Saturday Results: Zambidis Victorious in Greece, Kraus Upset in Russia

While the attention of kickboxing fans was certainly on Saturday's Fight Code: Oktagon 2011 event in Milan, Italy, two top 70 kg. fighters were competing in smaller events in other European cities.

The Iron Challenge event in Athens, Greece saw Mike Zambidis square off against Turkish-Dutch fighter Ali Gunyar. Gunyar is an experienced, if not terribly well known fighter who has generally fallen against top level competition. As expected, reports indicate that Gunyar was plainly outclassed throughout the bout, which Zambidis won on points across the board.

The win is an important one for Zambidis, who is certainly looking to build off of the success that he had in 2010 after running through a particularly rough period in his career through 2008 and 2009. Looking ahead, Zambidis already has a rubber match with John Wayne Parr scheduled for May 28th in Melbourne, Australia.

Meanwhile, Albert Kraus took to Moscow this week, wrapping up a week of seminars and final preparation on Saturday evening with a bout against Russian kickboxer Batu Khasikov. With the results in, one can't help but be reminded of Andy Souwer's troubles in Spain last month. Like Souwer, Kraus went to take on a serviceable fighter without much of a name, did so in that fighter's home nation, and walked away with a decision loss.

Kraus is at an interesting point here. He lost twice in 2009 and 2010, both times to Giorgio Petrosyan, both times in the quarterfinals of the K-1 MAX final. While Kraus's place among the top fighters at 70 kg. shouldn't be too quickly dismissed, he also hasn't faced the toughest of competition in the past couple years. Certainly, wins over Yuichiro Nagashima in 2009 and Hiroki Nakajima in 2010 are impressive, and wins against the likes of Warren Stevelmans, Su Hwan Lee, and Mohammed Gur are also commendable. Even so, I suspect that a number of folks are going to be looking for Kraus to take on some top competition in the coming year - particularly in light of his loss on Saturday. I've heard rumors that he'll be fighting again in late April in the Netherlands, but nothing solid on that as of yet.

Fight videos after the jump, as well as over in the Fanshots section.