KING OF KINGS 129 Kickboxing and MMA Event Set for Riga on 17 October
The KOK combat sports event KING OF KINGS 129 takes place at Xiaomi Arena in Riga on 17 October. The card includes boxing, kickboxing and MMA bouts featuring Latvian and international fighters.
KING OF KINGS 129, a combat sports event, will be held at Xiaomi Arena in Riga on 17 October. It is organised by KOK, an international kickboxing promotion founded in Lithuania that has operated since 2009. The start is at 19:00, and tickets are available through Biļešu serviss.
Since 2015, the Latvian capital has been one of the regular stops on the KOK tournament calendar. The organisation says it has built especially strong traditions in Riga outside its home country.
On the card
In boxing, Milans Volkovs will defend his IBF International champion's belt against experienced Briton Joel McIntyre. Ralfs Vilcāns, one of Latvia's best current boxers, will also fight.
In MMA, unbeaten Latvian Rāgners Džigurs faces Lithuania's Vitoldas Jagelo, a former world champion. Džigurs made his professional debut at 36, and his path in the sport is described as atypical.
Much interest surrounds Emanuels Odiase, a German boxer living in the United Kingdom, who has shared the ring in training with heavyweight champions Anthony Joshua, Oleksandr Usyk and Deontay Wilder. Odiase is a protégé of Joshua, and the former champion may travel to Riga for Odiase's bout against Slovakia's Ivan Balāžs. Latvian Olympic hopeful in boxing Nikijs Kurpnieks, Staņislavs Makarenko and Kristaps Zutis are also on the bill.
A springboard for careers
The organisation names several fighters for whom KOK served as a path to larger promotions. Latvian Zaurs Džavadovs won the KOK Grand Prix at up to 77 kilograms in 2017, later became WKN world champion and, after beating Rodrigo Ferreira, also took the KOK world title belt. MMA fighters Edgars Skrīvers, Aleksandrs Čižovs and Hasans Mežijevs went on to compete in PFL.
Lithuanian Sergej Maslobojev moved from KOK to One Championship and then to the kickboxing organisation Glory, where he became light heavyweight world champion in 2022 and repeated the feat in 2025. Lithuanian Julija Stoliarenko fought in KOK and MMA Bushido from 2016 to 2018 and debuted in UFC in 2018, later returning to KOK. After winning an Invicta FC title she earned another UFC opportunity. Žygimantas Ramaška, Ernesta Kareckaitė and Mantas Kondratavičius have also reached UFC.
