K-1 TAPES 1999-Present
Michael McDonald vs. Peter Aerts
Masaaki Miyamoto vs. Wrath White
Takeru vs. Andrew Thomson
Mitsuya Nagai vs. Andre Manaart
Musashi vs. Duncan James
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Andy Hug
Freshman Fight: ? Mori vs. ? Tanaka
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 With Replica Package*
Sam Greco vs. Smir Benazzouz
Hiromi Amada vs. John Wyatt
Takeru vs. Peter Kramer
Yoji Anjo vs. Duncan James
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Dewey Cooper
Musashi vs. Greg Voyticek
Jim Mullen vs. Peter Aerts
Freshman Fight: ? Mori vs. Daichi Yamazaki
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 With Replica Package*
Peter Aerts vs. Matt Skelton
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje
Gary Goodridge vs. Musashi
Mike Bernardo vs. Masaaki Satake
Andy Hug vs. Ray Sefo
Ernesto Hoost vs. Francisco Filho
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 With Replica Package*
Ray Sefo vs. Jim Mullen
Tommy Gramble vs. Yoji Anjo
Wayne Tanner vs. Satoshi Honma
Mitsuya Nagai vs. Tofan Pirani
Hiromi Amada vs. Simon Dole
Duncan James vs. Nobuaki Kakuta
Peter Aerts vs. Maurice Smith
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 With Replica Package*
Masaaki Satake vs. Jokki Oberholtzer
Musashi vs. Kirkwood Walker
Sam Greco vs. Mike Bernardo
1st & 2nd round highlights of 8 Man Tournament for K-1 Grand Prix 1st '99
Semifinal: Lloyd Van Dams vs. Matt Skelton
Semifinal: Xhavit Bajrami vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic
Tournament Final: Xhavit Bajrami vs. Lloyd Van Dams
*Special Price $18 or $23.50 With Replica Package*
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Tofan Pirani
K-1 Grand Prix '99 Qualifying Tournament B Block First Round
Phillippe Gomis vs. Stefan Leko
Kirkwood Walker vs. Cyril Abidi
Michael McDonald vs. Combat Zijo
Alexander Semenovich vs. Samir Benazzouz
Semifinals
Stefan Leko vs. Cyril Abidi. Excellent fight. Both are very quick and active, and were more than willing to trade blows. The defense could have been better, but weak defense kind of makes for a better fight in cases like this.
Combat Zijo vs. Samir Benazzouz
Final: Stefan Leko vs. Samir Benazzouz
Super Bouts
Ernesto Hoost vs. Igor Vovchanchin. I give Igor credit for being willing to take on a fighter the quality of Hoost, who has way may talent and way better technique. I tend to doubt Igor could have hung with him before he got into shooting, but it was obvious that all the shoots have screwed up Igor's instincts as he was going for takedowns when he knew Hoost was going to kick even though that kind of thing is illegal under these rules. Hoost kept attacking Igor's left leg right above the knee until Igor was in such bad shape that he'd fall everytime Hoost hit the area.
Peter Aerts vs. Sam Greco. A good fight while it lasted, but the finish looked awfully fishy.
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Tofan Pirani
K-1 Grand Prix '99 Qualifying Tournament B Block First Round
Phillippe Gomis vs. Stefan Leko
Kirkwood Walker vs. Cyril Abidi
Michael McDonald vs. Combat Zijo
Alexander Semenovich vs. Samir Benazzouz
Semifinals
Stefan Leko vs. Cyril Abidi. Excellent fight. Both are very quick and active, and were more than willing to trade blows. The defense could have been better, but weak defense kind of makes for a better fight in cases like this.
Combat Zijo vs. Samir Benazzouz
Final: Stefan Leko vs. Samir Benazzouz
Super Bouts
Ernesto Hoost vs. Igor Vovchanchin. I give Igor credit for being willing to take on a fighter the quality of Hoost, who has way may talent and way better technique. I tend to doubt Igor could have hung with him before he got into shooting, but it was obvious that all the shoots have screwed up Igor's instincts as he was going for takedowns when he knew Hoost was going to kick even though that kind of thing is illegal under these rules. Hoost kept attacking Igor's left leg right above the knee until Igor was in such bad shape that he'd fall everytime Hoost hit the area.
Peter Aerts vs. Sam Greco. A good fight while it lasted, but the finish looked awfully fishy.
Mike Bernardo vs. Ronny Sefo
Andy Hug vs. Maurice Smith
Masaaki Satake vs. Gary Goodridge
Kensaku Maeda vs. Karim Naja
K-1 Spirits '99 Tournament with Musashi, Mitsuya Nagai, Hiromi Amada, Takeru, Nobu Hayashi, etc.
