ruslan Karayev 2007

Ruslan Saweljewitsch Karajew ( Russian Руслан Савельевич Караев , Ossetian Руслан Хъараты; born May 19, 1983 in Ordzhonikidze , North Ossetia-Alania , Russia ) is a professional North Ossetian kickboxer . He is the winner of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Las Vegas and the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Taipei. He currently lives in Tokyo , Japan .

K-1 career

On August 13, 2005, Karayev made his K-1 debut at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Las Vegas as a virtually unknown fighter. In the quarterfinals Karajew met Freddy Kemayo from France and defeated them in the first round ko He met Kemayo with a spinning back kick in the stomach. Karajew played the semifinals against the Muay Thai fighter Azem Maksutaj from Kosovo , which later went down as one of the most spectacular fights in K-1 history. He rose again against the American Scott Lighty in the final, which he then won by unanimous decision of the jury on points. Thus, Karajew emerged as the tournament winner.

On September 23, 2005, Karajew competed at the K-1 World Grand Prix Final Eliminations at the Osaka Dome . His opponent this time was the Swede Rickard Nordstrand, who replaced Ernesto Hoost , who had to pass due to a leg injury. Karajew won again on points by a unanimous decision of the jury and thus qualified for the first time for the World Grand Prix Final 2005.

At the World Grand Prix Final 2005 on November 19 in the Tokyo Dome , Karajev's opponent in the quarter-final was Musashi (武 蔵) from Japan. He lost in the first extra round after the jury had decided on points.

In 2006 Karajew reached the final again after knocking out Badr Hari from Morocco . On December 2, 2006 at the K-1 World GP 2006 final, however, he was knocked out by the Brazilian Faith Feitosa in round one. Feitosa hit Karajew with his dreaded Brazilian high kick, which staggered Karajew tremendously. The referee then ended the fight.

In 2007 Karajew only played two fights and failed to qualify for the 2007 World Grand Prix. The first fight took place on March 4th in Yokohama . It was the rematch against Badr Hari, which is also considered to be one of the most spectacular fights of the K-1. Karajew was knocked out in the 2nd round. The second fight was on June 23rd in Amsterdam where Karajew was knocked out after only 31 seconds against the Dutchman Melvin Manhoef. Karajew missed the upcoming fight against Frenchman Jérôme Le Banner on September 29, 2007 at the Final Elimiations in Seoul , South Korea , because of a traffic accident that he suffered days before the fight.

After almost a year of taking care of his sick mother, Karajew made an impressive return to the K-1 stage on July 13, 2008. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix in Taipei . First Karajew defeated Tatsufumi Tomihira from Japan by knockout, then the Korean giant Young Hyun Kim by knockout and in the final he knocked out his compatriot Alexander Pitchkunow . Thus Karajew qualified for the K-1 Final Eliminations 2008. At the K-1 World GP 2008 Final Eliminations Karajew secured a place in the K-1 final 2008 by defeating the German mixed martial arts fighter Chalid Arrab in Knocked out round two.

On December 6th at the K-1 World GP Final 2008 in Yokohama Karajew did not get past the quarterfinals again. He was defeated by Gökhan Saki from Turkey on points by a unanimous decision of the jury.

Karajew defeated the Japanese Keijiro Maeda on September 26, 2009 at the K-1 World GP 2009 Final 16 in Seoul, South Korea and was thus in the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final.

At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final, he faced his rival Badr Hari in the first fight of the evening . Karajew and Hari engaged in an open exchange of blows. Karayev lost the fight after just 38 seconds when he was hit by a hard blow from Hari.

Web links

• Personal website
• K-1sport.de - Complete fighter profile of Ruslan Karaev
• Ruslan Karaev exclusive interview
• Ranking list at centralkickboxing.org