WGP 77: Denis Jr wins Super 8 Challenger and is the new contender for the Super Lightweight title

On the night of Saturday, August 17, we had the first chapter of a special week for Kickboxing. WGP 77 kicked off K-1 Fight Week in style with a spectacular card. The star of the night was Denis Jr, who defeated Alex Reis and Vinicius Mestrinier to take home the Super 8 Challenger GP trophy for the Super-Lightweights and secure his challenger spot for the Argentine champion Tomas Chacal's title. The card featured another 12 matches and a lot of excitement. Throughout this week, K-1 Fight Week continues with seminars with legends of the sport, and next Saturday, the 24th, we will have a special edition of the K-1 World GP with a super Absolute Weight GP featuring eight athletes and even more excitement.

The first semifinal of the Super 8 Challenger GP between Denis Jr and Alex Reis brought the first rematch from the semifinals. The outcome was quite similar to the first encounter between the two. With a very strong and aggressive game, Denis controlled the match and performed better in all three rounds to win by unanimous decision and advance to the final. On the other side of the bracket, another rematch between Vinicius Mestrinier and Gabriel de Lima. But this time the result was different. In their first meeting, Gabriel came out on top; this time Vinicius dominated the fight and won comfortably by unanimous decision, also advancing to the final.

In the grand finale, a spectacular clash. Two of the best fighters in the division in recent years, Denis Jr and Vinicius Mestrinier, faced off in a battle worthy of a great final. After a balanced first round with both alternating good moments, Denis landed a cross that knocked Vinicius to the canvas and gave him the advantage in the decision. From there, he controlled the fight and landed the best strikes to win by unanimous decision and secure his position as the next challenger to the Argentine champion Tomas Chacal.

The main card also featured two more matches. In the co-main event of the night, the match between Icaro Martins and Uziel Castro also excited the present audience. With more intensity and experience in Kickboxing, Icaro emerged victorious by unanimous decision. In the international bout between Brazilian Paulo Sergipe and Chilean Sebastian Rojel, Sergipe came out on top, pressuring the entire time and winning by technical knockout after achieving four knockdowns.

In the fight between Julio Assunção and Augusto Almeida, there was even more excitement. With a lot of aggression, both athletes waged a true war in the WGP ring. After three rounds, Julio was declared the winner by unanimous decision. The bout between Edgar Boca and Nichollas Pestilli also heated up. With much balance and movement from both sides, the fighters gave their all in the ring. In the end, Boca won by unanimous decision.

Iury Souza and Rafael Sonak thrilled the audience present at the Arena BRB Nilson Nelson. In a fiercely contested match with good moments for both sides, Iury came out on top, winning by split decision. The fight between Heliazir Estefani and Evandro Taipan also ignited the arena. More precise and impactful, Zizi, as Estefani is known, won by unanimous decision. The WGP 77 Undercard kicked off the night in spectacular fashion. There were five fights filled with excitement. The highlights went to Gilberto Frossard and Ryan Formaio. The former decisively defeated Junio Terere, while the latter had a great battle against Diego Striker, winning after a first round with two beautiful knee knockdowns.