Erhan "Pitbull Attack" Deniz (born July 28, 1985, in

Pendik Pendik () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 190 km2, and its population is 750,435 (2022). It is on the Asian side between Kartal and Tuzla, on the Marmara Sea. It also neighbours Sultanbeyli, San ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

) is a Turkish

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

kickboxer Kickboxing ( ) is a full-contact hybrid martial art and boxing type based on punching and kicking. Kickboxing originated in the 1950s to 1970s. The fight takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouth guards, shorts, and ...

, who fights out of

Mejiro Gym Mejiro Gym is a kickboxing gym headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. History Mejiro Gym was founded in 1978 by Jan Plas, a Dutch kickboxer who learned kickboxing from Kenji Kurosaki, a Japanese martial artist who founded the original Mej ...

(

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

) and Global Gym (

). His nickname comes from his passion for

pit bull Pit bull is an umbrella term for several Dog type, types of dog believed to have descended from bull and terriers. In the United States, the term is usually considered to include the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, A ...

dogs.

Career

Deniz began training in

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

when he was 10 years old before switching to

Muay Thai Muay Thai or Muaythai (, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, the Art of Eight Limbs or the Science of Eight Limbs, is a Thai martial art and full-contact combat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinch fighting, cl ...

. Deniz has been to

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

several times with the Turkish national team for season camps. Deniz first came to prominence when he won the Pro Tournament Ring Masters, a four-man tournament held at the Haldun Alagas Sport Hall in Umraniye,

on May 25, 2007. Deniz defeated Hasan Gul in the semi-final round and Eyup Kuscu in the final round becoming the Heavyweight Champion of Turkey. Deniz made his debut with the

K-1 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the worl ...

promotion in August 2007 at the ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hong Kong'', where he defeated South Korean

ssireum ''Ssireum'' (; ) or Korean wrestling is a folk wrestling style and traditional national sport of Korea that began in the fourth century. In the modern form each contestant wears a belt (satba) that wraps around the waist and the thigh. The co ...

fighter Kim Dong-Wook in a reserve match for the 8-man Grand Prix taking part on that night. On November 2, 2007, Deniz took part in the Grand Prix at ''K-1 Fighting Network Turkey 2007'' but was defeated by Brazil's

Vitor Miranda Vitor Bruno Soares Miranda (born March 10, 1979) is a Brazilian former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He was the K-1 Brazil 2005 and K-1 Fighting Network Turkey 2007, K-1 Turkey 2007 super heavyweight tournament champion. Biography Vitor ...

at the quarter-final stage. On June 11, 2011, Deniz made his It's Showtime debut against the Romanian

Daniel Ghiță Daniel Ghiță (, born 22 April 1981) is a Romanian politician and former kickboxer, who serves as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania since December 2020. Ghiță is the former It's Showtime heavyweight champion. He formerly compete ...

in the main event at ''BFN Group presents: It's Showtime Warsaw'' and lost via

knockout A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, ...

in the second round due to a body shot.

Personal life

On September 16, 2010, Deniz married Nurhayat Hiçyakmazer who is a Turkish, world, and European champion in several martial arts disciplines. Deniz was her former trainer.

Titles

*2011 SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV champion *2011 I.F.M.A European Muaythai Championships in Antalya, Turkey +91 kg *2007 Pro Tournament Ring Masters champion

Kickboxing record

, - , , Win , Tomasz Czerwinski , World Thai Boxing Champions Night II ,

Istanbul, Turkey Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population over , it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in th ...

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, Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Win , Christos Soulas , No Limit 8 ,

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Decision (Unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss ,

Sergei Lascenko Serhiy Lashchenko ( Ukrainian: Сергій Лащенко; 21 June 1987 – 8 April 2015), also spelled as Sergii Lashchenko and Sergei Lascenko, was a Ukrainian kickboxer. He was a K-1 and Superkombat Heavyweight. Lashchenko won the Super ...

, SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final 2011 ,

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, TKO (doctor stoppage) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 0:53 , SuperKombat World Grand Prix Final semi-final. , - , , Win , Wendell Roche , SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV 2011 ,

Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; ; ) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its very privileged location in the Divisions of the Carpathians, Eastern Carpathian mountains, it is con ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Decision (unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV final. , - , , Win , Angelis Konstantinos , SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV 2011 ,

, KO (punches) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 1:58 , SuperKombat World Grand Prix IV semi-final. , - , , Loss ,

, BFN Group presents: It's Showtime Warsaw ,

Warsaw, Poland Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a grea ...

