Raymond Daniels (martial artist)

Background

Daniels was born in Sun Valley, California and raised in Palmdale, California. He began training in American Kenpo karate in 1985 under the tutelage of his father Frank Daniels and earned his black belt in 1992.

While still in high school Daniels became a single father. Seeking a better life for him and his son, Daniels realized his boyhood dream of becoming a police officer with the Long Beach Police Department at the age of 21. After more than 7 years of service, Daniels retired to concentrate on his martial arts career.

Career

Daniels had humble beginnings as a junior competitor in sport karate competitions. By the age of 19, he would go on to become a top ranked fighter for both the National Black Belt League (NBL) and the North American Sport Karate Association (NASKA). Among his titles are eight NBL World Championships, at least two NASKA world championships, a second-place finish at the $50,000 World Pro Taekwondo Championship in Croatia in 2010, and nine overall championships at the W.A.K.O Irish Open.

Don Rodrigues, coach and co-founder of the famed Team Paul Mitchell Karate, recruited Daniels in 1999. Daniels left the Paul Mitchell Team in 2001, joining other teams in successive years.

In 2006, Daniels began fighting for Chuck Norris' World Combat League as captain of the Los Angeles Stars. Daniels fought in the 80 kg/178 lbs and 88 kg/195 lbs weight divisions, compiling a 17–0–0 (9 KO) fight record. Daniels had a highly anticipated bout with fellow undefeated kickboxing star Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson. Daniels won the bout by technical knockout due to a knee injury suffered by Thompson that left him unable to continue. The bout has since been ruled a no contest as Thompson's injury was caused by an illegal attack.

Daniels defeated Peyton Russell via third-round TKO (three knockdown rule) at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2007 in Las Vegas on August 11, 2007.

Daniels would then set his sights on the world of mixed martial arts and was touted by Strikeforce as "the next Cung Le". On June 27, 2008, he made his MMA debut against twelve fight veteran Jeremiah Metcalf at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson. Daniels was defeated by submission via rear-naked choke in the second round.

In his first outing under full Oriental kickboxing rules, Daniels defeated two opponents in Dublin, Ireland on October 8, 2011 to win the four man 84 kg/185 lbs tournament at the Pain and Glory event. After knocking out English Muay Thai fighter Andy Bakewell with a spinning heel kick in the semi-finals, he took a split decision over Irish kickboxer Mark Casserly in the final.

He then signed with Glory in 2013 and was set to debut at Glory 5: London on March 23, 2013 in London, England but was later removed from the card for undisclosed reasons.

Daniels defeated Brian Foster with a first-round spinning heel kick at Glory 11: Chicago - Heavyweight World Championship Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Illinois on October 12, 2013.

He replaced Marc de Bonte in the Glory 13: Tokyo - Welterweight World Championship Tournament in Tokyo, Japan on December 21, 2013 for undisclosed reasons and suffered his first kickboxing loss at the hands of Joseph Valtellini in the semi-finals. He initially caused some problems for Valtellini with his unorthodox karate style but by round two the Canadian began to hurt Daniels with low kicks. Daniels was knocked out by a high kick in the third round.

Daniels scored a spinning kick KO over François Ambang inside the opening round at Glory 16: Denver in Broomfield, Colorado, United States on May 3, 2014. His performance was hailed by Glory as the "Knockout of the Century."

On February 6, 2015, Daniels was part of a one-night, four-man welterweight tournament at Glory 19: Virginia. In the semifinals, he faced Jonatan Oliveira and won via TKO. Daniels knocked Oliveira down with a spinning heel kick to the head in the first round and scored another knock down with a spinning kick to the body early in the second round. A knee to the groin of Oliveira led to a short intermission, after which Daniels hit Oliveira with another spinning kick to the body, forcing the TKO at 2:15 of the second round. In the finals, he faced Nieky Holzken and was knocked down early in the first round by a punch to the body. Daniels was unable to deal well with Holzken's pressure, who cut off the ring and locked Daniels up in the corners whenever possible. The second round saw Daniels being knocked down twice more, before scoring a controversial down himself in the third with one of his spin kicks. Holzken then locked Daniels up in a corner once more and knocked him down with a right hook to the head, forcing the stoppage at 1:25 of the third round after four knock downs.

He defeated Justin Baesman on May 8, 2015 in the co-main event at Glory 21: San Diego by KO (liver kick) after just 51 seconds inside the first round.

After Joseph Valtellini vacated his title due to health issues, Raymond Daniels was set to face Nieky Holzken for the welterweight world championship at Glory 23: Las Vegas on August 7, 2015. Daniels won the first two rounds on the judges scorecards due to a higher output of strikes. In the third round, Holzken managed to corner him and scored a combination which ended with a jump right knee that cut him above the eye prompting referee John McCarthy to stop the match.

On November 28, 2015, Daniels won gold at the W.A.K.O. World Championships 2015 (Citywest) in the 89 kg semi-contact division.

He defeated Francesco Moricca at Bellator Kickboxing: Torino on April 16, 2016 in Turin via TKO (liver kick) in the first round.

He defeated Stefano Bruno at Bellator Kickboxing: St. Louis on June 24, 2016 in St. Louis via TKO (liver kick) in the first round.

He defeated Zsolt Benedek at Bellator Kickboxing 3 on September 17, 2016 in Budapest via unanimous decision.

He defeated Csaba Gyorfi at Bellator Kickboxing 6 on April 14, 2017 in Budapest via TKO (liver kick).

He defeated Karim Ghajji at Bellator Kickboxing 7 on September 23, 2017 in San Jose via TKO (doctor stoppage).

Personal life

Daniels is a single father and currently lives in Orange, California. He is an instructor at World Champion Karate in Orange, California with his business partner Steven Horst. Daniels recently co-founded "ICE Martial Arts", a personal training and nutrition institute. He refrains from recreational drug use.

Points fighting (Kickboxing/Sport Karate)

Kickboxing (Full Contact)

Taekwondo

Amateur Kickboxing record

Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/No contest   Notes