Zhulien Rikov heads into SENSHI 29 on December 6 in Varna as certainly one of Bulgaria’s key prospects, concentrating on an announcement efficiency in his bout with Spanish-Moroccan striker Alex Fernandez. The 19-year-old already has worldwide {hardware} and a earlier SENSHI win behind him, and he’s overtly speaking about constructing towards a future title shot within the promotion.
SENSHI 29 takes place on December 6, 2025, at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria, serving as the promotion’s final fight card of the year. Rikov is booked at 75 kilograms against Spain’s Alex Fernandez, a clash that appears early on a 12-bout lineup featuring athletes from 16 countries.
Who is Zhulien Rikov?
Rikov represents the Desant Sports Club from Dobrich, part of a well-established Bulgarian kickboxing and Muay Thai faculty that has produced a number of national-level skills. Regardless of his age, he’s a two-time Kickboxing World Cup winner, a two-time European Cup winner, and an eight-time Bulgarian nationwide champion, in addition to a gold medalist at WAKO World and European Cups. SENSHI 29 can be his fourth skilled bout and his second look beneath the SENSHI banner, with one SENSHI victory already on his document.
“There are about two weeks of training left, followed by the weight-cutting period. The SENSHI training camp in October was perfect for gaining experience and testing ourselves against different styles. We sparred with as many fighters as possible”
In the build-up to December 6, Rikov has been training twice per day and has moved into full sparring rounds, describing camp as tough but on schedule and stressing that athletes “put [their] health on the line” during this phase. He says there were about two weeks of intensive work left before tapering into weight cut, with the recent SENSHI training camp in October used to test himself against multiple styles and partners. Speaking on Sportal Fight Club, he called SENSHI 29 “one of many largest challenges” of his profession thus far and emphasised that he expects his opponent to be equally ready to allow them to ship a high-level struggle.
Rikov initially described his foe as an older, extra skilled fighter from Spain, and the cardboard lists him reverse Spanish athlete Alex Fernandez at 75 kg. In a Bulgarian TV interview, he added that his opponent was born in Morocco however lives in Spain, framing the matchup as a mode conflict with a harmful rival who nonetheless doesn’t fear him. He has stated that on struggle night time he plans to assume solely about “crushing him” and seeing his personal hand raised.
“My opponent was born in Morocco however lives in Spain. Throughout the match, I’ll solely be excited about crushing him and seeing my hand raised. I don’t have a weak facet in comparison with his. I’m significantly better than him”
Rikov calls SENSHI “one of many largest struggle promotions in Europe” and says competing there “means quite a bit,” notably with a house crowd anticipated in Varna. He admits that nerves are all the time current and that the gang can both assist or distract a fighter, which is why he focuses on psychological self-discipline within the ring. Wanting past December 6, he has acknowledged that if SENSHI affords him the prospect, he is able to struggle for a title.
SENSHI 29
SENSHI features beneath the KWU Worldwide Skilled League, mixing Kyokushin roots with trendy kickboxing and Muay Thai rule units that enable a variety of hanging strategies, together with elbows and throws in some codecs. SENSHI 29 closes the promotion’s 2025 calendar and coincides with a broader SENSHI coaching infrastructure, together with latest camps that introduced in figures corresponding to Semmy Schilt and Ernesto Hoost as instructors and officers.
For Rikov, one other sturdy lead to Varna would add to a resume that already contains a number of worldwide beginner titles, push him nearer to a SENSHI belt alternative, and additional cement his standing among the many Bulgarian “lions” highlighted for this card.
