Daniel Ghiță - Misplaced Pages

Romanian kickboxer and politician

Daniel Ghiță

Ghiță in 2011

Born

Daniel Ghiță
(1981-04-22) 22 April 1981 (age 43)
Bucharest, Romania

Nickname

The Savage Samurai

Residence

Bucharest, Romania

Height

1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)

Weight

255 lb (116 kg; 18 st 3 lb)

Division

Heavyweight

Reach

77 in (196 cm)

Style

Muay Thai

Trainer

Anil Dubar (head coach)

Years active

1999–2019

Kickboxing record

Total

Wins

By knockout

Losses

By knockout

Medal record

Representing Romania

Wushu Sanda
World Championships
	2017 Kazan	+90 kg

Last updated on: March 29, 2019

Daniel Ghiță (Romanian pronunciation: [daniˈel ˈɡit͡sə], born 22 April 1981) is a Romanian politician and former kickboxer, who serves as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Romania since December 2020.

Ghiță is the former It's Showtime heavyweight champion. He formerly competed in Glory, and was the runner up of the Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam tournament. He also competed for the Japanese K-1 promotion, where he made his name in their 2009 and 2010 World Grand Prix seasons.

Ghiță is one of the biggest stars in kickboxing history known for throwing powerful low kicks. He was also known for his enormous left hook. Daniel Ghiță was often referred to as the “Savage Samurai”. He was widely considered one of the greatest kickboxers.

He was ranked No. 1 heavyweight in the world in 2014. Between 2012 and 2015, he was at least a Top 2 heavyweight in the world. In January 2016, he was dropped from the rankings due to his unofficial retirement. Ghiță returned to the ring in October 2018 at Colosseum Tournament 9, when he defeated Dževad Poturak by technical knockout.

Biography

Ghiţă was born on 22 April 1981. Aside from kickboxing, from 2001 to 2008, Ghiță worked as a (SPP) agent assigned to protect the Romanian President.

Kickboxing career

Early career

"The Savage Samurai" made his debut in the World Muay Thai Championships in 1999 in Bangkok, Thailand. Daniel won all his matches by knockout before the semifinal, where he lost against Alexey Ignashov by one round (the only match the Belarusian won by decision and not KO).

Ghiță's career continued with success: he won the European Muay Thai champion in Germany in 2000, bronze medal at the World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand in 2001 and European Muay Thai runner-up in Portugal in 2002. In 2003, he recorded the fastest KO at the World Muay Thai Championships in Thailand, 30 seconds against an Australian fighter.

K-1 debut

In 2004, Ghiță entered the Local Kombat fighting circuit in Romania. His good record there gave him the opportunity to fight also in the K-1 fighting circuit. His K-1 debut was in 2007 at K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007 against Nobu Hayashi.

On 11 August 2009 Ghiță broke Peter Aerts' record of fastest K-1 tournament win by defeating all three of his opponents in a total of 5 minutes and 15 seconds. Peter Aerts' record at that time was 6:43 and stood for 10 years before Ghiță's milestone, however, Aerts' record was set at a K-1 Grand Prix Final Round, whereas Ghiță's record was set in a qualifying GP.

In October 2010, Daniel Ghiță became the first Romanian fighter to qualify for the K-1 World Grand Prix Final in Tokyo, defeating Errol Zimmerman by KO in the last qualifying tournament in Seoul. At the tournament he fought Gokhan Saki in the quarterfinals. He lost the fight by decision after an extra round.

First world title shot

On 6 March 2011 Daniel Ghiță faced the Chakuriki fighter Hesdy Gerges and the current It's Showtime Heavyweight champion in Amsterdam. Ghiță was a slight underdog as Gerges almost beat Semmy Schilt the previous year and gave Badr Hari trouble in their fight. Though from the first round Ghiță scored effective shots, until the second round where a knee that skimmed his groin was ruled wrongly an 8 count. He lost the fight by unanimous decision a fight that many people thought Ghiță won.

Ghiță was scheduled to face Polish-Australian fighter Paul Slowinski at the It's Showtime 2011 Lyon, but his opponent pulled out and was replaced by Fikri Ameziane. Expectedly, Ghiță beat his opponent in the first round.

