Tyjani Beztati

Tyjani Beztati is a Dutch-Moroccan professional combat sports athlete, best known for his championship career in kickboxing. Nicknamed “The Wonderboy,” he stands approximately 190 cm (6 ft 3 in), fights from an orthodox stance, and has competed primarily at lightweight and welterweight. He was born to a Moroccan father and Surinamese mother.

Beztati became one of the defining lightweights of his era in GLORY Kickboxing, winning the Lightweight Championship and successfully defending it five times before moving to welterweight and eventually transitioning into MMA.

Beztati began training in combat sports as a child, spending time at Pancration/Chakuriki and later Vos Gym. He turned professional in 2014 and signed with GLORY while still only 17, making him the youngest fighter the promotion had signed at that time.

His combination of unusual height for the lightweight division, technical kickboxing, distance management and maturity quickly made him a serious prospect. He challenged Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong for the GLORY Lightweight Championship in 2018 and Marat Grigorian for the title in 2019, losing both by decision but remaining among the division's leading contenders.

Beztati finally captured the vacant GLORY Lightweight Championship in September 2021, defeating Elvis Gashi by unanimous decision despite being knocked down during the opening round.

The Petpanomrung victory was particularly notable: Beztati stopped the accomplished Thai champion with a front kick in the fourth round after winning each of the opening three rounds on all five judges' scorecards.

After dominating at lightweight, Beztati moved up to welterweight in 2024. His first opponent was former GLORY Welterweight Champion Endy Semeleer, whom Beztati defeated by unanimous decision at GLORY 93.

That victory immediately established him as a championship-level competitor in his new division. He challenged champion Chico Kwasi at GLORY 96 in October 2024, with the five-round fight ending in a split draw. Their May 2025 rematch at GLORY Underground also ended in a split draw, meaning Beztati twice came extremely close to becoming a two-division GLORY champion without officially taking the welterweight belt.

By the end of his kickboxing career, Beztati's overall professional record stood at 27 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws, with 9 victories by knockout. Notably, he was never stopped in a professional kickboxing defeat.

Beztati developed into a highly technical long-range kickboxer, with his 190 cm frame giving him unusual dimensions for a fighter who spent much of his career around 70 kg.

His style is built around distance control, long combinations, kicks, knees, disciplined defense and high-volume striking. Rather than relying entirely on knockout power, Beztati is comfortable systematically outscoring opponents over multiple rounds. GLORY statistics credit him with a striking rate of roughly 7.9 landed strikes per minute and about 45% accuracy.

He nevertheless possesses legitimate finishing ability, demonstrated particularly by his championship knockouts of Jauncey and Petpanomrung.

In September 2025, Beztati announced his retirement from professional kickboxing in order to pursue mixed martial arts. He subsequently signed with the Netherlands-based Levels Fight League.

His transition began extremely well. Beztati made his MMA debut in November 2025 and stopped Italo Julio in the first round with leg kicks and punches. He returned on 8 February 2026 against Josue Ekedi Misseke and again scored a first-round stoppage, this time with punches.

Beztati's career is notable for how young he was when he entered elite-level kickboxing and how successfully he matured within GLORY. After falling short in his first two lightweight championship attempts, he eventually captured the belt and produced five consecutive successful defenses.

His later move to welterweight demonstrated that his success was not solely dependent on his considerable size advantage at lightweight: he immediately defeated former champion Endy Semeleer and twice fought reigning champion Chico Kwasi to draws.

Tyjani Beztati is a Dutch-Moroccan combat sports athlete who developed from a teenage kickboxing prodigy into a dominant GLORY Lightweight Champion. His combination of 6-foot-3 size, technical striking, distance management and composure produced five successful world-title defenses and no knockout defeats.

By February 2026, Beztati had closed the kickboxing chapter of his career and begun a new one in MMA, starting 2–0 with two first-round stoppages — making his transition from elite kickboxer to mixed martial artist the next major stage of his career.