Stan Longinidis

Australian heavyweight kick boxing champion (of Greek lineage) who went on to defeat some of the best kick boxers in the world including Branko Cikatic, Arthur "Mr C" Charlie, Grant Barker and Hawaiian Dennis Alexio Stan came from a humble background in Melbourne's outer northern suburbs, and first commenced martial arts training in the early 1980s. The athletic and hard hitting "Stan the Man" quickly won several amateur titles, before turning professional around 1987. An extremely popular figure in the international kick boxing community, Stan competed in tournaments around the world including several appearances in the highly prestigious K-1 series in Japan during the mid 1990s. His biggest fight crowd was in Melbourne, Australia was when Stan and Dennis Alexio packed out the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre in 1992 for the long awaited clash of two kick boxing titans. However, the fight finished in under a minute when Stan broke Alexio's leg with a text book round kick, and the Hawaiian crumpled to the canvas in pain. Stan retired in 2004, and is currently involved in several business ventures, including training the pocket sized Greek powerhouse "Iron Mike" Zambidies.