It's Showtime World title win

On 28 January 2012 at It's Showtime in Leeuwarden, Ghiță rematched Hesdy Gerges for the It's Showtime Heavyweight World title. After backing up Gerges to the neutral corner in the first round he knocked Hesdy out with a left hook and won his biggest world title to date in the process.

On 10 March 2012, it was Sergei Lascenko's turn to be defeated by the Savage Samurai via third-round TKO (head kick) at Mirko Filipović's Final Fight in Zagreb, Croatia.

On 12 May the Romanian beat Brian Douwes at It's Showtime 56 in the second round (2:16) by KO with a single counter left hook. His punch sent the Dutchman to the canvas thus adding another KO win to his record.

At the It's Showtime 2012 Brussels, he scored his 7th straight win by KO with a 2nd round liver kick of his Bosnian opponent Dževad Poturak. In his previous fight at the K-1 World Grand Prix in Madrid, Ghiță fought Wendell Roche until his corner threw in the towel in round two.

Although he was expected to fight in the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix, Daniel was left out of the tournament.

Glory World Series

Ghiță then signed with rival kickboxing promotion, Glory.

He was set to face Fabiano Cyclone in the first round of the 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam at Glory 4: Tokyo - 2012 Heavyweight Grand Slam in Saitama, Japan on 31 December 2012. However, Cyclone pulled out of the bout and was replaced by his fellow countryman Jhonata Diniz. He defeated Diniz by unanimous decision after two, two-minute rounds due to the tournament's "best of three" format and advanced to the quarter-finals to face Mourad Bouzidi. After a close opening round, Ghiță stopped Bouzidi in the second round with a kick which injured his arm. In the semifinals, he came up against Jamal Ben Saddik, and dispatched of him within seconds, with a single kick to the body. An anticipated rematch with Semmy Schilt awaited him in the final, and, after a slow start to the three-minute first round, the Dutchman sent Ghiță to the canvas with a left high kick. Despite seemingly recovering from the blow, referee Joop Ubeda called a halt to the contest, giving Schilt the TKO win. He received a $100,000 check as the runner up on the tournament.

Ghiță rematched Gökhan Saki at Glory 6: Istanbul in Istanbul, Turkey on 6 April 2013 in a #1 contender's bout for the Glory Heavyweight Championship held by Semmy Schilt. The fight started out a little rough, as Saki caught a kick from the Romanian. He then backed Ghiță up and threw him to the mat with an illegal sweep according to the Glory rules. Ghiță landed hard, looking to have suffered an arm injury. Referee Joop Ubeda wrongly counted it as a down as Ghiță took a while to get to his feet. Even though injured, round two saw again a more consistent Ghiță but midway through the round, the Turk began landing heavy punches on him, dropping the Romanian thrice to take a win via TKO after the referee stepped in, calling the fight.

He halted his two-fight losing streak with a first-round knockout of Brice Guidon at Glory 9: New York - 2013 95kg Slam in New York City, New York, USA on 22 June 2013. He hurt Guidon with kicks and punches to the body, forcing him into the corner. As the Frenchman covered up, Ghiță ended the fight with a left hook when Guidon tried to punch his way out.

In the semi-finals of Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States in October 2013, Ghiță stopped Anderson "Braddock" Silva with a first round body kick. Meeting Rico Verhoeven in the final, he suffered a unanimous decision defeat.

He rematched Errol Zimmerman at Glory 13: Tokyo - Welterweight World Championship Tournament in Tokyo, Japan on 21 December 2013 and knocked Zimmerman out for the second time, hurting him just seconds into the match and keeping up the pressure before putting him away with his left hook at the 0:35 mark of round one.

He rematched Rico Verhoeven in a bout for the vacant Glory Heavyweight (+95 kg/209 lb) Championship at Glory 17: Los Angeles in Inglewood, California, US on 21 June 2014, losing a unanimous decision.

Return

Ghiță returned to the ring at 2017 World Wushu Championships winning the bronze medal after semifinal's defeat on points to the 5-time world champion Hamid Reza Gholipour of Iran.

On 29 October 2018, he made his kickboxing return at Colosseum Tournament IX at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Ghiță defeated Dževad Poturak in the first round, after Poturak's corner threw in the towel in the first round. Poturak later revealed that his quadriceps muscle was torn during the fight.

He was scheduled to fight Petr Vondráček during Colosseum Tournament 11. Ghiță won the fight in the first round by a left hook KO.

