I.K.F. Headquarter - 237 ter , avenue Sainte Marguerite 06200-Nice , France Registration nr. 0062027610
Home About Members Calendar Competition Rules Kempo PRO Photo Gallery Video Gallery Contact IKF Executive Committee Referees dept. Kempo Codes Kempo Titles IKF Official uniforms Kempo History Reasons to join IKF Join IKF now Members Black Belt Society IKF Calendar IKF Amateur events IKF Professional events International Referee Courses Fighting divisions Traditional divisions Professional IKF Gallas Fighters Profile Newsletter Honorary Presidents World Kempo Championships Continental Kempo Championships World Kempo Cups International Kempo Seminars Professional IKF Gallas Semi-Kempo Full-Kempo Knockdown MMA Kempo Kick Submission Kata Weapon Kata Self Defense Weapon Self Defense Gladiator Photo Gallery Video Gallery Pankration

George Pacurariu – LFC 22, USA

August 21, 2013, USA

Image gallery

Details

George Pacurariu (5-1) is one of those rare diamonds in the rough. Pacurariu was born and grew up in Western Romania, near the border with the former Yugoslavia; at twenty, Pacurariu was called for national service to the army and moved to the capital of Romania, Bucharest. “I started training Kempo. People over here in U.S. made a big mistake thinking of Kempo as being a soft-karate competition like in USA, but there is not like this at all. Across Europe and Japan, Kempo is very similar with MMA”. Pacurariu has won numerous titles and has fought internationally across Europe, the former Soviet Union and Japan including winning multiple continental and world amateur championships.

The natural progression for Pacurariu was to MMA Pro. “I fought 5 MMA Pro fights before my coming in USA, two of them in Romania and the other three across Europe. My first pro fight in Paris, France, I won by TKO. Anyway, the toughest fights I had in my life were the Kempo fights in Russia. I had to fight six times, and the guys were really tough. I fought many world championships. Each one was never less than nine fights in three days. I have about two hundred amateur fights and most fights I would finish by KO.”

Pacurariu now calls Dallas – Texas his home, having moved there to pursue his MMA career, joining Octagon MMA team, which is regarded as one of the premiere MMA gyms in Texas. Pacurariu is extremely grateful to be there. “I train with Sayif Said, and I’m very happy about that. We get on very well. I found a family, not just a gym. They really helped me”.

According to Pacurariu, training is different in the U.S. for him than in his native Romania. “In Romania, there was a very high level of stand-up training but not so much grappling, unless you trained with the national Kempo team coached by Amatto Zaharia, or in a BJJ organization. Here I improved my ground skills a lot. I have since finished two fights in the NAGA by submission, one by choke and one by arm bar. At the Octagon MMA we have really great coaches. I trained with Bruno Bastos and Octavio Couto. I have a great wrestling coach, a great romanian boxing coach Viorel Mihaila, and finally there’s Sayif Said putting it all together. This is really great for me as a MMA Fighter”.

Posted by Lance Edwards, Legacy Fighting Championships