[5] His kickboxing career commenced in 1983, and he had won two amateur titles when he challenged Santiago Garza for the WKA World Light Heavyweight Championship in 1987.

[5] Despite the contest ending in a draw, Longinidis had displayed such potential that he was invited to train full-time at the prestigious Jet Center kickboxing gym of Van Nuys.

[5] Determined to become Australia's first world champion in the sport, Longinidis resigned from his job as a computer programmer and moved to the United States.

Despite knocking the American down in the opening round, Longinidis eventually lost a battle of attrition and accepted a split decision defeat - his first professional loss.

Fuelled by media hype and personal animosity between the two fighters,[5] it was one of the most highly-anticipated martial arts events when Longinidis and Alexio finally met in Melbourne to compete for the vacant ISKA World Oriental Rules Heavyweight Championship.

He qualified twice for the K-1 World Grand Prix, but was knocked out by Mike Bernardo in the 1995 quarterfinals[9] and was unable to compete in the 1996 tournament due to injury.

In June 1996, Longinidis won the inaugural WMTC World Super Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship in Pattaya[5] was personally presented the title by King Rama IX.

[10] A serious knee injury threatened to end his career around this time and contributed to several losses, but Longinidis underwent complete reconstructive surgery in 1997.