, KO (left hook to the body) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 2:50 , , - , , Loss ,

Tomáš Hron Tomáš Hron (born July 25, 1981) is a Czech kickboxer who has fought for the K-1, It's Showtime and SUPERKOMBAT promotions. Former Kings of The Ring, WKA and WKN champion and current Kings of The Ring heavyweight world champion. Career He was ...

, Gala night Thaiboxing , Zilina, Slovakia , Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Win ,

Sebastian Ciobanu Sebastian Ciobanu (born March 17, 1985) is a Romanian people, Romanian Super heavyweight kickboxer fighting in the K-1 and Superkombat Fighting Championship, Superkombat. Career K-1 He made his K-1 debut in 2009 at K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in ...

, Sarajevo Fight Night 2 ,

, Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss , Slavo Polugić , Ergen Ring Ateşi 13 ,

Van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or ...

, Turkey , Decision , align="center", 5 , align="center", 3:00 , Fight was for WKN World Championship -96,600 kg. , - , - , , Win , Petyr Vylkov , Ergen Ring Ateşi , Komotini, Greece , Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss ,

Mourad Bouzidi Mourad "The Silent Power" Bouzidi () (born November 23, 1984) is a Dutch– Tunisian heavyweight kickboxer, fighting out of Dojo Kamakura/Team Aerts in The Hague, Netherlands. He is the current Dutch Heavyweight W.F.C.A. kickboxing champion ...

, Ring Sensation Championships: Uprising 12 ,

Rotterdam, Netherlands Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the New Meuse inland shi ...

, Decision (unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss ,

Freddy Kemayo Freddy Kemayo (born May 6, 1982) is a French heavyweight kickboxer. He is a three-time French Kickboxing Champion. Biography and career Kemayo joined Faucon Gym in 1999 and has been training there under Bingo and Richard Roudy ever since. In 200 ...

, TK2 World MAX 2009 , Aix-en-Provence, France , TKO (referee stoppage/broken nose) , align="center", 3 , align="center", - , , - , , Loss , Bahadir Sari , ,

, Decision , align="center", 5 , align="center", 3:00 , For

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches. It is based in the United States. It was est ...

Oriental Rules Heavyweight Turkish Title. , - , , Win , Cafer Ahmedi , Ergen Ring Ateşi 4 , Turkey , , align="center", , align="center", , , - , - , , Win , Dennis Sebastian , Ergen Ring Attest 2 ,

, Turkey , Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , WKN TURKEY
/ref> , - , - , , Loss ,

, 4th Busan TAFISA World Games ,

Busan, South Korea Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, TKO (referee stoppage) , align="center", 3 , align="center", - , , - , , Loss ,

Doug Viney Douglas Ma'afu Hawke, better known as Doug "Vicious" Viney (born 20 November 1976) is a Tongan-New Zealander heavyweight boxer and kickboxer. He is the K-1 World GP 2007 in Las Vegas champion, who also represented Tonga as a super heavyweight ...

K-1 Slovakia 2008 This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993, at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Since its inception, K-1 events were organized by the Fig ...

Bratislava, Slovakia Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the capital and largest city of the Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all cities on the river Danube. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, ...

, Decision (unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss ,

Cătălin Moroșanu Cătălin Moroșan (30 June 1984) is a retired Romanian kickboxer, chanbara practitioner and professional rugby player. He is best known for his time in the Superkombat Fighting Championship (SUPERKOMBAT), where he competed in the heavyweight d ...

, K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Budapest Europe GP Final Elimination ,

Budapest, Hungary Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, Extra round decision (unanimous) , align="center", 4 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Loss ,

K-1 Fighting Network Turkey 2007 This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993, at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Since its inception, K-1 events were organized by the Fi ...

, Decision (majority) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , 2007 Turkey Grand Prix quarter-final. , - , , Loss ,

Azem Maksutaj Azem Maksutaj (born 8 July 1975) is a Swiss former kickboxer of Kosovar Albanian origin. He competed in lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, cruiserweight, and heavyweight divisions. Originally from Kos ...

, ,

, Decision , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Win , Kim Dong-Wook ,

K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Hong Kong K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, KO (low kicks) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 0:23 , , - , , Win , Eyüp Kuşçu , Pro Tournament Ring Masters ,

, - , align="center", - , align="center", - , Ring Masters Tournament final. , - , , Win , Hasan Gül , Pro Tournament Ring Masters ,

, TKO (right high kick) , align="center", 2 , align="center", - , Ring Masters Tournament semi-final. , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links