Estonian heavyweight kickboxer Uku Jürjendal has battled a broken arm and a damaged back, but is now ready to return to the ring, this time in regular boxing and in Tallinn.
As well as Jürjendal’s match, an international eight-competitor tournament, dubbed The League X, is also to take place at Tondiraba, in Lasnamäe, on November 15, with the winner earning a coveted belt and a grand prize of €20,000 — the largest reward in Estonian competitive sports history.
Fighting before a home crowd will be Ruslan Mitjajev and Dmitry Salamatin, whose opponents include Spain’s representative Alex Fernandez “Kosovar” Grau. who won the preceding League IX event in summer, and Finnish fighter Volodymyr Holubiev.
Also fighting for the WBC Muay Thai Baltic title belt will be Henry Rohtla, pitted against Lithuanian fighter Vakaris Didika in the <66.7 kg weight class.
WBC European women’s champion Sigrid Kapanen, and Ott Remmer, will also be stepping into the ring.
Jürjendal’s comeback is as noted in boxing, rather than kickboxing.
Speaking to “Ringvaade,” Jürjendal said: “Up to now I’ve been known as a kickboxer, but because of the injuries I’ve had lately, I decided to do a bit of boxing on the side,” Jürjendal explained.”
That injury occurred in a fight in Rotterdam against Jamal Ben Saddik, Jürjendal broke his radius and later further injured the arm during the match, but still managed to fight through the final round using only one arm.
After a serious arm injury in February that required surgery and metal implants, Jürjendal underwent a long recovery involving various treatments, including plasma injections in Thailand. Although the metal was recently removed and the arm has healed well, the bone is still fragile, so he’s focusing on boxing matches to avoid leg kicks that could risk re-injury.
“There were moments where I almost caught my opponent with my hardest punch. You still wish for that kind of Hollywood ending. You just need more luck — at that moment I didn’t have enough.”
The Rotterdam injury followed back issues last year.
“In early summer 2024 I developed a major back problem. We did a lot of chiropractic work and got the back good several times, but at one point it just didn’t get better anymore. Then I had to go for surgery. After that I had a six-week window. I heard a miracle story about a ski jumper who made it to the Olympics after the same issue. I wasn’t that lucky. At first everything went well, but when I put the proper load on, the back went again — and even worse — and I had to go back for another surgery.”
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