Leamy "Tyson" Tato is a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 former rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 player turned kickboxer. He is currently trained by and fighting out of Rex Redden's Porirua Gym.

Rugby career

Tato played rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 for ten years in New Zealand and with the Manly Sea Eagles in the lower grade sides.

Kickboxing

In 2003 he contacted Rex Redden's Alpha Muay Thai gym about off-season training for rugby. Redden recognized Tato's natural talent immediately and talked him into to training professionally. He got his first amateur kickboxing fight in 2005.

In 2006 in the space of three months and three fights, Tato went from relatively unknown former rugby league player with one amateur bout and two professional fights under his belt, to a rising K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 star. Daniel Tai, a 100-fight veteran, former kiwi muay thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

 champion Charlie Smiler and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

's former world cruiserweight champion Steve McKinnon

Steve McKinnon

Steve "The Smashing Machine" Mckinnon is an Australian, Heavyweight, World Champion kickboxer, fighting out of the Bulldog Gym in Sydney, New South Wales...

, have all fallen victims to Tato's thunderous blows.

In the wake of long-time star Samoan Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt ; is a New Zealand kickboxer and mixed martial artist of Samoan descent, currently living in Sydney, Australia. Hunt competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and is known for his raw strength, iron chin and knockout power. He won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final...

 retirement from K-1

K-1

K-1 is a defunct world-wide kickboxing promotion based in Tokyo, Japan founded by Kazuyoshi Ishii, a formerKyokushin karate practitioner. K-1 combines stand up techniques from Muay Thai, Karate, Taekwondo, Savate, San Shou, kickboxing, western-style boxing, and other martial arts...

 and Ray Sefo

Ray Sefo

"Sugar" Ray Sefo is a New Zealand kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist. He is five time Muay Thai World champion and eight time K-1 World Grand Prix Finals tournament participant, currently living in Las Vegas, Nevada and training with Xtreme Couture.He holds notable wins in the K-1 over...

 entering the end of his career, Leamy Tato's timing has been perfect to become a new Polynesian star.

On 14 April 2007 in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

 Tato will fight at Kings of Oceania 2007 championship for a heavyweight tournament title.

Kickboxing record

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:0.5em auto; font-size:85%"
|-
|style="text-align: center" colspan=8|6 Wins (3 (T)KO's, 3 Decisions), 3 Losses
|-
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Date
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Result
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Opponent
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Event
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Method
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Round
| align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #f0f0f0"|Time
|-
| 11/28/2008
| Loss
|   Andre Meunier
| Rumble In The Jungle 12 Melbourne, Australia
| Unanimous Decision
|
|
|-
| 8/22/2008
| Loss
|   Andre Meunier
| Knees of Fury 22 Adelaide, Australia
| Unanimous Decision
| 3
|
|-
| 09/15/2007
| Loss
| Kaota Puna
| Cage Wars

Cage Wars

The Cage Wars Championship is a UK-based mixed martial arts promotion started in 1999 to promote and teach the sport of MMA in the UK and Ireland...

 Porirua
| Arm Bar
| 2
|
|-
| 04/14/2007
| Loss
| Andrew Peck
| Kings of Oceania 2007 in Auckland
| TKO (High Kick)
| 2
|
|-
| 04/14/2007
| Loss
| Eric Nosa
| Kings of Oceania 2007 in Auckland
| Decision
| 3
| 3:00
|-
| 11/18/2006
| Win
|   Steve McKinnon

Steve McKinnon

Steve "The Smashing Machine" Mckinnon is an Australian, Heavyweight, World Champion kickboxer, fighting out of the Bulldog Gym in Sydney, New South Wales...

| Kings of Oceania 2006 Round 3
| KO (punches)
| 1
| 2:30
|-
| 10/28/2006
| Win
| Charlie Smiler
| Porirua Fights and Hot Rods 2006
| Ext.R Decision
| 4
| 3:00
|-
| 09/16/2006
| Win
| Daniel Tai
| K-1 Kings of Oceania 2006 Round 2
| Decision
| 3
| 3:00
|-

Mixed martial arts record

{| style='font-size: 85%; text-align: left;' class='wikitable sortable' width='99%'
|-
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Result
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Record
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Opponent
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Method
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Event
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Date
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Round
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Time
!style='border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3'|Location
|-
| Loss
|0-1
|Lucas Browne
|TKO (Punches)
|XMMA 1 - Xtreme MMA
|
|1
|0:38
|}

See also

• List of male kickboxers
• List of kickboxing organizations
• Muay thai
  Muay Thai
  Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...
  
  
• List of K-1 events