HONORARY PRESIDENT

                                      LEE HASDELL

 Lee Hasdell (born 13 December 1966) is a British martial artist, promoter and former professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. Hasdell is considered by many to be a pioneer of mixed martial arts in the United Kingdom, particularly in the 1990s, when he drove a great deal of innovation in the field. Hasdell promoted the first professional mixed martial arts events in the United Kingdom and helped develop many of the standards within the British MMA scene of today.

 He started his professional career in 1989, as a Muay Thai boxer, becoming a three-time British champion in kickboxing and Thai boxing. In 1995, he became one of the first British fighters to compete in K-1. By this time, Hasdell had begun transitioning into mixed martial arts as a shootfighter and made his official debut for RINGS Holland in February 1996. Shortly afterwards, he won the inaugural Oktagon tournament in Milan, Italy. In 1997, he made his debut for Fighting Network RINGS in Japan and would go on to have the majority of his fights there.

 Lee Hasdell is a RINGS veteran, fighting for the promotion between 1996-2001, while also promoting RINGS UK. Throughout his career, Hasdell has fought in organisations and events such as K-1, Fenasco Oktagon, Fighting Network RINGS, IAFC – Absolute Fighting Championships, Cage Rage and has also competed in the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship.

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Martial arts background

 Hasdell began martial arts in 1979 at the age of 12, he learned Taekwondo under Morris Young who was the European Full Contact Taekwondo Heavyweight champion. Lee Later took up boxing and then karate as he felt that it was more of a mixed style that suited his stand up. After winning a number of local tournaments he decided to study full-contact Karate. In 1985 when he was 18 he started weight training and kickboxing. In 1987 he moved to Milton Keynes from Northampton where he began Thai Boxing. Hasdell was taught by Brian Walker, one of Master Toddy's first generation instructors, he remained with his instructor for six years.

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Kickboxing (1989–2002)
Domestic career (1989–1993)
Hasdell began his professional Kickboxing career in 1989 at the age of 22 as a Super-Welterweight Thai Boxer. In 1991, Lee went over to train at the Gym International and the Chakuriki Gym in Amsterdam, Netherlands, this is where Lee was first introduced to Japanese Kickboxing and Kyokushin methods.[12] On 9 March 1991, Hasdell won the WKA British Super-Middleweight Kickboxing title. The next month he moved up to Light-Heavyweight and won the BIKA British Thai Boxing title. He later added the BIKA British Light-Heavyweight Free-Style title in 1992.[8] Hasdell remained undefeated as British champion for two years.

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International career (1993–1995)
Hasdell's quest for the European title began on 28 May 1993 in Katowice, Poland. He lost against Paval Rumas by split decision after 10 rounds, it was for the ISKA European Light-Heavyweight Full contact title. Hasdell later moved up to Super Light-Heavyweight and fought for both the WKA Commonwealth and European Thai Boxing titles. He lost the first title fight against Duncan Airlie James due to a cut in October 1993. This bout was only a week removed from originally receiving the cut in a Thai boxing match in Arnhem, Netherlands against Perry Telgt. Still ranked no.1 in Britain,[14] Hasdell fought for the European title on 22 January 1994, he fought Bob Schrijber at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Hasdell was stopped near the end of the last round due to leg kicks.

 In April 1994, Hasdell trained at the Seidokaikan Dojo in Japan, the headquarters for the K1 organisation. He also attended the K-1 Grand Prix '94 as a stand by fighter. On 17 October 1994, Hasdell made a move to Super-Cruiserweight when he defeated French fighter Bruno Fariot by first round knock-out. He later returned to train at the Chakuriki Gym to prepare for his future fights and was ranked no.1 in the Commonwealth ratings. On 15 April 1995, Hasdell fought undefeated American fighter Curtis Schuster for the ISKA World Super-Heavyweight Thai Boxing title in Paris, France. Hasdell lost by KO (knee) in the first round after failing to beat the count.

 On 3 September 1995, he became one of the first British fighters to compete in K-1 when he fought Duane Van Der Merwe at K-1 Revenge II in Yokohama, Japan. Hasdell was defeated in the first round by clinch knees. K-1 since banned unlimited strikes while in the clinch. Hasdell took a break from Kickboxing after this fight to concentrate on Shootfighting and left behind a Kickboxing record of 39 wins (25 T/KO) with 15 losses.

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Kickboxing returns
On 13 December 1997, Lee Hasdell entered an 8-man Kickboxing tournament in Prague, Czech Republic. He took on Mirko Filipovic in the quarter-finals and was eliminated in the second round due to a cut.

