Zabit Samedov (, born July 21, 1984) is an Azerbaijani kickboxer and muay thai fighter. Samedov has won multiple titles, most notably the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Łódź tournament championship. He was also a competitor in the K-1 World Grand Prix FINAL in Zagreb final 8, and is a former It's Showtime 95MAX World Championship challenger. As of July 2021, he is ranked the #5 heavyweight in the world by Combat Press.

Early life

Zabit Samedov was born in Georgia into an Azerbaijani family and moved to Minsk when he was 10 years old. He started practicing martial arts at the age of 9. At very first he studied karate for 6 months under Aziz Dursunov, then switched to Muay Thai. In 1998, he joined Chinuk Gym, a well known gym based in Minsk. He trained with Alexey Ignashov and Sergei Gur under the management of his trainer Dmitriy Pyasetsky.

Martial arts career

K-1 & It's Showtime

He was recruited by top martial arts organization K-1 after achieving several titles in various events between 2004 and 2006. He began to fight with consistency by attaining the title of K-1 Fighting Network in Riga in 2006 in Latvia. On August 17, 2007, following the K-1 World GP 2007 in Las Vegas event the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) issued a statement that Samedov tested positive for Stanozolol, an anabolic steroid. On 26 April 2008, Samedov competed in K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Amsterdam, dispatched Doug Viney and Brian Douwes respectively. However, he was beaten by Errol Zimmerman in the final on points. On November 29, 2008, Samedov faced Tyrone Spong for the inaugural It's Showtime 95MAX World title, and lost by unanimous decision. Samedov fought at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Łódź where he beat, Mindaugas Sakalauskas by unanimous decision and Raul Cătinaș and Sergei Lascenko to finally make it to the Final 16. At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16 Samedov was knocked out by Badr Hari in the first round. He's now set to fight Igor Jurković on United Glory 15. He faced Xavier Vigney at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo final 16 on October 14, 2012 and totally outclassed the young American, flooring him three times in the first round to win via TKO. He was scheduled to face Andrei Stoica for the inaugural SUPERKOMBAT Super Cruiserweight Championship at the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2012 Final in Bucharest, Romania on December 22 but pulled out due to illness. At the K-1 World Grand Prix FINAL in Zagreb on March 15, 2013, in Zagreb, Croatia, he was originally drawn against Ben Edwards in the quarter-finals. However, Edwards withdrew due to having a fight booked with Paul Slowinski a week later, and was replaced by Badr Hari. Samedov was knocked down in round one and received a standing eight count in three, losing a unanimous decision.

SUPERKOMBAT Fighting Championship

Samedov scored a first round high kick KO over Wiesław Kwaśniewski at SUPERKOMBAT New Heroes 3 in Vienna, Austria on May 10, 2013.

LEGEND

A third fight with Badr Hari took place at Legend 1 in Moscow, Russia on May 25, 2013. Samedov dropped Hari late in round one, and sent him to the canvas again with a left hook in the second. Although Hari seemed lucid, he stayed on his knees and did not beat the count, giving Samedov the KO victory. He competed in the -93 kg/205 lb tournament at Legend 2: Invasion in Moscow, Russia on November 9, 2013, taking a unanimous decision over Melvin Manhoef in the semi-finals. He was set to fight Pavel Zhuravlev in the final but was unable to do so due to a cut and was replaced by Agron Preteni. Returning to the ring for the first time in eight months, Samedov scored a 21-second high kick knockout over Stefan Leko on the undercard of the Ruslan Chagaev vs. Fres Oquendo boxing match in Grozny, Russia on July 6, 2014.

Global FC

He won three more fights, defeating Jafar Ahmadi, Makoto Uehara and Mert Akın by decision. Samedov took part in the GFC Fight Series 3 tournament. He beat Steve McKinnon by decision in the semifinals, and Danyo Ilunga by an extra round decision in the finals.

Russia

In the latter part of 2015, Samedov signed with Akhmat Fight Show, and fought almost exclusively for them over the next three years. In his organizational debut, he was scheduled to fight Dževad Poturak, whom he beat by unanimous decision. Four months later, he beat Paul Slowinski in the same manner. In his third fight with the organization, Samedov was scheduled to fight Cătălin Moroșanu for the WBC Muaythai World Heavywheight Championship. He knocked Moroșanu out in the first round, with a knee strike. Over the next two years, Samedov fought five more times: he scored stoppage wins over Evgeny Orlov and Frédéric Sinistra, and decision wins against Errol Zimmerman, Freddy Kemayo and Brice Guidon. Following a 26-month hiatus from the sport, Samedov was scheduled to fight James McSweeney at the Mix Fight Championship on April 11, 2020. The fight was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Semedov made his comeback against Deji Kalejaiye, after a two and a half year hiatus, at the WTKF Belarus event. He won the fight by a second-round TKO. Semedov faced Didier Kilola Lubika on October 4, 2021, at ACA 130: Dudaev vs. Praia. He won the bout via TKO in the second round.

Failed drug test

In 2009, Samedov accused Badr Hari and Errol Zimmerman of steroid use during their fights. His claims were supported by Ruslan Karaev. In 2019, Hari was revealed to have failed a drug test by the Doping Authority Netherlands (DAN). Samedov himself tested positive for an anabolic steroid following the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas.

Personal life

On October 6, 2020, during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war Samedov voluntarily joined the Azeri military. He is also known for his appearance as a character called 'Gence Bey' in the Turkish TV series, Kuruluş: Osman.

Titles

Fight record

! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the vacant ISKA K-1 World Heavyweight Title ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins KOK European Heavyweight Title ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the WBC Muaythai World Heavywheight Championship -104.50 kg. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins the GFC Fight Series 3 Heavyweight Tournament. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Could not advance to the final due to injury. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Łódź tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for It's Showtime 95MAX World title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for K-1 World GP 2008 in Amsterdam tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins K-1 Rules Kick Tournament 2007 in Marseilles tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins K-1 Fighting Network Riga 2006 tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins K-1 Hungary 2006 tournament title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for WBKF Golden Panther Cup title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Win "Kristall Cup" Kickboxing title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Fight was for "Cup of Arbat" Kickboxing title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins "Cup of Arbat" Kickboxing title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins IFMA World Amateur Muay Thai Championship title. ! style=background:white colspan=9 |Wins WMF World Amateur Muay Thai Championship title.

Mixed martial arts record