Raul Llopis at the I-1 Muay Thai Grand Prix in HK

[King Coconut]

Raul Llopis, is an acoomplished Muay Thai fighter from Miami, Florida by way of Havana Cuba. Recently Raul was invited to represent the U.S. in the WMC sanctioned I-1 Grand Prix in Hong Kong. Raul has trained many of FSMT's fighters from time time and has been in our corner from time to time. He is a good friend of ours and we hope he does well in this tournament as he will be up against some tough international competition the likes of Rudolf Durica, Kieran Keddle, Andrei Kulebin, and many more.

Raul is currently training at the WMC Muay Thai Camp in Koh Samui in preparation for this fight. Good luck Raul!

[King Coconut]

So its been a while since the event ended by I wanted to post up some pics of the event in Hong Kong, where our coach Raul Llopis fougth as the sole U.S. Representative of the Tournament!



Here are the results of the bracket:

I-1 WGP Quarterfinal 1
Andrei Kulebin (Belarus) vs Leonardo Amendoim Monteiro (Brazil)
Winner: Kulebin by unanimous decision

I-1 WGP Quarterfinal 2
Mehdi Zatout (France) vs Raul Llopis (USA)
Winner: Zatout by unanimous decision

I-1 WGP Quarterfinal 3
Rudolf Durica (Slovakia) vs Santichai (Thailand)
Winner: Durica by unanimous decision

I-1 WGP Quarterfinal 4
Kieran Keddle (United Kingdom) vs Peyman Shahrokni (Sweden)
Winner: Keddle by unanimous decision

Yes, Raul lost his fight by decision. Zahtout was a tricky counter fighter, and Raul has always had trouble with fighters who are elusive and do not like to stand and bang like he does. It was a good fight but the Frenchman got the upper hand in the end. Respect to Llopis though for representing, and going the 5 rounds with tough international competition. Here are the remainder of the results.

I-1 WGP Semifinal 1
Andrei Kulebin vs Mehdi Zatout
Winner: Kulebin by unanimous decision

I-1 WGP Semifinal 2
(Rudolf Durica withdrew due to injury and Santichai stepped in to fight in Semifinal)
Santichai vs Kieran Keddle
Winner: Santichai by unanimous decision

I-1 WGP Final
Andrei Kulebin vs Santichai
Winner: Kulebin by unanimous decision

Winner of WMC I-1 World Muaythai Grand Prix 2008:
Andrei Kulebin (Belarus)



Raul and Andrei Kulebin: The winner of the I-1 World Grand Prix



The team from the Red Corner -
Rudolf Durica (Slovakia), Leonardo Monteiro (Brasil), Andrei Kulebin (Belarus), Raul Llopis (U.S.)



The fighters, from left to right: Andrei Kulebin (Belarus), Santichai (Thailand), Mehdi Zatout (France), Leonardo Monteiro (Brazil), Kim Ip (Promoter of the event), Peyman Shahrokni (Sweden), Raul Llopis (U.S.), Kieran Keddle (United Kingdom), and Rudolf Durica (Slovakia)



Hanging around Hong Kong, before the fights.
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Some shots from Raul's fight