*Note: all matches are 1st Round matches in the GRAND PRIX tournament*
Mirko Filipovic vs. Mike Bernardo
Samir Benaszzoul vs. Ray Sefo
Matt Skelton vs. Jerome Le Banner
Xhavit Bajrami vs. Ernesto Hoost
Stefan Leko vs. Sam Greco
Hiromi Amada vs. Andy Hug
Musashi vs. Masaaki Satake
Lloyd Van Dams vs. Peter Aerts
Quarterfinal
Sam Greco vs. Ray Sefo
Musashi vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. Good fight with a lot of action. Musashi had some bad luck like getting hurt by an accidental headbutt, but overall he wasn't that impressive.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Andy Hug. Both men fought really hard and were always working. They threw a lot of blows, and they had a lot of them. Hug bloodied Hoost's nose. However, it was Hoost who was picking Hug apart. His low kicks are so nasty.
Jerome Le Banner vs. Peter Aerts. Le Banner couldn't seem to get going, but he was really pushing the action. I was expecting Aerts to kill him because he was aggressive to the point of sloppiness, leaning and such. Aerts did put him down twice in the first minute, but Le Banner bullied Aerts into the corner and KO'd him with a killer left.
Semifinal
Sam Greco vs. Mirko Filipovic. Greco hurt his foot kicking Mirko in the knee and was never the same the rest of the fight. It seemed more like he was beat by his own injuries than by Mirko, not that Mirko didn't get the job done.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Jerome Le Banner. Round 1 & round 2 were like totally different fights. In round one Hoost couldn't get going and Le Banner was overpowering him and nailing him with some nasty punches. In round 2 Hoost hurt Le Banner almost immediately with one punch and then had a big flurry for the KO.
K-1 Super Fight: Harry Hooft vs. Stefan Leko
Final: Ernesto Hoost vs. Mirko Filipovic. I think everyone knew that Hoost was going to win this, but they still went totally nuts for the third round as Filipovic was clearly on his last leg.
Quarterfinal
Sam Greco vs. Ray Sefo
Musashi vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. Good fight with a lot of action. Musashi had some bad luck like getting hurt by an accidental headbutt, but overall he wasn't that impressive.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Andy Hug. Both men fought really hard and were always working. They threw a lot of blows, and they had a lot of them. Hug bloodied Hoost's nose. However, it was Hoost who was picking Hug apart. His low kicks are so nasty.
Jerome Le Banner vs. Peter Aerts. Le Banner couldn't seem to get going, but he was really pushing the action. I was expecting Aerts to kill him because he was aggressive to the point of sloppiness, leaning and such. Aerts did put him down twice in the first minute, but Le Banner bullied Aerts into the corner and KO'd him with a killer left.
Semifinal
Sam Greco vs. Mirko Filipovic. Greco hurt his foot kicking Mirko in the knee and was never the same the rest of the fight. It seemed more like he was beat by his own injuries than by Mirko, not that Mirko didn't get the job done.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Jerome Le Banner. Round 1 & round 2 were like totally different fights. In round one Hoost couldn't get going and Le Banner was overpowering him and nailing him with some nasty punches. In round 2 Hoost hurt Le Banner almost immediately with one punch and then had a big flurry for the KO.
K-1 Super Fight: Harry Hooft vs. Stefan Leko
Final: Ernesto Hoost vs. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic. I think everyone knew that Hoost was going to win this, but they still went totally nuts for the third round as Filipovic was clearly on his last leg.
Great Kusatsu vs. Cyril Abidi. Abidi had the size and reach advantage, plus he was the aggressor. The first round was close though because there were a few occassions where Kusatsu was able to turn the table and get a good flurry in. Kusatsu lets himself get backed into the ropes or corner way too easily though, and it's hard to win a match when you are busy covering up. The match was close enough that it was interesting, but it was monotonous and Kusatsu is frustrating to watch.
Glaube Feitosa vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako. The scary thing about this fight is that the KO didn't even catch the guy flush.
Stefan Leko vs. Jorgen Krut. Leko got off to a good start, using his quicknes to either strike Krut first or make Krut miss and then hit him. Krut put Leko down in the 2nd though and then put the heat on him.
Ray Sefo vs. Michael McDonald. Brief, but action packed.
Nobuaki Kakuda vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa 3R
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Toru Oishi 5R
Great Kusatsu vs. Nobu Hayashi 5R
Hiroki Kurosawa vs. Ryuji Murakami 3R
Mike Bernardo vs. Hiromi Amada R4 1:32
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Tatsufumi Tomihira R2 2:55
Nicholas Pettas vs. Peter Varga. In a competitive match like this, the guy who lands the big blows is most likely the one that will come out on top.
Peter Aerts vs. Mirko Cro Cop. This wasn't the Aerts I'm used to seeing; that guy would have shredded Cro Cop. Cro Cop was good, but it was more that Aerts was at his worst. Aerts was only successful fighting with his knees when they were locked up. Even thhyen, he didn't really damage Cro Cop. Cro Cop was consistently getting off quicker and he was the one landing the blows for the highlight reel. He landed this great high kick in round 2, but somehow Aerts stayed up and didn't even get flurried upon.
