Azem Maksutaj

 ( 1975 Births ) 

Maksutaj competed in eight one-night tournaments in K-1's heavyweight division over the next five years and debuted in the Grand Prix format at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary Marseilles on 25 January. Having scored two first-round KOs over Abdel Lamidi and Ferenc Gasztany in the run-up, Maksutaj lost a majority decision to Grégory Tony in the final. On 13 April 2002, Maksutaj had a re-match with Vitali Akhramenko at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary Croatia in Zagreb. The pair had fought to a draw five years earlier and did so again as the judges could not pick a winner after five rounds. He was granted a chance at revenge against Gregory Tony the following month at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Paris, but the Frenchman came out on top again by winning a five-round majority decision.

Outside K-1, Maksutaj picked up the WKA World Cruiserweight (-) belt from Chino Mordillo in Zurich. He forced two standing eight counts on the Spaniard, initially by damaging his arm with a blocked roundhouse kick, before defeating him with a high kick in round two. He ended the year on a low note, however, as he was handed his first stoppage loss in seven years by Peter Varga in Padua, Italy on 30 November 2002, losing his WPKC Super Heavyweight Muay Thai title.

Maksutaj returned to Marseille to compete in the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Preliminary France on 24 January 2003. He knocked out Rob Lloyd in the quarter-finals and Miloš Kopták in the semis, before losing to his rival Gregory Tony for the third time in the final by unanimous decision. With K-1 heading back to Switzerland with the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Basel tournament on 30 May 2003, Maksutaj was invited as a participant along with seven other European heavyweights. He lost to Larry Lindwall at the opening stage. In his next outing a month later, Maksutaj fought outside Europe for the first time, losing a unanimous judges' decision to Shingo Koyasu at K-1 Beast II 2003 in Saitama, Japan on 29 June 2003. Breaking a three-fight losing streak, he defeated Tihamér Brunner by decision on 13 December 2003, for the WMTA World Super Heavyweight title in a victorious homecoming to Winterthur.

Fighting at the annual Marseille K-1 qualifier for the third year running, Maksutaj fought Aziz Khattou in a non-tournament bout at K-1 Marseilles 2004 World Qualification on 24 January 2004, and lost a split decision. A rematch with Clifton Brown in Bangkok followed on 11 June 2004, and the outcome was the same, as Maksutaj stopped the Canadian inside the opening round. He fought Björn Bregy in Zurich on 25 September 2004. Maksutaj gave up around in weight. He was dropped with a right cross at the beginning of the second round but made a comeback soon after when he knocked down his opponent with a right hook.

After losing to Christian N'ka in the opening round of the K-1 France Grand Prix 2005 in Marseilles on 19 January 2005, Maksutaj next competed in the K-1 Scandinavia Grand Prix 2005 held on May 21 in Stockholm, Sweden. He was drawn against the three-time K-1 North American champion Michael McDonald in the quarter-finals, and the two smaller, more technical heavyweights traded punches back-and-forth. In round two, McDonald forced a standing eight count on Maksutaj who then rallied back and floored him with a kick to the body. Round three saw the referee give McDonald another eight count when the Canadian took what was deemed too long to return to his feet after being pushed over by Maksutaj. After the regulation three rounds, the bout was ruled a draw and so an extension round was added to decide the victor, in which McDonald earned the majority decision win. Due to the fight, McDonald could not continue in the tournament.

A rematch between Maksutaj and McDonald was promptly booked for the quarter-finals of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Las Vegas II on August 13 and Maksutaj won by a unanimous decision. In the semis, he lost to Russian amateur standout Ruslan Karaev by unanimous decision after another bout. Round two saw him dropped with a spinning back kick to the body in the opening seconds and then a points deduction for kneeing Karaev in the face after he had slipped to the ground. Maksutaj was knocked down again in the final round after taking a knee from Karaev. On September 24, 2005, in Winterthur, Maksutaj lost his WPKC World Super Heavyweight (+) K-1 rules title, an accolade he had won earlier in the year, to Gary Turner on points. Shortly after, though, he knocked out Radan Frenchichi in his hometown to be crowned as the ISKA World Heavyweight (-) Champion.

On February 17, 2006, Maksutaj outfought James Phillips to a unanimous decision at the K-1 European League 2006 in Bratislava. Then, on May 20, 2006, at the K-1 Scandinavia Grand Prix 2006 in Stockholm, he KO'd his former conqueror Larry Lindwall in two to win the WMC World Heavyweight (-) Championship, his fourteenth and final world title belt. After re-matching with James Phillips in Lucerne, Switzerland on June 3, 2006, and winning on points again, Maksutaj returned to the fight capital of the world and faced the stiffest test of his career in the form of Ray Sefo. Going down at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Las Vegas II on 12 August 2006, Sefo sent Maksutaj to the canvas twice in round one, once in round two and twice again in three, forcing referee Steve Mazzagatti to stop the fight. RAY SEFO TO FIGHT ON K-1 VEGAS CARD He fared no better in his next match when he took on Jörgen Kruth at the K-1 World MAX North European Qualification 2007 in Stockholm on 24 November 2006, as he lost by KO from a knee midway through the opening round.

In an attempt to turn his fortunes around, he competed in the K-1 Rules Heavyweight Tournament 2007 in Turkey four-man competition in Istanbul on January 13, 2007, where he faced Kaoklai Kaennorsing, a two-time Rajadamnern Stadium champion renowned for taking fights with much larger opponents and defeating the majority of them, in the semi-finals. Although Maksutaj had the size advantage for the first time in his K-1 career, he was unable to capitalize on this and lost by unanimous decision after an extension round. He struggled with Kaoklai's classical Thai style throughout and was given two contested counts, one in round two and another in the extension round, although both of these strikes seemed to be low blows. In his next outing on May 19, 2007, he lost by technical knockout against Nathan Corbett, the eventual tournament champion, in the quarter-finals of the K-1 Fighting Network Scandinavian Qualification 2007 in Stockholm.

Maksutaj returned to the local circuit to stop his losing streak and took several wins including a points victory over Erhan Deniz in Bratislava, Slovakia on 7 September 2007, before returning to K-1 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam on 26 April 2008, to face an up-and-coming Tyrone Spong. He got dropped from a knee to the body early in the opening stanza and was knocked down again with punches at the end of the round. The second knockdown did not count as he was saved by the bell, but Spong soon finished him with another knee strike to the body in the second, bringing Maksutaj's losing streak in K-1 to five. In one of his last fights before retiring, he was awarded a disqualification win over Domagoj Ostojić after his Croatian opponent continued to punch and kick him after knocking him to the canvas in round one of their contest in Zadar, Croatia on 11 May 2008.

Maksutaj made a brief comeback on 29 January 2010, knocking out Jean-Luc Ajinca in three rounds at Bern's Wankdorfhalle.

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Albanian spelling:  Azem Maksutaj, Serbo-Croatian spelling: Азем Максутај.

     

 

 
 
  

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