Local kickboxing star Kian McAviney is cementing his place on the global stage with two new World Championship titles under his belt.
The nine-year-own Dromore schoolboy also secured two Silver medals to add to his already overflowing trophy cabinet while representing Team Ireland at the 2026 WKU World Championships in Berlin.
Kian achieved an extraordinary feat by qualifying for the finals in all four disciplines he entered: Light Contact, Kick Light, Points Fighting, and Karate Kumite.
Entering four distinct categories at a single major tournament is rare at a young age and at this level, where most athletes specialise in just one or two.
With this latest performance, Kian – a pupil of St Colman’s Primary School – has now amassed an outstanding eight World Titles across three federations.
Kian proudly displays the fruits of his wins in Berlin.
In a thrilling Kick Light final against an aggressive German fighter, Kian maintained his composure to technical dominance. A decisive jumping spinning kick landed late in the final round nearly finished the fight outright, leading to a convincing unanimous decision victory and his seventh career World Title.
Kian followed up that performance in the Karate Kumite division. The current Irish Kumite title holder reached the final without conceding a single point in the preliminary rounds.
There’s no stopping the Dromore schoolboy!
In the championship match against a highly skilled English opponent, Kian needed less than a minute to secure the win, conceding only one point on his way to securing his eighth World Title.
Across two days of pre-eliminations last week and two days of four final matches, Kian walked away with two World Championships titles and two World Silver medals.
Kian has been kickboxing since the age of four and also holds belts and titles within Jiu-jitsu and National NI Titles at Taekwondo.
Kian celebrates on the podium.
He is following in the footsteps of his mum Karal, who also fought at World Level.
Kian is back to training already at his club, Full Circle Martial Arts in Belfast, which is headed up by Patrick Rice, and will defend his titles at the World Championships in Mexico 2027.
Kian’s dad Kevin said they are all incredibly proud.
“He loves all sports and always gives 110% to everything he does,” he said, “and it definitely shows when he is competing on the mats.”
