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Kickboxing champion Raymond Daniels out to surpass Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris as ‘greatest martial artist of all time’
KICKBOXING champion Raymond Daniels is out to surpass Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris as the greatest martial artist of all time.
Daniels has competed in some of the world's biggest promotions, including Glory, where he challenged for the world title.
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But in a bid to enhance his already incredible fight CV, the American left Bellator as their kickboxing champ for Karate Combat.
And Daniels has his eyes on going down in history, alongside Hollywood pair and Norris, two martial arts pioneers.
He said: "I would love to fight anybody that considers themselves a martial artist. My goal is to be the greatest of all time.
"That includes the Bruce Lees, the Chuck Norris', I think I am the most electrifying, creative martial artists there ever was or will be.
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"I've done things that even these great martial artists only dream of."
Daniels, who has also competed in Taekwondo, swapped the kickboxing ring for the MMA cage in 2018 under the Bellator banner.
He shot to viral fame in 2020 after knocking out Wilker Barros with an incredible 720 punch.
But after three more bouts he signed with Karate Combat - which was founded only in 2018 - and is the sport's only full-contact league.
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And he makes his promotional debut on Saturday in Florida against Franklin Mina, nicknamed The Bullet.
Karate Combat president Adam Kovacs admitted it took several months and video calls to secure the mega-signing.
But after bringing Daniels along to watch their most recent show, where bouts are filmed in a movie studio, it helped get the deal over the line.
Kovacs said: "That wasn't an easy one, probably the most difficult signing we had so far.
"It took, I guess more than a year, every Friday I had it in my calendar that I've got a FaceTime with Raymond Daniels.
"And my colleagues said, 'OK, it's Friday again, you're talking to Raymond Daniels'.
"But he was here at our last show and I think that was a really good push for him to decide."
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