Rustemi Kreshnik (; born April 29, 1984) is a Belgian

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 competed in the

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 ...

division. Having moved to Belgium from

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

(then part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) as a youngster, Kreshnik began training in

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 ...

and kickboxing while working as a bouncer. He turned professional in 2003 and rose to prominence by claiming the Belgian and

Benelux The Benelux Union (; ; ; ) or Benelux is a politico-economic union, alliance and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The name is a portma ...

titles before going on to become a

gatekeeper A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something, for example via a city gate or bouncer, or more abstractly, controls who is granted access to a category or status. Gatekeepers assess who is "in or out", in the classic words of manage ...

in the It's Showtime promotion from 2009 until the organization's demise in 2012.

Career

Early career (2003–2008)

Kreshnik was born in the city of

Peć Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova (region), Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the ...

in the now disputed territory of

. He spent the first years of his life there and rather surprisingly his first love was skiing, not fighting. In 1998, he left Peć to live with his sister in the city of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

in Belgium. Growing up in Belgium, after initially struggling with the language, he started training as a mechanic with his future seemingly in the auto trade industry. To supplant his income, he also worked nights at a local club that was no stranger to trouble. At one of these nights, he met his future trainers Peter Lamberts and Omar Bel Hadi who invited him to their Muay Thai club where he started training in the art. After fighting on a number of shows in Belgium and fast establishing himself as one of the top heavyweights in the country. he made his

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 ...

debut (and so far only appearance for the organization) on February 24, 2006, at a small event in

Tournai Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes Anglicisation (linguistics), anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by ...

, France, where he faced Souleimane Konate for the World Full Contact Association (WFCA) Benelux Heavyweight (-95 kg/209 lb) Thaiboxing Championship, winning by stoppage. He held his title for little over a month, however, losing to Dutch-based Palestinian Mo Boubkhari in his next fight in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. At the end of the year, Kreshnik overcame his biggest challenge yet when he defeated former K-1 fighter Naoufal Benazzouz at the ''Time for Action'' event across the border in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

It's Showtime (2009–2012)

It was the victory over Benazzouz that drew Rustemi to the fledgling It's Showtime organization who made him their fifth Belgian-based signing in September 2008 (although he had first fought and won on an It's Showtime card back in 2005). By signing to such a competitive organization, Rustemi would have the chance to face some of Europe's top fighters. He made his official promotional debut on February 8, 2009, at '' Fights at the Border presents: It's Showtime 2009'' in his home town of Antwerp, facing two time world champion

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 ...

, and losing via stoppage due to a cut in the first round. He returned three months later to take on Christiano Delgado on the ''

It's Showtime 2009 Amsterdam This is a list of events held and scheduled by the It's Showtime, a kickboxing and mixed martial arts organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The list consists of all the official It's Showtime events. The first event, It's Showtime - It's ...

supercard In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

at the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

, where he won by

technical 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, a ...

due to referee stoppage in the third round, but then dropped a decision to Wendell Roche at ''

It's Showtime 2009 Budapest This is a list of events held and scheduled by the It's Showtime, a kickboxing and mixed martial arts organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The list consists of all the official It's Showtime events. The first event, It's Showtime - It's ...

'' on August 29, 2009. On October 29, 2009, he scored the biggest victory of his career by defeating

Rico Verhoeven Rico Verhoeven (born 10 April 1989) is a Dutch professional kickboxer, former professional boxer and mixed martial artist who currently competes in the heavyweight division of GLORY, where he is the reigning Glory Heavyweight Champion. A profes ...

at ''

It's Showtime 2009 Lommel This is a list of events held and scheduled by the It's Showtime, a kickboxing and mixed martial arts organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The list consists of all the official It's Showtime events. The first event, It's Showtime - It's ...

''. The bout was scored a draw after the regulation three rounds, but Kreshnik was given the nod by the judges after a close extension round. He then followed this up with another points win over

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 ...

at ''

It's Showtime 2010 Amsterdam This is a list of events held and scheduled by the It's Showtime, a kickboxing and mixed martial arts organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The list consists of all the official It's Showtime events. The first event, It's Showtime - It's ...

'' on May 29, 2010, before stepping up to face the reigning It's Showtime Heavyweight Champion

Hesdy Gerges Hesdy Gerges (born February 20, 1984) is a Dutch kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He held the It's Showtime World Heavyweight title between 2010 and 2012. Gerges has competed in the K-1, It's Showtime, SUPERKOMBAT and Glory promotions. Ger ...

in a non-title affair at '' Fightingstars presents: It's Showtime 2010'' in

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 ...

