Giorgio Petrosyan

Gevorg "Giorgio" Petrosyan (Գևորգ Պետրոսյան; born December 10, 1985) is an Armenian-born Italian kickboxer who competes in the middleweight division.

He is nicknamed "The Doctor" and noted for his supreme technical skills, ringsmanship and defensive prowess which has seen him defeat some of the best strikers in the world while taking little-to-no damage.

As of September 2022, he is ranked the #5 lightweight and #6 pound-for-pound kickboxer in the world by Combat Press, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest kickboxers of all time.

As of October 12, 2023, he is ranked #5 in the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing rankings.

After immigrating to Italy from Armenia at thirteen years old, Petrosyan began his professional career as a Muay Thai fighter at sixteen, starting out as a -54 kg/119 lb bantamweight before moving up through the weight classes and settling at the -70 kg/154 lb middleweight division, taking numerous titles along the way.

Following a decision loss to Nonthanan Por.

Born in Yerevan, Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Union (now Armenia) on December 10, 1985, as Gevorg Petrosyan, he emigrated to Italy at the age of thirteen with his father, Andranik, and older brother, Stepan, arriving illegally in the country in the back of a truck.

They initially lived homeless in Milan, sleeping in train stations and on the streets, but were later taken in by a family in Gorizia who offered them work as night watchmen at their factory.

After settling in Italy, he was soon joined by his mother, Karine, sister, Lianna, and younger brother, Armen, who is also a world champion kickboxer.

Inspired by Bruce Lee and Jean-Claude Van Damme martial arts films, Petrosyan decided to begin training in Muay Thai at fourteen years old but was initially turned away from the gym for being too small.

He persisted, however, and eventually started his training under Alfio Romanut at the Satori Gladiatorium Nemesis gym and had his first fight at the age of sixteen.

He continues to reside in Gorizia in Northern Italy and worked as a bricklayer early in his career.

Giorgio Petrosyan started his career as a -54 kg/119 lb bantamweight at the age of sixteen and defeated a local Italian fighter in his February 2002 debut, breaking his toes while doing so.

He turned professional shortly after and would compete almost exclusively under Muay Thai rules for the next five years.

In his first title fight on November 9, 2003, he scored a third round knockout over Gionata Zarbo to be crowned the Muay Thai Association (MTA) Italian national champion.

Steadily moving up in weight and competition level, he captured the MTA European -65 kg/143 lb Championship by outpointing Fabio Pinca in 2004 before making his only successful defence of the belt in February 2005 with another points win over Shemsi Beqiri in his home town of Gorizia.

He fought to a draw with three-time Lumpinee Stadium champion Pinsinchai in Bologna, Italy on April 10, 2005, but soon returned to the win column and defeated Olivier Tchétché by second round technical knockout in a WMC Intercontinental Welterweight (-66.7 kg/147 lb) Championship match in Nova Gorica, Slovenia on June 25, 2005.

Petrosyan then made the journey to Thailand to train, visiting the WMC Samui Gym in Ko Samui and Tor.

Silachai in Nakhon Ratchasima.

He stopped Thai fighter Petch with a low kick in round three at Phetch Buncha Samui Stadium in Ko Samui in February 2006 before returning to Italy to compete in the Italian Extreme IV four-man tournament in Modena on April 1, 2006, which he ran through, finishing both opponents in the first round.

He floored Richard Barnhill with a left hook before putting him away with a low kick in the semi-finals and gave an almost identical performance in the final when he dispatched Roel Rink with a leg kick shortly after knocking him down with a right hook.

This also marked the third consecutive fight in which Petrosyan had stopped opponents with low kicks.

He became a world champion for the first time on June 10, 2006, by knocking out Benito Caupain with a first round high kick to win the vacant Kombat League World -66.7 kg/147 lb Muay Thai Championship in Nova Gorica.

He would go on to successfully defend this title three times before the end of the year; TKOing Johnny Tancray in round four in Sardinia, Italy on August 5, KOing Frankie Hudders in round two in Pordenone, Italy on September 5 and winning a unanimous decision over Imro Main in Enschede, Netherlands on November 19.

Moving up to middleweight, Petrosyan marked his arrival in the weight class that he would go on to dominate by winning the eight-man 72 kg/158 lb tournament at Janus Fight Night 2006 in Padua, Italy, on December 2, 2006.

He took a unanimous decision win against Cédric Muller in the quarter-finals and TKO'd Frane Radnić in the semis, knocking him down twice in round one with a left cross to the solar plexus, before beating Marco Piqué via another unanimous decision in the final.

Pramuk at Lumpinee Stadium in January 2007, he went on a six-year, forty-two fight undefeated streak considered to be one of the most dominant reigns in the history of the sport which was eventually ended by Andy Ristie at Glory 12: New York in November 2013.

Petrosyan fought at the historic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand for the first time on January 23, 2007, where he was also handed the first loss of his career, dropping a decision to Nonthanan Por.

Pramuk.

In an interview, Petrosyan said the promoters required him to drink an extra two litres of water after he weighed in at 70 kg, two kilograms below the agreed upon weight of 72 kg. The drink given to Petrosyan caused him to have stomach cramps and made it very difficult for him to fight, though he decided to go through with it anyway.

After the bout, Nonthanan retired, quickly ending the possibility of a rematch.

He was able to bounce back from this loss by recording back-to-back wins, a third-round TKO of Sadio Cissoko on March 17, 2007, and a unanimous decision over Arslan Magomedov on April 14, 2007, at K-1 Italy Oktagon 2007, both fights taking place in Milan, Italy.

From there, he was offered the biggest fight of his career at that point when he replaced John Wayne Parr, who withdrew after injuring his ribs training with Nathan Corbett, to challenge Buakaw Por. Pramuk for his WMC World Junior Middleweight (-69.8 kg/154 lb) Championship at K-1 Fighting Network Scandinavian Qualification 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden on May 19, 2007.

After five rounds, the fight was ruled a split draw and, consequently, Buakaw retained his title.

Petrosyan then went on to defeat Abdallah Mabel twice within two months in his next couple of fights, decisioning him in Padua on May 26, 2007, and then TKOing him in Trieste on July 27, 2007.

After a first-round knockout of Behrouz Rastagar in Arnhem, Netherlands on October 13, 2007, he entered the Janus Fight Night 2007 -72 kg/158 lb tournament (the event he had won a year previously) on November 24, 2007.

In the quarter-finals, he beat José Reis by unanimous decision.

Then, in the semis, he met Abdallah Mabel for the third time in six months and bested the Frenchman once again, winning another unanimous decision.

His switch to kickboxing rules and subsequent ascent began in 2008 when he began competing for It's Showtime and K-1, and he established himself as the world's top middleweight with two consecutive K-1 World MAX World Championship Tournament Championships in 2009 and 2010.

He then joined Glory in 2012 following It's Showtime and K-1's demise and further cemented his place as the elite -70 kg/154 lb kickboxer by winning the Glory 2012 Lightweight Slam tournament.