 On 16 April 2000, Hasdell made his return to kickboxing at K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000 held in Birmingham, England. Hasdell fought WKA World Heavyweight Kickboxing champion Simon Dore in a non-tournament fight. Hasdell won by flying knee at 0:30 of round 3.

 Lee Hasdell competed in a Shootboxing bout on 2 February 2002, held in Tokyo, Japan. The fight was against French fighter Cyrille Diabate at The Age of S - Volume 1. Hasdell lost by TKO due to referee stoppage at 2:18 of round 4.

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Mixed martial arts career (1995–2007)
Background
In 1992, while teaching Kickboxing at a Japanese Boarding School, Hasdell began cross training with the Japanese martial arts instructors in Judo, Karate and Jujitsu. Hasdell would later witness a bout under Mixed martial arts rules while as a stand-by fighter for K-1 in April 1994. In September 1995 when he fought at K-1 Revenge II in Japan, Hasdell shared a dressing room with the Mixed martial artists that were competing that night. They had Vale Tudo and Shootfighting bouts on the card, which he watched with interest and when he returned from Japan, he started grappling.

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Early career (1995-1997)
On 15 October 1995, Hasdell promoted a Kickboxing event in Milton Keynes, England which featured three Shootfighting bouts. The main bout was between Lee Hasdell and American freestyle wrestler, Boston Jones. The fight was billed as "The first ultimate shootfight in Britain". Hasdell won the fight by Technical-Knockout due to a cut from a Knee in round 2. On 18 February 1996 at the age of 29, Lee Hasdell made his Shootfighting debut for RINGS Holland at Kings of Martial Arts against Dutch Thai boxer and multiple time world champion Andre Mannaart. Although the fight ended in a draw, it brought Hasdell to the attention of Akira Maeda, the president of Fighting Network RINGS.

 On 20 April 1996, Hasdell entered the Oktagon challenge, an eight-man tournament held in Milan, Italy. The tournament featured fighters from the UK, United States, Israel, Spain, Netherlands, Nigeria, France and Italy, all representing eight different martial arts, Hasdell represented the art of Freestyle fighting. The event was attended by 14,000 spectators. The rules of the tournament were similar to Shootboxing but with grappling and submissions on the ground, they wore ten ounce gloves with thirty seconds of ground fighting. At the time it was considered 'Free-fighting', a name that originally referred to Mixed martial arts. Hasdell went through to the final with two knockouts over American Jeet Kun Do practitioner Scott Dobbs and Italian Judo champion, Paolo Di Clemente. In the final he defeated Andre Mannaart by decision to become the new world Oktagon champion.

 Following his Oktagon victory, Hasdell was invited to train at the RINGS Dojo in Yokohama, Japan for four weeks. Upon his return he began staging unofficial invitational matches in preparation for his future events, also competing in mixed rules bouts throughout the year. On 26 October 1996, Hasdell fought Cees Bezems in a no holds barred match at IMA - Battle of Styles held in Amsterdam, Holland. Hasdell lost by Technical knockout due to a cut. On 2 February 1997, Hasdell returned to RINGS Holland where he fought Dutch fighter, Hans Nijman. This bout ended up having a controversial finish. In the second round Nijman had Hasdell in a guillotine choke, Hasdell grabbed the ropes for a rope escape although the referee did not see it, forcing Hasdell to tap out to break the hold.

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Fighting Network RINGS (1997-2001)
1997-1998
On 4 April 1997, Hasdell made his debut for Fighting Network RINGS in Tokyo, Japan. He defeated American fighter, Sean McCully in the first round by guillotine choke. On 21 June 1997, in his second Shootfight in Japan, Hasdell was entered into the RINGS Light-Heavyweight Title Tournament. In the first round of the tournament, Hasdell lost to Masayuki Naruse by submission.

 On 5 October 1997, he fought Dutch fighter Peter Dijkman at U.T.F (In conjunction with RINGS) - Total Fight Night in Milton Keynes, England. This bout was for the vacant U.T.F Super-fight Heavyweight Shootfighting title. Hasdell won the bout by Rear naked choke. On 25 October 1997, he returned to Japan where he competed in the annual RINGS: Mega Battle Tournament. It was a 16-man tournament to determine the first ever RINGS Open-Weight champion. In the round of 16, Hasdell lost to Joop Kasteel by submission.

