PFL president Ray Sefo reflects on career and challenges of eight-man format as new wave get King in the Ring shot

Ray Sefo was among the stars of the New Zealand combat sports scene. Photo / Photosport

The martial arts scene in New Zealand has changed since Ray Sefo’s days in the ring.

“I still remember when I was coming up in the rankings, we weren’t even on TV,” he recalls.

Sefo was one of the country’s leading kickboxing talents in the late 1990s and 2000s, with his career including competing in the famed K-1 promotion - his 2001 win over Mark Hunt on that stage was the stuff of legend in the combat sports realm – but the sport was still building momentum in the mainstream.

While the scene has changed in that sense, there are still similarities in New Zealand with Sefo’s time competing.

Among them, the concept of the K-1 Grand Prix, which finished with an eight-man tournament where an athlete had to win three fights in one night to claim the title.

That format is the basis for King in the Ring, a promotion founded in 2011 by Sefo’s former teammate Jason Suttie which has gone on to establish itself as the top platform for rising talent in New Zealand.

Current UFC fighters Dan Hooker, Israel Adesanya, Carlos Ulberg and Navajo Stirling have all won King in the Ring titles, while other winners have gone on to compete for big promotions such as One Championship.

Sefo is now the president of the Professional Fighters League, one of the world’s leading MMA promotions, who are holding their world championships in Saudi Arabia this weekend. He says the eight-man format is one from which a fighter can learn a lot about themselves.

“To fight three fights in one night, it really questions who you are as a person, as a man,” Sefo says.

“I still remember there were times where [my brother] Rony and I would be at the back looking at each other and start laughing because there’s like an inside joke if you will, where we go, ‘why the hell do we do this?’ and then we go out there and do it.

“It’s the fun of the challenge, but the challenges are more for yourself. It’s where you learn how to, the saying that really comes to mind is you get knocked down five times, you get up six, you know what I mean?

“It takes a different kind of human being to be able to come out and compete and fight three fights in a matter of five hours.”

On Saturday night, a new group of athletes will get to experience that lesson when the cruiserweights take centre stage in Auckland. With an average age across the eight-man lineup of 24, it’s a sign of the growth of the sport and the opportunities for the next generation coming through.

Adesanya, Ulberg and Stirling are among the past winners in a weight class that has featured some of the country’s top kickboxing talent over the years, including Sefo, Suttie, and Mike Angove.

“The weight’s are obviously a little bit different in MMA, but cruiserweight is heavier than [MMA’s] light heavyweight; it’s kind of between light heavy and heavyweight, so I found it pretty good to make weight,” Sefo says.

“There’s a lot of talent that is in that weight class and [can] obviously fluctuate between light heavy, cruiserweight and heavyweight. Obviously Carlos now is light heavyweight [in the UFC] and I wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point, Izzy goes up to light heavy. But yeah, there’s a lot of talent in that weight class.”

While he is now based overseas, Sefo continues to keep an eye on the New Zealand scene – both MMA and kickboxing – and scouting for potential future PFL talents.

“Jason is doing a great job producing those young up-and-coming talents and some of the talent that’s there today...they’re definitely the guys that I look to in regards to [fresh talent] from New Zealand.”

King in the Ring eight-man cruiserweight contenders

Ben Langford (South Island Lee Gar, Christchurch)

Karaitiana Adams (Tihipuke Muay Thai, Hamilton)

George Gray (Maui Muay Thai, Nelson)

Hori Whakatope (Rangataua o Aotearoa, Gisborne)

Shaq Ruri (New Era Performance, Auckland)

Leki Goetz (SMAC Gym, Auckland)

Mani Folau (Elite Thai Kickboxing, Auckland)

Asi Taufa (Oliver MMA, Auckland)

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.