Ben Edwards

Ben "The Guvner" Edwards (born 17 February 1985) is an Australian heavyweight kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. He is the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Canberra tournament champion. Edwards won the tournament by three 1st-round KO's the fastest win in K-1 history in total time of 3 minutes and 28 seconds breaking the previous record held by Jerome Le Banner of 4 minutes and 4 seconds in K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Osaka. Fighting out of Bulldog Gym, Canberra, Australia, he has competed in the K-1, Capital Punishment, Kings of Kombat, SUPERKOMBAT and It's Showtime promotions and is currently signed to GLORY.

Biography and career Ben Edwards was born in Sydney and has been living in Canberra since he was 4, currently residing in Queanbeyan. Edwards played Rugby league until he was 19. He represented the Canberra Raiders sides in both Harold Matthews Cup and SG Ball sides. He went to Dickson College where he played first grade for the Queanbeyan Blues.

Ben Edwards started kickboxing in 2003 at the Bulldog Gym under late John Verran his coach and mentor.

After winning multiple ISKA kickboxing titles he made his K-1 debut at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Canberra. He knocked out all three of his opponents in the first round, including tournament favourite, Paul Slowinski, whom he had lost to twice in his career. He still maintains the record for the fastest kickboxing tournament in K-1 history, at 3 minutes and 28 seconds. At the K-1 Final 16, in the main event he lost to the eventual World Grand Prix champion Alistair Overeem in the first round.

Following the loss he decisioned Carter Williams and knocked out Mighty Mo in 2011. He finished the year with a loss against Roman Kleibl in the semi-finals of the SUPERKOMBAT Fight Club tournament. After being dropped by Daniel Sam in the quarter-finals he finished off his opponent in the second round. Despite dropping Kleibl in the second round he was TKOed in the final round after running out of energy.

He started out 2012 with a decision win against Ricardo van den Bos. He is now scheduled to face Rico Verhoeven on March, 17 in Australia.

He faced Raul Cătinaş at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo final 16 on 14 October 2012 and won via TKO in round two.

Edwards was drawn against Zabit Samedov in the quarter-finals of the K-1 World Grand Prix FINAL in Zagreb, held on 15 March 2013 in Zagreb, Croatia. However, he decided not to compete as he was already booked to fight Paul Slowinski for the fourth time on 23 March 2013 in Canberra, Australia at Capital Punishment 7. He defeated Slowinski by decision.

He joined Glory in July 2013.

He won the vacant Kings of Kombat Heavyweight Championship with a majority decision win over Cătălin Moroșanu at Kings of Kombat 10 in Melbourne, Australia on 7 September 2013, relying heavily on low kicks in the fight rather than use his usual brawling style.

In a slugfest at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City on 23 November 2013, Edwards landed numerous unanswered shots on Jamal Ben Saddik throughout round three before eventually putting him away with a big right hand towards the end.

He was initially set to face Errol Zimmerman in the main event of Glory 15: Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey on 12 April 2014 but the match was transferred to the semi-finals of the Glory 16: Denver - Heavyweight Contendership Tournament in Broomfield, Colorado, US on 3 May 2014. He lost to Zimmerman via TKO, suffering two knockdowns in the first round.

Titles

Kickboxing 2013 Kings of Kombat Heavyweight champion 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix in Canberra champion 2009 ISKA Super-heavyweight World champion (2 title def.) 2008 ISKA Super-heavyweight South Pacific title

Mixed Martial Arts 2013 C8 Heavyweight Champion

Boxing 2015 Australian Heavyweight Champion

Kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record Loss

Francimar Barroso Decision (unanimous) PFL 6

Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Win

Wallace To'o TKO MFC 29

Canberra, Australia Win

Felise Leniu TKO Hex Fight Series 14

Melbourne, Australia Win

Jeremy Joiner KO MFC 26

Canberra, Australia Win

Brandon Sosoli TKO (submission to strikes) MFC 25

Canberra, Australia Win

Donnie Lester TKO Combat8:03

Sydney MMA debut. Wins C8 Heavyweight Title.