, Netherlands on September 12, 2010. Gerges was simply too good, however, and stopped Kreshnik with low kicks in the second round. Following this defeat, Kreshnik decided to move down to the 95 kg/209 lb weight class and debuted in this division against former amateur standout Nenad Pagonis at '' Yiannis Evgenikos presents: It's Showtime Athens'' on December 11, 2010, losing a

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

. He then returned to the heavyweight division to take on Moises Baute at '' BFN Group & Music Hall presents: It's Showtime "Fast & Furious 70MAX"'' in Brussels on September 25, 2011, and won by

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 round two. He was then expected to fight at the ''K-1 World Grand Prix 2011 in Nanjing Final 16'' on October 29, 2011. However, the event was cancelled due to the promotion experiencing severe financial problems. Kreshnik returned to the ring after eight months of inactivity with a first-round TKO of

Michael Duut Michael Duut (born 22 January 1990) is a Dutch kickboxer. He is known for his aggressive fighting style. He is the 2017 Glory Light Heavyweight Contender Tournament Winner. He is ranked a top ten Light Heavyweight. He once again entered the ran ...

at '' Siam Gym Belgium presents: It's Showtime 56'' in

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, Belgium. He was initially scheduled to face the legendary

Jérôme Le Banner Jérôme Philippe Le Banner (; born December 26, 1972) is a French kickboxer, mixed martial artist, and professional wrestler. Le Banner fought for most of his career in K-1 and became known for his aggressive fighting style and knockout power. ...

at the June 30, 2012 '' Music Hall & BFN Group present: It's Showtime 57 & 58'', but the Frenchman was forced to pull out due to contract issues and Kreshnik was instead given a rematch with Mourad Bouzidi. He lost by stoppage once again, this time suffering a horrific broken nose from a Bouzidi knee knockout in round two.

Recent career (2013–present)

After eighteen months of inactivity following It's Showtime's buyout and subsequent closure by Glory, Kreshnik made his return to the ring at FFC10: Rodriguez vs. Batzelas in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

on December 13, 2013, taking a unanimous decision over

Dino Belošević Dino Belosević (born 5 June 1985) is a Croatian kickboxer, W.A.K.O. amateur champion of the world in 2011. Biography and career Before kickboxing he played basketball in second Croatian basketball league. Started kickboxing late, at the age o ...

. He was scheduled to fight at the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix I 2015 in Ploiești, Romania on 7 March 2015 but pulled out for unknown reasons. He was scheduled to fight at the SUPERKOMBAT World Grand Prix 2015 Final Elimination in

Milan, Italy Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

on 2 October 2015 but pulled out due to injury leaving Raul Cătinaș without opponent and out of the event. Kreshnik appeared in the videoclip Street Credibility by the Belgian rapper CHG Unfadable.

Championships and awards

Kickboxing

*World Full Contact Association **WFCA European Super Heavyweight (+95 kg/+209 lb) K1 Championship **WFCA Belgian Heavyweight (-95 kg/209 lb) Thaiboxing Championship **WFCA Benelux Heavyweight (-95 kg/209 lb) Thaiboxing Championship

Kickboxing record

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Ismael Londt Ismael Londt (born 12 July 1985) is a Surinamese-Dutch kickboxer. He is the former SUPERKOMBAT Heavyweight Champion, and two time SUPERKOMBAT Grand Prix Heavyweight tournament winner. He was ranked as a top ten heavyweight by Combat Press betw ...

, , A1 World Combat Cup , ,

Eindhoven, Netherlands Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also located in the Dutch part of the natural region the Campine. With a population ...

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Lommel, Belgium Lommel () is a municipality and city in the Belgian province of Limburg. Lying in the Kempen, it has about 34,000 inhabitants and is part of the arrondissement of Maaseik. Besides the residential town, Lommel also has a number of nature reserv ...

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Tatneft Arena Tatneft Arena (Russian language, ru: Татнефть Арена) is an indoor arena, indoor sporting arena located in Kazan, Russia. The venue got its name due to a sponsorship with Tatneft, a russian oil company, oil producing company. Opened in ...

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Kazan, Russia Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...

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Skopje, Macedonia Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

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Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp (; ; ) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after Tournai and Couvin. With a population of 565,039, ...

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Tilburg, Netherlands Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 229,833 (January 2, 2024), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh- ...

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Tournai, Belgium Tournai ( , ; ; ; , sometimes anglicised in older sources as "Tournay") is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the Province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies by road southwest of the centre of Brussels on the river Scheldt, and is par ...

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Zwevegem, Belgium Zwevegem () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the towns of Heestert, Moen, Otegem, Sint-Denijs and Zwevegem. On January 1, 2019, Zwevegem had a total population of 24,648. The total a ...

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Filip Verlinden Filip Verlinden (born 26 December 1982) is a Belgian kickboxer who competes in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Verlinden was introduced to the sport at an early age and came to prominence in 2008 when he won the WKA European Super C ...

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Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

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Deurne, Belgium Deurne () is the second largest district of the municipality of Antwerp, Belgium, (right after the Antwerp town district) and has 82,270 inhabitants (2023). Deurne is best known for its green environment with the biggest park in Antwerp Riviere ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreshnik, Rustemi 1984 births Living people Albanian male kickboxers Kosovan male kickboxers Belgian male kickboxers Heavyweight kickboxers Albanian male Muay Thai practitioners Belgian male Muay Thai practitioners Kosovo Albanians Albanian emigrants to Belgium Kosovan emigrants to Belgium Martial artists from Antwerp Sportspeople from Peja 21st-century Belgian sportsmen 21st-century Albanian sportsmen