On 7 March 1998 at T.F.F - Night of the Samurai, Hasdell fought and defeated Dutch fighter Sander Thonhauser by armbar in round 1. This was for the vacant U.T.F Super-Fight Heavyweight Vale Tudo title. On 29 May 1998, Hasdell fought Hiromitsu Kanehara in Sapporo, Japan and lost by decision after thirty minutes. On 7 June 1998, he fought Dutch fighter, Dave van der Veen at RINGS Holland - Who's the Boss, Hasdell won by KO in the second round.

1998-1999
On 21 September 1998, Hasdell fought Kenichi Yamamoto in Yokohama, Japan and won the fight by KO. On 11 October 1998, Hasdell fought Hiromitsu Kanehara in a rematch at T.F.F - Night of the Samurai II held in Milton Keynes, England. After 15 minutes, Hasdell lost again by decision. Then on 24 October 1998, he fought Gilbert Yvel at RINGS Holland - Thialf Explosion, Hasdell lost by TKO due to a cut in the first round.

 On 20 November 1998, Hasdell began what would be a trilogy of fights with Japanese fighter, Yasuhito Namekawa. Their first confrontation was held in Osaka, Japan and after twenty minutes, it ended in a draw. Their rematch was held on 23 January 1999 at the Budokan Hall in Tokyo, Japan. Hasdell received a yellow card for an illegal punch and lost on points. Their third and final bout was held in Milton Keynes, England at T.F.F - Night of the Samurai III, on 7 March 1999. Hasdell was trailing the fight by two points before knocking Namakawa out with a knee at 5:55.

 He returned to Japan on 23 April 1999, defeating Ryuki Ueyama due to disqualification and submitting Ricardo Fyeet four months later. On 15 September 1999, Hasdell fought Satoshi Honma in Tokyo, Japan. After twenty minutes, the bout ended in a draw. The following month, Hasdell faced Dave van der Veen for a second time at T.F.F - Total Fight KRG 5 in Milton Keynes, England. Hasdell won by armbar at 1:47 of the first round to retain his U.T.F Super-Fight Heavyweight Shootfighting title.

On 28 October 1999, Hasdell entered the RINGS King of Kings Tournament 1999, in the Round of 32 he defeated Achmed Labasanov by TKO in round 2. Hasdell was then eliminated in the next round by Brazilian fighter, Renato Sobral by unanimous decision. Hasdell became the first British fighter to compete in a major international Mixed martial arts tournament. This was the first event in RINGS to introduce the King of Kings rules with Vale Tudo gloves. Hasdell took a break after this tournament to heal an injured knee.

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2000-2001
After a six-month break Hasdell returned to Mixed martial arts when he traveled to Russia on 29 April 2000, competing in the IAFC Pankration World Championships. Hasdell lost to Mikhail Avetisyan after tapping out due to ground and pound. On 20 May 2000, he fought Mikhail Illoukhine at RINGS Russia - Russia vs. the World. Illoukhine won by split decision. He then took on Joop Kasteel at RINGS Holland on 4 June 2000. Hasdell lost due to a dislocated shoulder in the opening round after knocking Kasteel down twice. At this point, Hasdell had competed in four different fighting styles within only three months; ADCC Submission Wrestling, K-1, Absolute Fighting Championships and two Rings King of King rules bouts.

 He returned six months later on 22 December 2000 and took on Volk Han in the Round of 32 at the RINGS: King of Kings tournament 2000. Hasdell lost due to TKO in the second round, Hasdell suffered an eye injury from one of the punches. On 28 January 2001, Hasdell traveled to the Netherlands to fight Sander Thonhauser. Thonhauser kneed Hasdell clean in the face while Hasdell was still on the floor, which is an illegal move. Due to the following retaliation by Hasdell, the fight was declared a no contest in round 1.

 Hasdell was then scheduled to face British fighter James Zikic on 11 March 2001 at Millennium Brawl 2, but pulled out due to an eye injury received in training. Hasdell took most of the year off and during this time Hasdell appeared in a music video for American singer Shea Seger in April 2001. In August, Hasdell was given an award from Akira Maeda in Japan for his hard work, dedication and contribution to the martial arts worldwide.

 On 20 October 2001, Hasdell entered the RINGS Absolute Class Tournament. In the Quarter-finals he beat Bulgarian Judo fighter Georgi Tonkov by flying knee in round 1. On 21 December 2001, in the semi-final of the tournament, Hasdell lost to Fedor Emelianenko by Guillotine Choke in the first round. This was the first time since 25 October 1997 that Hasdell had submitted due to a submission hold, a total of over four years and 23 bouts (including submission grappling). This was Lee Hasdell's final fight for RINGS as the promotion would cease operating from 2002.​