The largest kickboxing promotion in history is heading to Calgary for four fights as part of the Grand Prix World Qualifying Tour.
K-1 is a combat sport that combines several martial arts and is largely considered a showcase for the best-of-the-best.
Four World qualifying fights will take place on Saturday, June 8 at Century Casino in two different weight categories.
Two Canadians, Benn Henry and Joseph George will faceoff in one of the heavyweight division matches. The other match also features two canucks, Markhaile Wedderburn from Alberta against Ontario’s Ali Yousef.
In the MAX Division, two American fighters will take on two tough Albertans in the 155 pound class. California fighter, Joey Pagliuso will touch gloves with Mukai Maromo and Shane Campbell will fight Justin Greskiewicz of Pennsylvania.
A number of home town favourites will also climb into the ring in addition to the world qualifiers on fight night.
- Sterling Love (Calgary) vs. Hasman Sandhu (Calgary)
- Kelsey Andries (Calgary) vs. Jenn Szeker (Philadelphia)
- Andrew Vandervelden (Airdrie) vs. Viktor Viagel (Calgary)
- Zack Darling (Calgary) vs. Patrick Ward (Calgary)
- Luke Theriault (Calgary) vs. Brian Kong (Edmonton)
Calgary’s own Kelsey Andries, 30, is training hard at Team Smandych Muay Thai & Kickboxing and is stepping up her game for this match.
“My big game plan is to train as hard as I can in here, do what my coach tells me, think, be an intelligent fighter and go out there and perform,” said Andries.
Kelsey is 6 feet tall but just 155 pounds so she often has to face fighters with more experience.
“Even Kelsey’s last fight, she had to fight a girl with nine fights, so it was a step up and now because she’s beaten her, now she has to fight a more experienced one just to get a fight,” said coach, Trevor Smandych.
Andries used to wrestle and has a solid relationship with her trainer, two-time World Champion Muay Thai fighter, Trevor Smandych.
“So she trains me and then in turn I train her back. So she’s been keeping me in shape and we just kind of go back and forth so it kind of gets fun because I kill her on the pads and then she kills me in the gym so a good little back and forth we have going,” said Smandych.
“I was never a really good wrestler and I remember being really frustrated because I always wanted to hit people,” said Andries. “When I had the opportunity to punch people in the face for real, I took it and for me it did something to my soul, honestly I use it like meditation.”
Andries has her own gym, Stenia Health and High Performance, and knows what it takes to compete at a high level.
“She always wants to learn. She always wants to get better, she’s always watching people who are better than her and saying oh, how can I do that? How can I add that to my game? And that’s just awesome,” said Smandych.
“That’s what this gym is designed for, is to get you ready for a fight, but when you step in, it’s a completely different ball game. Your natural instincts take over and it’s a challenge to stay calm. It’s really easy to get the fight or flight reaction and go like blah on people but unfortunately you’re not going to be a good fighter that way so that’s something we’re really working on,” said Andries.
Andries has won all four of her amateur fights and Coach Smandych says she has the physique and prowess to turn pro.
For tickets and more information, visit the Team Smandych Muay Thai & Kickboxing and Journey Fight Series websites.