Kalmykia, officially the Republic of Kalmykia, is a republic of Russia, located in the North Caucasus region of Southern Russia. The republic is part of the Southern Federal District, and borders Dagestan to the south and Stavropol Krai to the southwest; Volgograd Oblast to the northwest and north and Astrakhan Oblast to the north and east; Rostov Oblast to the west and the Caspian Sea to the east. Through the Caspian Depression, the Kuma river forms Kalmykia'a natural border with Dagestan. Kalmykia is the only region in Europe where Buddhism is the predominant religion.
Dennis Raymond Alexio is an American former professional kickboxer and actor who competed in the light heavyweight, cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. Starting out as a light heavyweight, Alexio kicked off his career with an extensive, knockout-laden undefeated streak before losing a decision to Don "The Dragon" Wilson in a World Kickboxing Association (WKA) World Super Light Heavyweight Full Contact Championship match in 1984. He rebounded from this by winning the Professional Karate Association (PKA) World Light Heavyweight title that same year before moving up to cruiserweight and taking the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) World Cruiserweight Full Contact strap. In the late 1980s, he began his transition to the heavyweight division where he won six world titles and was considered the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion. He faced the two toughest tests of his career in 1992 against Branko Cikatić and Stan Longinidis - both of whom were heavier fighters - fighting to a controversial draw with Cikatić and losing to Longinidis via an early low kick KO which resulted in a broken leg.
Stan "The Man" Longinidis is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four different styles of kickboxing competition: international rules, Oriental rules, full contact and Muay Thai. He holds notable victories over Branko Cikatić, Adam Watt, Peter Graham, Musashi and Dennis Alexio.
Michalis "Iron Mike" Zambidis is a professional Greek kickboxer and martial artist. He is an 18-time World Champion, including former World version W5, SUPERKOMBAT and in a series of K-1 Tournaments and Grand Prix Champion. He mostly competed in the K-1 MAX where he scored mostly knockouts.
Gagik Harutyunyan, better known as Gago Drago, is an Armenian-born Dutch welterweight kickboxer from Alkmaar. He is known for his punch combinations and unpredictable kicking techniques and highly aggressive fighting style. Gago competed in K1-MAX and is trained at Loeks Gym, by Edwin van Os.
Marek "The Punisher" Piotrowski is a Polish retired heavyweight kickboxer and boxer. He is a former ten time kickboxing world champion.
Dmitry "Shok" Shakuta is a Belarusian Muay Thai super middleweight kickboxer fighting out of Minsk, Belarus for the SK-55 gym. He is an eight-time amateur and professional world champion, most well-known for being the It's Showtime 77MAX world champion between 2008 and 2009.
Qasim Beg, formerly known as Qasim Nisar, is an English kickboxer in the Super Lightweight division.
José 'The Devil's Advocate' Reis is a Portuguese Muay Thai kickboxer of Cape Verdean descent fighting out of Lisbon, Portugal for Olival Gym at either welterweight or super middleweight. He is the 2010 W.F.C.A. Full Contact world champion and a x2 K-1 MAX regional champion who has fought for both the K-1 MAX and SuperLeague organizations. His younger brother, Luis Reis, is also a successful kickboxer.
Dmitry 'Black Valet' Valent is a Belarusian Muay Thai middleweight/super middleweight kickboxer. He is the former WKN Middleweight Oriental rules and Muay thai champion, former WMC Light Heavyweight champion, two time WMC I-1 World Muaythai Grand Slam champion and two time Kunlun Fight 80kg tournament runner-up.
Sergej Maslobojev; born 22 May 1987), nicknamed 'Kuvalda' ('Sledgehammer'), is a Lithuanian mixed martial artist, boxer and kickboxer, currently signed with GLORY, where he is the former Glory Light Heavyweight champion. He is ranked as the third best light heavyweight in the world by Combat Press as of September 2022, and third best by Beyond Kickboxing as of October 2022.
Goran Radonjić is a Montenegrin heavyweight kickboxer fighting out of Podgorica, Montenegro, captain of Montenegrin kickboxing team.
Radonjić is declared as the best professional Montenegrin kickboxer in 2011 by steering committee of Montenegrin kickboxing federation.
Vladimir Konstantinovich Mineev is a Russian Middleweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist.
Gabriel Varga is a Canadian kickboxer who competes in the Lightweight division of Karate Combat. He is a former Bellator KB Featherweight champion, former two time Glory Featherweight champion, and former WKN lightweight champion.
Alexey Vasilyevich Papin is a Russian boxer and former kickboxer who has held the IBF International title in 2018 and 2019.
Alexander Yuryevich Stetsurenko is a Russian welterweight kickboxer. He is a three time Tatneft Cup tournament winner, Kunlun Fight tournament winner and W5 World champion.
AMC Fight Nights is a Russian mixed martial arts organization that previously hosted K-1 and other martial arts events. It is one of the largest promotion companies in the world and features some of the top-ranking fighters of the sport.
Doris Köhler is an Austrian kickboxer and boxer. Since 2002, she has won a total of seven World Championships and four European Championship titles in light-and full-contact kickboxing according to the rules of the World Kickboxing Association (WKA), International Amateur Karate-Kickboxing Sport Association (IAKSA) and the International Sport Karate Association (ISKA). Since 2007, she has also competed in professional boxing competitions under the Women's International Boxing Federation (WIBF) rules.
Johannes Wolf is a retired German kickboxer. He is a former ISKA, WKA and WAKO Pro Full Contact world champion.
The 2024 Republic of Kalmykia head election will take place on 8 September 2024, on common election day. Incumbent Head Batu Khasikov is eligible to run to a second term in office.
