Respect Fighting Championship
Mixed martial arts organization in Germany
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Respect Fighting Championship (RESPECT.FC) is a mixed martial arts organization in Germany. It has won the GNP Award for the best German promotion in 2009,[1] 2010[2] and 2011[3] Especially noteworthy in this context is that RESPECT.FC has beaten the Ultimate Fighting Championship (the biggest mixed martial arts organization in the world), who was nominated with their first German based event UFC 99.[1] The events are broadcast by Fightcast.tv.[4]
History
Partnership with Battle of the South (Netherlands)
On April 2, 2011, a 'RESPECT.FC Title Contender Fight' between Ben Boekee and Denis Oliwka took place at "Battle of the South",[5] one of the biggest MMA Events in the Netherlands. That was the first and only co-promotion for RESPECT.FC so far.
Rules
RESPECT.FC's rules differ somewhat from the North American Unified Rules. Among the differences are the allowance of knees to the head of downed opponent and stomp kicks to the body, while elbows to the head of downed opponent and soccer kicks are prohibited. Similar to the Unified Rules, fights have 3 rounds each lasting 5 minutes. Title Fights are 5 rounds.[6]
Current champions
| Division | Upper weight limit | Champion | Since | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heavyweight | 120 kg (264.6 lb; 18.9 st) |  Björn Schmiedeberg | 11. September 2010 (RESPECT.4) | 1 |
| Cruiserweight | 93 kg (205.0 lb; 14.6 st) | Stephan Puetz | 13. April 2013 (RESPECT.9) | 0 |
| Middleweight | 84 kg (185.2 lb; 13.2 st) |  Marcin Naruszczka | 13. April, 2013 (RESPECT.9) | 0 |
| Welterweight | 77 kg (169.8 lb; 12.1 st) | Ruben Crawford | 21. April 2012 (RESPECT.7) | 0 |
| Lightweight | 70 kg (154.3 lb; 11.0 st) | Cengiz Dana | 17. September 2011 (RESPECT.6) | 1 |
| Featherweight | 65 kg (143.3 lb; 10.2 st) |  Ben Boekee | 17. September 2011 (RESPECT.6) | 0 |
Championship history
Heavyweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Björn Schmiedeberg def. Andreas Kraniotakes |
RESPECT.4 Sportpark, Herne, Germany |
September 11, 2010 | 1. def. Sascha Weinpolter at RESPECT.6 on Sep 17, 2011 in Wuppertal, Germany |
Cruiserweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcin Naruszczka def. Manuel Masuch |
RESPECT.6 Bayer Hall, Wuppertal, Germany |
September 17, 2011 | 1. def. Mario Stapel at RESPECT.7 on Apr 21, 2012 in Essen, Germany |
| Title vacated after Naruszczka moved down to middleweight. | ||||
Middleweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Risch def. Nick Hein |
RESPECT.6 Bayer Hall, Wuppertal, Germany |
September 17, 2011 | |
| 2 | Nicolas Penzer |
RESPECT.7 Eishalle, Essen, Germany |
April 21, 2012 | |
| 3 | Marcin Naruszczka |
RESPECT.9 Bayer Sportscenter, Dormagen, Germany |
April 13, 2013 |
Welterweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ruben Crawford def. Steve Mensing |
RESPECT.7 Eishalle, Essen, Germany |
April 21, 2012 |
Lightweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cengiz Dana def. Niko Lohmann |
RESPECT.6 Bayer Hall, Wuppertal, Germany |
September 17, 2011 | 1. def. Adam Golonkiewicz at RESPECT.7 on Apr 21, 2012 in Essen, Germany |
Featherweight Championship
| No. | Name | Event | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Boekee def. Marcel Jedidi |
RESPECT.6 Bayer Hall, Wuppertal, Germany |
September 17, 2011 |
Notable fighters
Björn Schmiedeberg - #1 ranked German HW fighter,[7] RESPECT.FC Heavyweight Champion
Ben Boekee - WFCA Dutch Featherweight Champion,[8] RESPECT.FC Featherweight Champion- Cengiz Dana - M-1 Global, KSW and Cage Warriors veteran, RESPECT.FC Lightweight Champion
Sascha Weinpolter - #1 ranked Austrian HW fighter, Austria MMA Heavyweight Champion[9]- Andreas Kraniotakes - #3 ranked German HW fighter,[7] Cage Warriors veteran, appears as a character in EA Sports MMA video game
- Danny Hoyer - IKF Sanshou Super-Welterweight World Champion[10]
- Janosch Stefan - 2nd Place Combat Sambo World Championships 2008[11]
- Nordin Asrih - TUF Season 13 contestant and M-1 Global veteran
- Alexandra Sanchez - Jewels Rough Stone Grand Prix 2009 Champion
- Raymond Jarman - M-1 Global & Shooto veteran
- Nick Hein - European Judo Champion 2006[12]
- Jesse-Björn Buckler - Cage Warriors and SLAMM!! Events veteran
Events
| Event | Date | City | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| RESPECT FC 1 [13] | March 14, 2009 | Herne |
Fighters World Herne |
| RESPECT FC 2 [14] | November 7, 2009 | Herne |
Sportpark Herne |
| RESPECT FC 3 [15] | April 24, 2010 | Essen |
Sporthalle Bergeborbeck |
| RESPECT FC 4 [16] | September 11, 2010 | Herne |
Sportpark Herne |
| RESPECT FC 5 [17] | April 9, 2011 | Essen |
Zeche Amalie |
| RESPECT FC 6 "Stronger than ever" [18] | September 17, 2011 | Wuppertal |
Bayerhalle Wuppertal |
| RESPECT FC 7 [19] | April 21, 2012 | Essen |
Eishalle Essen |
| RESPECT FC 8 | September 22, 2012 | Wuppertal |
Bayerhalle Wuppertal |
| RESPECT FC 9 | April 13, 2013 | Dormagen |
Bayer Sport Center |
| RESPECT FC 10 | September 28, 2013 | Wuppertal |
Bayerhalle Wuppertal |
| RESPECT FC 11 | April 5, 2014 | Dormagen |
Bayer Sport Center |
| RESPECT FC 12 | April 11, 2015 | Wuppertal |
Bayer Sportpark |
| RESPECT FC 13 | July 18, 2015 | Karlsruhe |
Rintheimer Halle |
| RESPECT FC 14 | September 19, 2015 | Karlsruhe |
Rheinstrandhalle |
| RESPECT FC 15 | March 12, 2016 | Karlsruhe |
Rintheimer Halle |
| RESPECT FC 16 | April 9, 2016 | Cologne |
FIBO (trade show) |
| RESPECT FC 17 | September 17, 2016 | Karlsruhe |
Rheinstrandhalle |
| RESPECT FC 18 | December 4, 2016 | Cologne |
Sartory-Säle |
| RESPECT FC 19 | September 21, 2019 | Limburg an der Lahn |
Alte Markthalle |
| RESPECT FC: AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPS 6 | November 9, 2019 | Idstein |
Limeshalle |
| RESPECT FC 20 | September 26, 2020 | Hanover |
Star Event Center |