Ertuğrul Bayrak (born June 17, 1992) is a Turkish-Dutchkickboxer, currently signed with Glory, where he was formerly the #1 ranked middleweight.[1]
He was ranked as the sixth best middleweight in the world by Beyond Kickboxing, as of October 2022.[2] He was ranked in the Combat Press middleweight top ten between March 2019 and July 2021.[3][4]
Kickboxing career
Early career
Bayrak made his professional debut against Geronimo de Groot at RINGS Holland in November 2011. He lost the fight by decision. May 2015, Bayrak participated in the 2015 A1 World Combat Cup Middleweight tournament. He beat Errol Koning and Sahak Parparyan by decision in the quarter and semifinals, before facing Ibrahim El Bouni in the finals. El Bouni won the fight by a first-round knockout.[5]
Following this tournament, Bayrak went on a more successful run, amassing five victories in six fights, before taking part in the 2017 WFL Middleweight tournament. He beat Errol Koning by decision in the semifinals, and Darryl Sichtman by decision in the final bout.[6] After knocking out Aziz El Felak in August 2018, Bayrak entered the 2018 WFL Wildcard Middleweight tournament. He won decisions against Badr Ferdous in the semifinals and Dennis Ipema in the finals to win the tournament.[7] His eight fight winning streak was snapped at Number One Fight Show, when he lost a decision to Maxim Vorovski.[8]
GLORY
Bayrak made his promotional debut at Glory 62: Rotterdam against Donovan Wisse. He won the fight by split decision.[9] He next faced Jakob Styben at Glory 64: Strasbourg, and once again won a split decision.[10] These two victories earned him the chance to fight Alex Pereira at Glory Collision 2 for the Glory Middleweight title. Pereira won the fight by a first-round knockout.[11]
Bayrak was booked to face the #4 ranked Glory middleweight contender Serkan Ozcaglayan at Glory 80 on March 19, 2022, following a 27 month absence from the sport.[12] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.[13]