SENSHI 29 Full Fight Card Announced – What is SENSHI?
SENSHI 29 marks the final international fight event of 2025, bringing together 24 professional athletes competing across 12 bouts representing 16 countries. The event arrives as the year’s closing competitive showcase, with significant heavyweight representation. This is closer look at SENSHI 29, the training program, and SENSHI as a whole.
SENSHI 29 Fight Card – December 6, 2025
Alex Fernandez (Spain) vs Zhulien Rikov (Bulgaria)
Aissam Chadid (Morocco) vs Dragomir Petrov (Bulgaria)
Rocky Grandjean (Netherlands) vs Atanas Bozhilov (Bulgaria)
Petros De Freitas (Brazil) vs Michael Samperi (Italy)
Ulric Bokeme (Switzerland) vs Frangis Goma (France)
Vito Kosar (Croatia) vs Fabian Lorito (Italy)
Nathan Bendon (England) vs Nicolas Sanabria (Colombia)
Cicero Evangelista (Brazil) vs Vedat Hoduk (Türkiye)
Sem van der Lans (Netherlands) vs Mantas Rimdeika (Lithuania)
Dexter Suisse (Netherlands) vs Giannis Stoforidis (Greece)
Karim Mabrouk (Austria) vs Ali Yuzeir (Bulgaria)
Marius Munteanu (Romania) vs Eduard Aleksanyan (Bulgaria)
The fight card shows the global reach of professional full-contact competition. Several competitors simultaneously compete for WAKO world titles at the WAKO World Kickboxing Championship in Abu Dhabi, including Ali Yuzeir from Bulgaria, Croatian fighter Vito Kosar, and Lithuanian Mantas Rimdeika. This overlap between competitions demonstrates how SENSHI functions within the ecosystem of international combat sports.
The lineup features fighters from across Europe and beyond: Spanish striker Alex Fernandez faces Bulgaria’s Zhulien Rikov at 75 kilograms; Morocco’s Aissam Chadid battles Bulgaria’s Dragomir Petrov at 70 kilograms; and Netherlands-based Sem van der Lans takes on Lithuania’s Mantas Rimdeika in the heavyweight division. International matchups continue throughout the card, with competitors from Italy, Brazil, Switzerland, France, England, Colombia, Turkey, Austria, and Romania all represented.
The event takes place in Varna, Bulgaria, at 7:00 PM EET (12:00 PM EST). Tickets are available through Eventim.bg. For viewers unable to attend in person, SENSHI 29 will stream free for USA and Canada audiences on Swerve Combat, with global distribution handled through the promotion’s YouTube channel, TrillerTV, Boec.com, KWUnion.com, KWUSENSHI.com, and Fighto.News.
SENSHI Training Camp
Beyond the fights themselves, SENSHI operates an extensive training camp infrastructure. Between December 4 and 7, 2025, Varna will host the final international SENSHI training camp for the year, gathering elite combat sports instructors and leaders in the field. The camp brings in legendary figures like Semmy Schilt, Ernesto Hoost, Albert Kraus, Andy Souwer, and Nicholas Pettas, these same individuals serve as referees and judges at the SENSHI 29 event. This model of combining training seminars with professional competition creates a unified ecosystem where athletes develop skills through established martial arts masters while competing under rulesets those legends helped shape.
SENSHI also coordinates with the KWU network, which established the KWU SENSHI World Cup for Amateur competitors. This amateur tournament features substantial cash prize pools, offering 1,000 euros for qualifier wins and 500 euros for losses, with larger purses in subsequent rounds. Amateur champions receive 2,000 euros for their performance, demonstrating the financial infrastructure supporting fighters across skill levels.
The Three SENSHI Rule Sets
SENSHI operates under three distinct but interconnected rule systems, each reflecting different aspects of full-contact combat. These rules represent the primary draw for fighters and followers seeking alternatives to traditional kickboxing formats.
KWU Full Contact serves as the most kickboxing of the rulesets. This format allows all boxing punches, spinning backfists, and all kicks, but restricts knee strikes to the head to a single technique only when the fighter uses a two-hand grip on the opponent. Clinching is permitted for up to five seconds if active. Fighters can hold their opponent’s leg and attack without pushing or pulling. Sweeps are permitted, and standard kickboxing gloves are worn. The ruleset explicitly prohibits elbow strikes, head blows, throws, ground strikes, and head strikes from lying positions.
KWU SENSHI diverges notably by incorporating elbow strikes and throws into the allowed technique arsenal. All boxing punches, spinning backfists, and kicks remain legal, and the clinching framework mirrors the Full Contact rules. The key distinction lies in the addition of elbows, a technique borrowed from Muay Thai that transforms the pace and striking dynamics of the match. Fighters operating under SENSHI rules gain access to a more expansive striking vocabulary while maintaining prohibitions on certain techniques like head strikes while on the ground or in restricted gripping positions.
KWU Open represents the most permissive ruleset, effectively functioning as an MMA format. This framework allows all boxing strikes, kicks, elbows, spinning backfists, and clinching operations. Notably, KWU Open permits groundwork following a takedown, with each period of ground activity limited to 30 seconds. If a fighter reverses position and moves to the top, a new 30-second count begins.
When groundwork becomes passive, the referee stands the fighters back up. Groundwork permits knee strikes only to the body, not the head. Leg submissions are allowed with restrictions on Achilles locks only, prohibiting twisting movements that target the ankle or knee joint. Strangulation and submission holds are otherwise permitted. KWU Open does maintain prohibitions on certain techniques such as head-focused elbow and knee strikes while on the ground, striking a fallen opponent from a standing position, and throws involving head or spinal falls.
SENSHI Kickboxing: Bridging Kyokushin Heritage with Modern Combat Sports
SENSHI represents a bridge between the traditional roots of Kyokushin karate and contemporary professional combat sports, positioned as the flagship promotion of the KWU International Professional League. Operating under the motto “Time to be United,” the organization brings together fighters, fans, and martial arts legends in a series of high-profile events hosted primarily in Varna, Bulgaria.
Since its inception, SENSHI has grown significantly. In just five years, the promotion has organized 20 events featuring 244 athletes from 48 countries, attracting notable fighters and establishing itself as a legitimate platform for elite combat athletes. The promotion continues to expand, having recently reached its 29th event with SENSHI 29 scheduled for December 6, 2025, at 7:00 PM EET in Varna, Bulgaria.
