28 Facts About Shemsi Beqiri

Shemsi Beqiri was born on 3 May 1986 and is a Swiss kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division.

Shemsi Beqiri took up kickboxing and Muay Thai when he was sixteen.

Shemsi Beqiri began his career at Super Pro Basel and moved to Superpro Sportcenter Basel in 2002, fighting as a lightweight.

On February 18,2006, Shemsi Beqiri entered the S-1 Muay Thai tournament held in Basel.

Shemsi Beqiri faced another set-back when he dropped a decision to Mirko Vorkapic in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on June 10,2006, but he bounced back with a lengthy win streak that culminated in winning the World Fighters Council European Welterweight K-1 rules title from Andrej Bruhl in Basel on December 15,2007.

Shemsi Beqiri made the first defence of his WFC European title on August 2,2008, when he bested Hubert Romankiewitz over three rounds in Basel.

Shemsi Beqiri proved that he belonged on the world stage by sending the Bosnian to the canvas in the first round before stopping him with a low kick in the second to take the belt.

Shortly thereafter, Shemsi Beqiri began his transition to middleweight, long seen as kickboxing's deepest weight class.

Shemsi Beqiri faced the toughest test of his career on March 14,2009, by taking on Sahin Yakut at Oktagon presents: It's Showtime 2009 in Milan, Italy.

Shemsi Beqiri was easily out-gunned by the Turkish veteran, receiving a standing eight count from the referee just seconds in the bout before being finished off with a right hook shortly after.

Shemsi Beqiri then attempted to make it two tournament wins on the trot by entering the TK2 World MAX 2009 in Aix-en-Provence, France on October 10,2009, but was beaten on points by Jeremy Sportouch at the quarter-final stage.

Shemsi Beqiri began training under Dutchman Dennis Krauweel at the SuperPro Sportcenter Basel around this time after switching for the Golden Dragon Gym.

Shemsi Beqiri followed this up with a third-round TKO of Dardan Morina in the quarter-finals of the Superfighters 8 Man Tournament in Frankfurt, Germany on April 17,2010.

On September 5,2010, Shemsi Beqiri returned to defend his crown at Human's Fight Night IV in Hamburg.

Shemsi Beqiri was victorious on points over Turkish duo Erkan Varol and Tevfik Sucu to reach the final where he lost a close split decision to Faldir Chahbari.

Sato took a controversial split decision, but many considered the fight a moral victory for the 24-year-old Shemsi Beqiri who was more than twenty places below Sato in the world rankings and fighting outside Europe for the first time.

Shemsi Beqiri became a five-time world champion on March 3,2012, when he outpointed Hirono Yuu over five rounds for the WFCA World Junior Middleweight K-1 title at SuperPro Fight Night III in Basel.

Shemsi Beqiri was given a rematch with Yoshihiro Sato at the tournament's opening round, held in Stockholm, Sweden at Glory 1: Stockholm - 2012 Lightweight Slam First 16 on May 26,2012, and took his revenge by beating the Japanese fighter by split decision in an action-packed fight.

Shemsi Beqiri was drawn against Davit Kiria in the quarter-finals of the 2012 Glory tournament at Glory 3: Rome - 2012 Lightweight Slam Final 8 on November 3,2012, in Rome, Italy but exited the tournament early when he lost a split decision after a competitive fight.

Shemsi Beqiri lost to Robin van Roosmalen by unanimous decision in a back-and-forth fight at Glory 10: Los Angeles in Ontario, California, United States on September 28,2013.

Shemsi Beqiri was scheduled to face Ky Hollenbeck in the tournament reserve match at Glory 12: New York - Lightweight World Championship Tournament in New York City, New York, US on November 23,2013 but withdrew for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Warren Stevelmans.

Shemsi Beqiri was expected to fight Murthel Groenhart on the Glory 14: Zagreb undercard in Zagreb, Croatia on March 8,2014 withdrew due to injuries sustained in a brawl and was replaced by Teo Mikelic.

In February 2013, Shemsi Beqiri was convicted for assault by a Basel court.

Shemsi Beqiri's conviction made headlines in Swiss media in the context of a scandal involving the canton of Zurich employing him as personal trainer for a juvenile offender convicted for serious bodily harm.

Shemsi Beqiri contradicted this, saying that he had planned leave the federation regardless and that the notice of expulsion was motivated by the federation taking sides against him in his ongoing rivalry with his former trainer, Portuguese kickboxer Paulo Balicha.

On 24 February 2014, Shemsi Beqiri's gym was raided by Balicha and about twenty masked and partly armed associates.

Shemsi Beqiri claimed that Balicha attacked him with brass knuckles and that he struck him down in self-defense.

Shemsi Beqiri's injuries sustained in the attack prevented him from fighting Murthel Groenhart at Glory 14: Zagreb.