Francisco Filho

Francisco Filho made his professional K-1 fighting debut on July 20, 1997 at the K-1 Dreams 1997 tournament against the legendary Kyokushin and Seido Kaikan fighter Andy Hug. This was their second encounter, the first being at the 5th Kyokushin World Tournament in 1991 that resulted in a victory for Filho. The second fight was also won by Filho quickly earning the Brazilian a large fan base in Japan as well as making him one of the then top contenders for the K-1 World GP Championship title.

Filho has since held championship titles in both K-1 as well as in IKO-Kyokushin Kaikan. He has not taken part in any major competition since 2004 but remains active developing young fighters and in overseeing Brazil’s Kyokushin national team.