World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo takes leave of absence to focus on training

[ads1]World Series of Fighting President Ray Sefo has decided to step down from his position as head of the Las Vegas-based MMA promotion while he trains for his 100th career fight taking place Saturday, Aug. 10, at WSOF 4 in Ontario, Calif.

The kickboxing legend explained his decision:

“I’m looking forward to another chance to step into the cage, but before I do, I felt taking a temporary leave from my executive duties was the right thing to do. I’m fortunate to have an outstanding team at World Series of Fighting which I know will handle our operations while I’m gone. And after my fight, I’ll step back into my role as World Series of Fighting President.”

Between kickboxing, boxing and MMA, the 42-year-old Sefo has had a total of 99 combat sports fights. However, Aug. 10 will mark just his fourth pro MMA fight as he takes on former Gladiator Challenge Heavyweight champ Dave Huckaba (20-5) on the WSOF 4 main card LIVE on NBC Sports Network.

Sefo last competed in March 2012 when he dropped a unanimous decision to Mirko Cro Cop in a kickboxing match in Croatia. Sefo’s last MMA bout was in Feb. 2011 when he was submitted by Valentijn Overeem in the first round. Inside the MMA arena, Sefo holds knockout wins over Kevin Jordan (2009) and Min-Soo Kim (2005).

Sefo explained why he felt taking a leave of absence as WSOF President was the right thing to to:

“Even though I took on an executive role at World Series of Fighting, I never actually retired from active competition. About three years ago, I set a personal goal of reaching the century mark, 100 fights, and then calling it quits. Now I’m excited to say, I have a chance to do that. But I knew I couldn’t be the president of World Series of Fighting and fight for the company at the same time. To try and do so would have been a disservice to all of our fighters and my team at WSOF, not to mention me as an athlete and to all of the fans who will be watching me in action again. I’m fortunate to work with an outstanding group at World Series of Fighting, and I have total confidence their work will allow the success we’ve enjoyed so far to continue.”

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