Politics

In November 2015, Ghiță joined the United Romania Party (PRU), that being the kickboxing world champion's first involvement with Romanian politics. He left the party in June 2016, after a disagreement with the party president Bogdan Diaconu, who he claimed didn't follow the principles he promoted.

In October 2020, Ghiță joined the Social Democratic Party (PSD), to run for the Chamber of Deputies of Romania in the next legislative elections. He won a seat in the Chamber on PSD's party list as aftermath of the elections.

Acting

Ghiță appeared in the music video for the song "Cât poți tu de tare" by B.U.G. Mafia, which was released in December 2010.

Personal life

He supports UNICEF charities.

Titles

Professional:
- 2013 Glory Heavyweight World Championship Tournament runner-up
- 2012 Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament runner-up
- 2012 It's Showtime World Heavyweight Champion
- 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP Winner
- 2005 World Kickboxing Network (W.K.N.) European Thai Boxing champion -96,600 kg
Amateur:
- 2017 World Wushu Championships +90 kg/+198 lb Sanshou Bronze Medalist
- 2002 International Amateur Muay Thai Federation (IAMTF) European Championships in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal
- 2001 International Amateur Muay Thai Federation (IAMTF) World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand -91 kg
- 2000 European Muay Thai Championships in Germany -91 kg
- 1999 International Amateur Muay Thai Federation (IAMTF) World Championships in Bangkok, Thailand -91 kg
Honors:
- 2006 Fight.ro Fighter of the Year
- 2005 Fight.ro Most Technical Fighter
- 2019 Combatpress.com Comeback Fighter of the Year nomination

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Location	Method	Round	Time
52 Wins (41 (T) KOs), 11 Losses
2019-03-29	Win	Petr Vondráček	Colosseum Tournament 11	Bucharest, Romania	KO (left hook)	1	2:22
2018-10-29	Win	Dževad Poturak	Colosseum Tournament 9	Cluj-Napoca, Romania	TKO (towel thrown)	1	1:38
2014-06-21	Loss	Rico Verhoeven	Glory 17: Los Angeles	Inglewood, California, USA	Decision (unanimous)	5	3:00
For the Glory Heavyweight Championship.
2013-12-21	Win	Errol Zimmerman	Glory 13: Tokyo	Tokyo, Japan	KO (left hook)	1	0:38
2013-10-12	Loss	Rico Verhoeven	Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament, Final	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
For the Glory Heavyweight Championship Tournament.
2013-10-12	Win	Anderson Silva	Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament, Semi Finals	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, USA	TKO (left body kick)	1	1:56
2013-06-22	Win	Brice Guidon	Glory 9: New York	New York City, New York, USA	KO (left hook)	1	0:49
2013-04-06	Loss	Gökhan Saki	Glory 6: Istanbul	Istanbul, Turkey	TKO (punches)	2	0:18
Glory Heavyweight Championship eliminator.
2012-12-31	Loss	Semmy Schilt	Glory 4: Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, Final	Saitama, Japan	TKO (left high kick)	1	2:52
For the Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament.
2012-12-31	Win	Jamal Ben Saddik	Glory 4: Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, Semi Finals	Saitama, Japan	KO (left body kick)	1	0:25
2012-12-31	Win	Mourad Bouzidi	Glory 4: Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, Quarter Finals	Saitama, Japan	TKO (arm injury)	2	0:40
2012-12-31	Win	Jhonata Diniz	Glory 4: Tokyo - Heavyweight Grand Slam Tournament, First Round	Saitama, Japan	Decision (unanimous)	2	2:00
2012-06-30	Win	Dževad Poturak	It's Showtime 58	Brussels, Belgium	KO (liver kick)	2	0:45
2012-05-27	Win	Wendell Roche	K-1 World MAX 2012 Championship Tournament Final 16, Super Fight	Madrid, Spain	TKO (towel thrown)	2	1:15
2012-05-12	Win	Brian Douwes	It's Showtime 56	Kortrijk, Belgium	KO (left hook)	2	0:45
2012-03-10	Win	Sergei Lascenko	Cro Cop Final Fight	Zagreb, Croatia	KO (right high kick)	3	0:49
2012-01-28	Win	Hesdy Gerges	It's Showtime 55	Leeuwarden, Netherlands	KO (left hook)	1	2:47
Won the It's Showtime Heavyweight Championship.
2011-06-11	Win	Erhan Deniz	It's Showtime 50	Warsaw, Poland	KO (left hook to the body)	2	2:50
2011-05-14	Win	Fikri Ameziane	It's Showtime 48	Lyon, France	KO (right low kick)	1	3:00
2011-03-06	Loss	Hesdy Gerges	It's Showtime 46	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2010-12-11	Loss	Gökhan Saki	K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final, Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	Extra Round Decision (unanimous)	4	3:00
2010-10-02	Win	Errol Zimmerman	K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16	Seoul, Republic of Korea	KO (straight right)	2	0:18
Advanced to K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final.
2010-05-29	Loss	Ashwin Balrak	It's Showtime 41	Amsterdam, Netherlands	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2010-02-13	Win	Dževad Poturak	It's Showtime 38	Prague, Czech Republic	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2009-12-05	Win	Sergei Kharitonov	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final, Reserve Fight	Yokohama, Japan	KO (Right low kick)	3	0:36
2009-09-26	Loss	Semmy Schilt	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16	Seoul, Republic of Korea	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Failed to advance to K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final.
2009-08-11	Win	Sergei Lascenko	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP, Final	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (three knockdown rule)	1	2:19
Won the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 Qualifying GP tournament final.
2009-08-11	Win	Yuki Niimura	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP	Tokyo, Japan, Semi Finals	TKO (two knockdown rule)	1	1:28
2009-08-11	Win	John Love	K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Tokyo Final 16 Qualifying GP, Quarter Finals	Tokyo, Japan	TKO (two knockdown rule)	1	1:28
2009-05-16	Win	Tomáš Hron	It's Showtime 33	Amsterdam, Netherlands	KO (left low kick)	2	2:21
2009-02-28	Win	Igor Mihaljević	K-1 Rules Tournament 2009 in Budapest	Budapest, Hungary	KO (right low kick)	1	1:20
2008-12-20	Loss	Roman Kleibl	K-1 Fighting Network Prague 2008	Prague, Czech Republic	Extra Round Decision	4	3:00
2008-11-06	Loss	Dževad Poturak	Local Kombat 31	Buzău, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2008-06-06	Win	Björn Bregy	Local Kombat 30	Timișoara, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2008-03-15	Win	Freddy Kemayo	Local Kombat 29	Arad, Romania	KO (left hook)	2	2:30
2007-12-14	Win	Tadas Rimkevicius	Local Kombat 28	Brașov, Romania	KO (low kick)	2	N/A
2007-11-03	Win	James Phillips	Local Kombat 27	Drobeta-Turnu Severin, Romania	KO (low kicks)	2	1:58
2007-05-04	Win	Nobu Hayashi	K-1 Fighting Network Romania 2007	Bucharest, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2006-12-16	Win	Gregory Tony	Local Kombat 24	Bucharest, Romania	KO (right hook)	2	2:09
2006-09-29	Win	Humberto Evora	Local Kombat 22	Iași, Romania	KO (right high kick)	1	2:19
2006-06-02	Win	Muhammed Ali Durmaz	Local Kombat 21	Bacău, Romania	TKO (towel thrown)	1	2:10
2006-03-10	Loss	Gregory Tony	Local Kombat 19	Iași, Romania	KO (right high kick)	1	2:19
2005-09-16	Win	Brecht Wallis	Local Kombat 16	Cluj-Napoca, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2005-05-14	Win	Mourad Bouzidi	Local Kombat 14	Bucharest, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
Won the WKN European Light Heavyweight Championship (Thai boxing rules)
2005-02-11	Win	Abel Jesus	Local Kombat 12	Cluj-Napoca, Romania	TKO (corner stoppage)	2	N/A
2004-10-22	Win	Ivica Perković	Local Kombat 10	Brăila, Romania	KO	3	N/A
2004-07-23	Win	Florin Golopența	Local Kombat 8	Galați, Romania	TKO	3	N/A
2004-05-14	Win	Anatoly Danilov	Local Kombat 6	Galați, Romania	TKO	3	N/A
2004-03-26	Win	Tihamér Brunner	Local Kombat 5	Brașov, Romania	Decision (unanimous)	3	3:00
2004-02-26	Win	Nikola Jovanović	Local Kombat 4	Brașov, Romania	TKO	2	N/A
Legend: Win Loss Draw/No contest Notes