Quick Facts
Biography
Cyril "Marseille Bad Boy" Abidi (born February 25, 1976) is a French former super heavyweight kickboxer. His road to fame started in 2000 when he entered K-1 and created a huge upset with a first-round knockout win over legendary Peter Aerts.
Biography and career
Abidi grew up in the north quartiers of Marseille (Consolat), in a modest Moroccan family. When he was 6, his mother took him to judo classes to keep him off the streets. He practiced judo for four years until he was inspired by Bruce Lee, his childhood idol, and started taking karate lessons.
When he was 18, he discovered Thaiboxing and became French champion at the age of 20. A year later he entered K-1, fighting against Petar Majstorovic in Zurich, Switzerland, and winning by a unanimous decision. Later that year, he won two back to back fights in the first round against Dutch fighter Peter Aerts. At their third meeting at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 Finals in the Tokyo Dome, Japan, Aerts beat Abidi in a three-round unanimous decision.
In his short foray into mixed martial arts, Abidi lost to Nigerian comedian Bobby Ologun in his first fight in MMA. Abidi was a last minute replacement for Mike Bernardo who was injured. The events surrounding the outcome raised suspicion of a fixed fight and Abidi seemed to lend credence to this in a post match interview.
I didn't have enough time to prepare for this fight, but I think I did do a good job for my first time. It was really good that my opponent is not so strong…..If he was a really strong fighter, I would have had had a hell of a time.
Why I am smiling a lot? Even though I lost this fight, I don't have any feelings that I really lost a realistic fight. Maybe this was as expected.
His fight against fellow Frenchman and rival Jérôme Le Banner at K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Paris, on May 27, 2005, is considered to be one of the greatest battles in K-1 history. Abidi lost by a technical knockout.
Titles
- 2003 K-1 World GP 3rd place
- 2003 K-1 World Grand Prix in Paris runner up
- 2000 K-1 World GP 3rd place
- 2000 K-1 World GP in Yokohama runner up
- 2000 Thai Boxing World champion
- 2000 French Heavyweight Amateur Boxing champion
- 1996 French Kickboxing champion
Kickboxing record
| 25 Wins (17 (T)KOs, 8 Decisions), 16 losses (10 (T)KOs, 6 Decisions) | |||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Method | Round | Time | |
| 03/04/2007 | Loss |  Mitsugu Noda | K-1 World GP 2007 in Yokohama | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 05/03/2006 | Loss | Hiraku Hori | K-1 World Grand Prix 2006 in Auckland, New Zealand | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | 2 | 3:00 | |
| 10/15/2005 | Win |  Stephane Reveillon | TK2 World MAX 4ever Edition, Paris | KO (Punch) | 1 | 0:11 | |
| 05/27/2005 | Loss | Jérôme Le Banner | K-1 World Grand Prix 2005 in Paris, France | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 5 | 2:53 | |
| 12/04/2004 | Loss |  Gary Goodridge | K-1 World Grand Prix 2004, Japan | KO (Punch) | 1 | 3:00 | |
| 09/25/2004 | Loss | Musashi | K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final Elimination, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 04/02/2004 | Win |  Hocine Boutrek | TK2 Kickboxing, Marseilles, France | Decision | 5 | 2:00 | |
| 03/27/2004 | Win | Hiraku Hori | K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Saitama, Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 3 | 2:58 | |
| 12/16/2003 | Loss |  Remy Bonjasky | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003, Japan | KO (Flying knee strike) | 1 | 1:46 | |
| 12/16/2003 | Win |  Francois Botha | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003, Japan | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 10/11/2003 | Win | Francois Botha | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Elimination, Japan | Disqualification | 1 | ||
| 07/13/2003 | Loss | Ernesto Hoost | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Fukuoka, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 2 | 3:00 | |
| 06/14/2003 | Loss |  Alexey Ignashov | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Paris, France | TKO (Corner stoppage) | 3 | 0:20 | |
| 06/14/2003 | Win | Chalid Arrab | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Paris, France | KO (Punch) | 2 | 1:32 | |
| 06/14/2003 | Win | Aziz Khattou | K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Paris, France | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 05/17/2003 | Win | Daniel Lentie | TK2 Kickboxing, Marseilles, France | KO | 3 | ||
| 04/06/2003 | Win | Shingo Koyasu | K-1 Beast 2003, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 5 | 3:00 | |
| 12/31/2002 | Loss |  Quinton Jackson | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002, Japan | Decision | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 09/22/2002 | Loss | Bob Sapp | K-1 Andy Spirits Japan GP 2002 Final, Japan | TKO (Referee Stoppage) | 1 | 1:17 | |
| 07/14/2002 | Loss | Quinton Jackson | K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Fukuoka, Japan | KO (Punch) | 1 | 1:55 | |
| 05/22/2002 | Win |  Nick Murray | K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Paris, France | KO | 1 | 2:05 | |
| 10/08/2001 | Win | Tatsufumi Tomihira | K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 4 | 2:30 | |
| 07/20/2001 | Loss | Andrew Thomson | K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Nagoya, Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 1 | 1:15 | |
| 03/17/2001 | Win | Great Kusatsu | K-1 Gladiators 2001, Japan | Decision (Split) | 5 | 3:00 | |
| 12/10/2000 | Loss |  Ray Sefo | K-1 World Grand Prix 2000, Japan | TKO (Referee stoppage) | 1 | 1:45 | |
| 12/10/2000 | Loss | Peter Aerts | K-1 World Grand Prix 2000, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 11/10/2000 | Win | Andrei Zuravkov | La Nuit des Champions, Marseille, France | ||||
| 08/20/2000 | Loss |  Francisco Filho | K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama, Japan | TKO (Corner stoppage) | 2 | 0:25 | |
| 08/20/2000 | Win | Ray Sefo | K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama, Japan | TKO (Corner stoppage) | 2 | 3:00 | |
| 08/20/2000 | Win | Peter Aerts | K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama, Japan | TKO (Corner stoppage) | 1 | 2:42 | |
| 07/07/2000 | Win | Peter Aerts | K-1 Spirits 2000, Japan | KO (Punch) | 1 | 2:13 | |
| 03/19/2000 | Win | Nobu Hayashi | K-1 Burning 2000, Japan | TKO | 2 | 1:52 | |
| 11/20/1999 | Win | Jean-Claude Leuyer | Kickboxing Gala, Marseilles, France | KO | |||
| 07/18/1999 | Loss |  Stefan Leko | K-1 Dream '99 Semi Finals, Nagoya, Japan | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| 07/18/1999 | Win | Kirkwood Walker | K-1 Dream '99 Quarter Finals, Nagoya, Japan | KO (Low kicks) | 1 | 0:33 | |
| 06/05/1999 | Win | Petar Majstorovic | K-1 Fight Night '99, Zurich, Switzerland | Decision (Unanimous) | 5 | 3:00 | |
| 02/27/1999 | Win | Nash Urladzic | La Nuit des Champions, Marseilles, France | Decision | 5 | 3:00 | |
| 00/11/1998 | Win | Gardois de Tholomese | La Nuit des Champions, Marseilles, France | KO | 4 | ||
| 00/09/1998 | Win |  Alexandre Chvarev | La Nuit des Champions, Marseilles, France | KO | 1 | ||
Mixed martial arts record
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loss | 0–2 | Bobby Ologun | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 Premium Dynamite!!, Japan | December 31, 2004 | 3 | 3:00 | Osaka, Japan | |
| Loss | 0–1 | Don Frye | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2001, Japan | December 31, 2001 | 2 | 0:33 | Saitama, Japan |