Stan Longinidis

Stan "The Man" Longinidis (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four different styles of kickboxing competition: international rules, Oriental rules, full contact and Muay Thai. He holds notable victories over Branko Cikatić, Adam Watt, Peter Graham, Musashi and Dennis Alexio.

He is also an actor and motivational speaker.

Biography 1983-1989: Early career Stan Longinidis began practicing martial arts in 1982 after being inspired by watching a martial artist defeat five opponents in a night club brawl. His kickboxing career commenced in 1983, and he had won two amateur titles when he challenged Santiago Garza for the WKA World Light Heavyweight Championship in 1987. The following year, he challenged the long-reigning WKA World Heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith for his title. Despite knocking the American down in the opening round, Longinidis eventually lost a battle of attrition and accepted a split decision defeat - his first professional loss. A rematch between Longinidis and Alexio never took place.

1993-2003: K-1 and later career Longinidis continued to defend his titles, also adding the ISKA World Heavyweight Championship to his collection in 1993 and the WAKO PRO World Super Heavyweight Championship 1994. He began competing for the K-1 kickboxing promotion in March 1993, becoming one of the first major fighters to be signed by the company. After defeating reigning Karate World Cup champion Toshiyuki Atokawa in K-1's first event, Longinidis fought rising star Masaaki Satake in a title-versus-title affair, with Satake wagering his UKF World Super Heavyweight Championship and Longinidis his WKA World Super Heavyweight Championship. Longinidis lost by unanimous decision but retained his title after asserting that the match had not taken place under WKA rules.

Significant victories and setbacks marked Longinidis' career thereafter. He won the TAIPAN 1 tournament of 1994 by defeating three opponents in a single night, but lost his WKA, ISKA, and WAKO PRO World Super Heavyweight titles in a single match to Jeff Roufus in 1995. He qualified twice for the K-1 World Grand Prix, but was knocked out by Mike Bernardo in the 1995 quarterfinals and was unable to compete in the 1996 tournament due to injury. In June 1996, Longinidis won the inaugural WMTC World Super Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship in Pattaya A serious knee injury threatened to end his career around this time and contributed to several losses, but Longinidis underwent complete reconstructive surgery in 1997.

Longinidis fought until 2000, when he retired after defeating fellow Australian Peter Graham at K-1 Oceania Star Wars 2000. He returned to the ring shortly afterwards for another several bouts before retiring for good in 2003. He ended his career with a record of 88 wins (65 KOs), 9 losses and 5 draws with one no contest.

2004-present: Life after competition and accolades Longinidis was awarded a lifetime achievement award at a France martial arts expo in 2000. The commendation recognised his significant impact on kickboxing and his status as one of the most famous names in the history of the sport. On 10 October 2013, he became the first martial artist to be inducted in the Australian Sports Hall of Fame.

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