Murat Direkçi
Murat Direkci (born 17 July 1975 in Antwerp, Belgium) is a Belgian-Turkish middleweight kickboxer, fighting out of Universal Gym, Antwerp, Belgium. Early life Direkci was born in Antwerp, Belgium as the youngest son of three siblings to a family originally from Konya, Derebucak, Turkey. His sister Nuray died at the age of 4 due to a brain tumor, and his brother Ercan died in 2004 as a result of a traffic accident at 29. After completing his school education, Direkci studied at technical school with the intention of becoming an electrician. After a short while, he found a job as a doorman at a nightclub in Antwerp, however, and took up this career. Career Direkci began training in martial arts at the age of 15 and was originally trained by Jan Gooyvaers. In 1999, he began training under Jan Pasztjerik. After becoming the Belgian, European and World champion in kickboxing and muay Thai, he made his K-1 debut against Fikri Tijarti at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Amsterdam in May 2006, winning by technical knockout in round 3. In February the following year, he faced former K-1 world champion Albert Kraus at the K-1 World MAX 2007 Japan