WKN Big 8 tournament match-ups announced

The WKN Belarus Big 8 tournament will take place November 26th in Belarus. The weigh-ins and official draw for the one night tournament took place today. The opening round match-ups will feature American Chris Kwiatkowski taking on Africa's Ibrahim Konate, while one of the tournament favorites in Andrei Kulebin will face Loris Audoui of South America. The other two opening round fights of the tournament will feature Ruslan Kushnirenko vs. Samkor and Taylor Havery vs. Erkan Varol.

Chris Kwiatkowski talks about his upcoming fight in the Big 8 Belarus Tournament

This week when families get together to celebrate Thanksgiving, New York's Chris Kwiatkowski will be 4,000 plus miles away from his family. He will be representing America on November 26th at the WKN Big 8 World Tournament in Belarus. The tournament will feature some top fighters from around the world, including Andrei Kulebin and Samkor Keatmontep who are considered the favorites to make it the tournament finals. 

Despite this being the toughest test of his career and coming in as an under dog, he knows this is his opportunity to make a statement and he is ready to seize it. In the tournament format anything can happen, Chris will be looking to make that "anything" happen. Despite being busy making his final preparations before he left to Belarus, Chris took some time to address a few questions about the upcoming tournament for Muay Thai Authority.

Groups set for WKN Big 8 World Tournament in Belarus

A few weeks ago we announced that New York's Chris Kwiatkowski would be the American representative at this years WKN Big 8 Tournament in Belarus. This field of eight includes some solid names including Andrei Kulebin and Samkor Keatmontep.

The fighters have now been broken up into groups A and B, meaning that no fighter from group A will fight a fighter from group B until the finals and vice versa. The opening round pairings will be made at random on a later date, but the current groups are as listed below.

Chris Kwiatkowski representing America at the WKN Big 8 World Tournament in Belarus

The WKN Big 8 World Tournament is set to take place on November 26th at the Minsk Arena in Misnk, Belarus. In addition to the tournament the event will feature two super fights, both will be WKN world title fights.

Last year America was represented by Michael Mananquil, despite a strong effort Mananquil was eliminated in the opening round by eventual tournament winner Sudsakorn Klinmee. Muay Thai Authority has been informed that this years American representative will be New York's Chris Kwiatkowski.

WKN Belarus Big 8 Tournament Results - Klinmee wins tournament

Sudsakorn Klinmee defeated an eight man field to win the WKN Belarus Big 8 Tournament this past weekend. Klinmee who was representing Asia in the tournament defeated American representative Michael Mananquil by decision. In the semi-finals he defeated Ruslan Kushnirenko, and in the finals he stopped Andrei Kulebin after the doctor decided Kulebin could no longer continue due to cuts suffered in the fight.

Full WKN Belarus Big 8 Tournament Results:

Opening Round
Andrei Kulebin( Belarus ) def. Taylor Harvey ( Australia )
Erkan Varol ( Turkey ) def. Mthobisi Buthelezi ( Africa )
Sudsakorn Klinmee ( Asia ) def. Michael Mananquil ( North America )
Ruslan Kushnirenko ( Europe ) def.  Marcos Cornejo ( South America )

Semi-Final Round
Andrei Kulebin ( Belarus ) def. Erkan Varol ( Turkey )
Sudsakorn Klinmee ( Asia ) def. Ruslan Kushnirenko ( Europe )

Final Round
Sudsakorn Klinmee (Asia) def. Andrei Kulebin (Belarus) TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

Other Results

WKN Womens World Title
Joanna Jedrzjcyk ( Holland) def. Alla Ivashkevich ( Belarus)
WKN European World Title
Bogdan Lukin (Ukraine) def. Igor Klimovitch(Belarus)
WKN International World Title
Dmitry "Black Vallet" Valent (Belarus) def. Tarek Slimani (Marocco) by KO

Michael Mananquil representing North America at WKN Belarus

Michael Mananquil will be representing North America at WKN Belarus on September 23, 2010.

Mananquil last competed in July when he dropped a controversial split decision to Malaipet. Mananquil will be part of the 8-man tournament and will look to best a field that includes Sudsakorn (Asia), Kushnirenko (Europe), Marcos Cornejo (South America), Erkan Varol (Turkey), Kulebin (Belarus), and Harvey (Australia).

Other fights featured at WKN Belarus will be
Joanna Jedrzjcyk vs. Alla Ivashkevich for the WKN Muay Thai Women's Title, Igor Klimovitch vs. Bodan Lukin for the WKN Muay Thai European Title, and Dmitry "Black Vallet"  Valent vs. Tarek Slimani for the WKN Muay Thai International Title.