Laszak Scores Upset, Takes Bellator Kickboxing Title From Ghajji

Bellator Kickboxing returned on Friday night with a four-fight event in Budapest, Hungary and in the main event, the promotion’s crowned a new welterweight champion.

Local fighter Zoltan Laszak scored a pretty substantial upset by edging 100-fight veteran Karim Ghajji via unanimous decision to steal the title away. Laszak was more accurate with is strikes and his movement largely prevented Ghajji (96-13) from getting set in a rhythm throughout the bout. The battle was close throughout, but Laszak was in the zone and was awarded for his efforts.

Raymond Daniels (12-3) used his wild, unorthodox fighting style to flummox local welterweight Zsolt Benedek (15-4) from start to finish. In the end, Daniels’ higher strike output kept Benedek at bay and the American walked out of the ring with a unanimous decision win.

Denise Kielholtz got back on track with a dominant performance against Renata Lantos (5-5) and won a lopsided unanimous decision. Her performance got the Dutch fighter back in the win column and now Kielholtz (45-3) can focus on having her rematch with Gloria Peritore in December.

Alexandru Negrea (10-3) was too much for Ali El Ameri (42-11-2) to handle as he won a unanimous decision in the opening bout of the Spike telecast.