W5 background and the first tournament July 5, 2007, at the rented
football stadium located directly on the shores of
Budva,
Montenegro, W5 held its first kickboxing event called "Rame uz rame" (Serb.) (Eng. "Shoulder to shoulder"). The tournament was attended by about 5,000 spectators. The main theme of the event was "Russia Vs. Balkan countries". Formally the tournament in
Budva was held before the official registration of W5. However, this tournament is considered as World Version W5's first ever event.
W5 structure After its inaugural tournament in Budva, Sergey Chepinoga decided become independent and organize all tournaments without involving third-party promotional companies. This is why the W5 promotion company "Shoulder to Shoulder" (in Russian "Plechom k Plechu") was established and for some period carried out all the matchmaking for W5 events. As of 2016 W5 and Shoulder to Shoulder split into two separate entities with W5 organizing all the events and matchmaking outside of Russia, while Shoulder to Shoulder organizes the yearly W5 KITEK event in honor of Yuri Stupenkov in Moscow, Russia. Sergey Chepinoga is the president of W5 and matchmaker for all W5 events.
Early tournaments The first W5 tournaments were held under K-1 rules with some additional rules from "Bars," which are based on the Russian army combat system being implemented. Over the years, W5 has developed its own rules, which are now used at all W5 events.
World version W5 in 2016 In 2016 World version W5 will put on seven professional
kickboxing tournaments, four of which will be conducted as a special series called "W5 European league". A significant part of all the events scheduled in Europe. There was one event conducted in Russia on April 23 called W5 Grand Prix KITEK during which the famous Russian athlete
Alexander Stetsurenko won the W5 world championship belt in the weight category up to 81 kg, he defeated the longtime principal opponent Errol Koning of the Netherlands by KO.
W5's 2017 Summer Boot Camp From August 4-14 W5 held its first ever Summer Boot Camp in
Novi Sad, Serbia. The event brought together some of the world's top trainers and fighters. The trainers who led the camp were
Nathan "Carnage" Corbett, Mike Van Itterzon, Andrey Chadin and Misa Baculov. The fighters who trained alongside guests were Darryl "K.O. Specialist" Sichtman,
Vlad "Diamond" Tuinov, Andrej "AK-47" Kedves, Vladimir Idranyi, Miran "Slovenian Rocky" Fabjan, and
Cosmo "Good Boy" Alexandre. The event included 3 trainings per day and was open to professional kickboxers, amateur kickboxers and people who just want a hard core workout. As an added benefit for fighters who attended the camp there were sparring sessions, and based on the results, one professional fighter was guaranteed a contract to fight in a future W5 tournament. The fighter who received the guaranteed contract was Markus Ehrenhofer from Vienna, Austria.
World version W5 in 2017 Already the year has seen two tournaments take place. In February W5 held its annual W5 KITEK event in Moscow, Russia. The event was highly received with
Vlad Tuinov once again showing he is the man to beat at 72.5kg with his brutal KO of Ali Cakir. The highlight of the night saw legendary fighter
Giorgio Petrosyan defeat
Artem Pashporin by unanimous decision to win W5's World Championship Title at 71kg. On April 8 W5 held their second event of the year in Dubrovnik, Croatia. It was a smaller event than usual for W5 with only 6 fights on the card, however the highlight of the night was Milan "Minci" Pales KO of Luka Tomic and Vlad "Diamond" Tuinov's defeat of
Massaro Glunder in the main event to add W5's 72.5kg Intercontinental title to his 71kg W5 European title. With 2017 not yet over W5 plans on holding four more events. There was also a Summer Boot Camp held from August 4-14 in
Novi Sad, Serbia, where W5 organized some of the top trainers and fighters to come take part. In addition all fighters who attended took part in sparring with the chance for one fighter to sign a contract to fight in a future W5 tournament. Also on the card for 2017 are the events in
Koper, Slovenia on September 16, November 11 in
Kosice, Slovakia, and the final tournament of the year on December 22, in Split, Croatia. On September 16 at W5's "Legends Collide, in
Koper, Slovenia, all eyes were on Andrej "AK-47" Kedves as he fought for his 6th straight victory at W5 events. With his victory he will finally get his title fight in
Kosice, Slovakia on November 11. Also, of note was Vlad's dominant performance over the tough-as-nails Rhassan Muhareb with a 4th Rd. KO by liver punch. Vlad successfully defended is 71kg W5 European Title. In the final bout,
Slovenian legend, Miran "Slovenian Rocky" Fabjan defeated
Bosnia and Herzegovinian legend
Dzevad "BH Machine" Poturk by unanimous decision. Miran dominated the three rounds making the decision quite easy. For the rest of the year, W5 has one more events planned. November 11 will reunite W5 and Rebuy Stars for a continuation of their hit series "Fortune Favors the Brave". The event will be the official grand opening of Rebuy Stars newest casino in
Kosice, Slovakia. Andrej "AK-47" Kedves is expected to have his shot at a title on this date.
Ondrej Hutnik, Miran Fabjan, and Vladimir Idranyi are all expected to be on the card.
World Version W5 in 2018 W5 has started working on their plans for 2018. They are expected to hold up to 12 tournaments next year, which will be the most in their 10 year history. Plans include a fight early on in the
Netherlands, with later fights being held in the United States, Russia, Austria,
Slovakia,
Slovenia and
Croatia. == Competition rules of the W5==