Michael Thompson (karateka)


Michael Thompson is an English former karateka and kickboxer who competed in the cruiserweight and heavyweight division. After a long and distinguished career in Kyokushin, in which he won the British Open four times, the Commonwealth Championships in 1988 and the European Championships in 1991 as well as competing three times in the World Open, Thompson later switched to Seidokaikan and reached the final of the 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup. During his time as a Seidokaikan competitor, he also fought as a professional kickboxer in K-1, amassing a 6–5 record and becoming the WKA European Super Cruiserweight Champion.

Career

Michael Thompson established himself as one of the United Kingdom's best Kyokushin fighters during the 1980s, winning the British Open four times and finishing in third place twice. He also medaled at the European Championships three times, taking bronze in 1982 and silver in 1987 and 1989 before eventually winning the tournament at +90 kg/198 lb in 1991. As well as winning the inaugural Commonwealth Championships in 1988, Thompson competed in the Kyokushin World Open on three occasions. In his best showing in the tournament, he made it to the semi-finals at the 1987 edition, losing out to Shokei Matsui.
After transitioning to Seidokaikan in 1993, Thompson fought his first match against Taiei Kin at the K-1 Grand Prix '93 in Tokyo, Japan on 30 April 1993, losing by majority decision after two extension rounds were needed to separate the pair. He bounced back with a first round knockout of Nobuaki Kakuda at K-1 Sanctuary III in Osaka, Japan on 25 June 1993. Entering the 1993 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup on 3 October 1993, Thompson rematched Kakuda in the tournament's opening stage and repeated his performance to score another first-round KO. It was another familiar foe and outcome in the quarter-finals, as Taiei Kin again beat him by an extension round decision to eliminate him from the competition.
Thompson then signed with K-1 and made his professional kickboxing debut on 4 March 1994, stopping Gary Sandland with a spinning back kick in round four at K-1 Challenge. The following month, he was invited to compete in the K-1 Grand Prix '94, held on 30 April 1994 in Tokyo. He lost to Masaaki Satake via technical knockout due to a cut in round three of their quarter-final match. Returning at K-1 Revenge in Yokohama, Japan on 18 September 1994, Thompson knocked out Muay Thai exponent Changpuek Kiatsongrit with a lighting-quick spinning back kick just two seconds into the third round.
Competing in his last major full contact karate tournament, Michael Thompson made it to the final of the 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup on 2 October 1994. Following wins over Wataru Uchida, Eiji Matsumoto and Kenneth Felter, respectively, he was stopped with a body kick from Sam Greco inside the first round of the tournament championship match. In his next outing, he beat Rene Papais on points in a karate match at K-1 Fight Night in Zurich, Switzerland on 10 June 1995.
He soon made his way back to the kickboxing ring and faced Peter Aerts in a non-tournament bout at the K-3 Grand Prix '95 in Nagoya, Japan on 16 July 1995. He was outmatched in the fight, getting beat around the ring before being stopped in round two. In another tough matchup, Thompson was dropped by Ernesto Hoost a total of four times over two rounds, forcing the referee to call a stoppage at K-1 Revenge II in Yokohama on 3 September 1995.
Upon his return to Seidokaikan karate, Thompson lost his third consecutive fight as he dropped a unanimous decision to Andy Hug in a one-off match at the 1995 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup on 8 October 1995. This would be his last appearance under karate rules as he would spend the remainder of his career as a kickboxer and actually went on to train with Andy Hug at his training complex in Lucerne, Switzerland.
On 9 December 1995, Thompson defeated Pedro Rizzo via cut TKO in round three at K-1 Hercules in Nagoya. He was unable to stay out of the losing column for long, however, as he was TKO'd inside the first round by Duane van der Merwe at the K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle in Yokohama on 10 March 1996. Heavily outweighed and giving up 19 cm/1 ft in height, he was pushed into a corner and floored with an uppercut in the opening seconds and suffered three more knockdowns before the referee called the fight off.
He went on a three fight winning streak over the next two years and kicked it off by TKOing Attila Fusco with third round low kicks at K-1 Fight Night II in Zurich on 2 June 1996 to capture the German's WKA European Super Cruiserweight Kickboxing Championship. He followed this up with back-to-back wins over Musashi; the first a unanimous decision at K-1 Fight Night '97 in Zurich on 7 June 1997, and the second a majority decision at K-1 Japan '98 Kamikaze in Tokyo on 28 October 1998. In his last fight before retirement, Thompson lost to Michael McDonald by way of unanimous decision at K-1 Fight Night '99 in Zurich on 6 June 1999.

Championships and awards

Karate

Legend:

Kickboxing record

Legend: