Francisco Filho (martial artist)


Francisco "Chiquinho" Alves Filho is a Brazilian Kyokushin Karateka and kickboxer. He is one of the few karate-ka to have successfully completed the 100 man kumite more than once.
He holds notable K-1 wins over Sam Greco, Andy Hug, Remy Bonjasky, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts and Stefan Leko.

Career

Francisco Filho started Kyokushin kaikan around age of 10 and received black belt six and half years later. He made his professional K-1 fighting debut on July 20, 1997 at the K-1 Dream '97 tournament against Kyokushin and Seidokaikan fighter Andy Hug. This was their second encounter, the first being at the 5th Kyokushin World Tournament in 1991 that resulted in a controversial knockout victory for Filho with a technique that connected after the bell rang. The second fight was also won by Filho quickly earning the Brazilian a large fan base in Japan as well as making him one of the then top contenders for the K-1 World GP Championship title. International reception was mixed, however, with Dave Meltzer and other pundits expressing their belief that Hug's loss was a fight fixed in order to set Filho up as a new star.
Filho has since held championship titles in both K-1 as well as in IKO Kyokushinkaikan. He has not taken part in any major competition since 2004 but remains active developing young fighters and in overseeing Brazil’s Kyokushin national team.
In 2012, he appeared on coaching with Vitor Belfort.

Titles and accomplishments