Jerome Le Banner vs. Mike Bernardo. Le Banner was willing to box with Bernardo, who has been boxing professionally of late. Le Banner really rocked Bernardo when he had him in the corner. Le Banner was basically kicking Bernardo's ass for 2:50, but suddenly Bernardo came to life. He ducked under to get off the ropes then threw a flurry of hooks. The huge controversy was that Le Banner went down after roughly a dozen, but it was about a second after the bell (which seemed a second late as it was). Le Banner was able to get up, but he was down for 10 seconds. After a conference, it was decided that the blow was indeed late and the fight would continue, but the damage had already been done. As the illegal (late) blow was the one that did the most damage, Le Banner's corner threw in the towel as a protest. It's a shame the fight had to end like this because this had to be at least one of the very best rounds of boxing ever in K-1.
Prestige Fight: Hiraku Hori vs. Ryuma R3 1:17
JAPAN Tournament Challenge Match:
Yusuke Fujimoto vs. Yasuhiro Anbe 3R
Issei Nakai vs. Tsuyoshi R1 2:47
K-1 J-MAX Special Match: Masato vs. Patrik Eriksson 5R
Japan vs. The World 5 vs. 5 Match:
Tatsufumi Tomihira vs. Muhammed Azzoui R2 1:50
Toro Oishi vs. Lloyd van Dams 5R
Shingo Koyasu vs. Gurkan Ozkan 5R
Nobu Hayashi vs. Peter Aerts 5R 0:36
Musashi vs. Ernesto Hoost 5R
World Grand Prix Tournament 1st Round
Jerome Le Banner vs. Pavel Majer. Majer did a good job of keeping Le Banner from hitting him early on. Once Le Banner got one good punch in it was all downhill for Majer. Le Banner soon had him against the ropes where he was able to take his time to get the accurate hard shots in.
Great Kusatsu vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Kusatsu dedicated the match to the late Andy Hug. Unfortunately, it wasn't much of a performance with Braga putting him down with a knee and then knocking him down again within a minute.
Ray Sefo vs. Adam Watt. Short, one-sided match, but Sefo was injured during the win so Watt wound up advancing.
Jan "The Giant" Nortje vs. Peter Graham. This Giant was another Big Slow. Graham did something of a wheel kick at the end of round 1. Very close match even though not the greatest.
Semifinals
Jerome Le Banner vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Le Banner isn't a good match up for Braga because you can't afford to make mistakes against a fighter with such power. Quick KO.
Peter Graham vs. Adam Watt. Watt looked amazingly fresh for a guy who was KO'd maybe an hour earlier.
K-1 Super Fight: Takayuki Kohifuiwaki vs. Samir Berbachi. Decent match with a few great moments including a series of nice Takada-like knee lifts to the head by Takayuki.
Final: Jerome Le Banner vs. Adam Watt. Watt suddenly aged about 10 years and started flopping from a punch or two. Lame final.
Segment on the damage the blows do to the body. This was cool because they showed some killer shots and there were animations and demonstrations of the power the fighters possess and the toll it takes on their opponents.
K-1 BIBLE THE KO. 4 awesome videos of the best KO's of the year (for '93-94, 95, 96, & 97). A weird tape because the show itself wasn't that great, but the features after the show made it one of the more enjoyable K-1 tapes.
Grand Prix 2001 Qualifying Tournament Quarterfinals
Duke Roufus vs. Tomasz Kucharzewski. Duke is the younger brother of Rick Roufus. Kucharz has this huge record (69-7), but you wonder how he got it because his technique and conditioning are nothing special. All action.
Michael McDonald vs. Jean Claude Leuyer. McDonald has the quickness, and he was answering all Leuyer's blows. McDonald was the aggressor, while Leuyer was too complacent.
Maurice Smith vs. Pedro Fernandez. Smith was by far the smartest fighter on the show. He did what he needed to do here, but no more because his concern was with winning 3 matches. Smith controlled the fight, and Fernandez didn't seem to have any idea of what to do to Smith. Smith worked over Fernandez's left thigh, which left him a bit gimpy. Not a particularly fast or action packed fight, but very enjoyable for Smith's strategy.
Guenter Singer vs. Paul Lalonde. Lalonde had a big height/reach advantage, and didn't respect Singer's power. Lalonde won the first round fairly easily, but Singer caught him with one big punch in the 2nd round. Lalonde's big mistake was not going down because by using the ropes and corner to hold himself up, he allowed Singer to tee off on him until the ref finally stopped it because Lalonde wasn't defending himself.
ISKA Light Middleweight World Championship Match: Alex Gong vs. Duane Ludwig. The closest fight of the night aside from the tournament final. Good action, but they also used their head. Both men showed impressive stamina, closing with a flurry of punches to try to steal the last round. I thought the wrong guy won the split decision, but it was a tough call.
Tournament Semifinals
McDonald seemed a little intimidated of Roufus early on, but he came on after the 1st round. Not one of the better fights, but still decent.
Maurice Smith vs. Guenter Singer. Singer isn't graceful, but he hits hard if and when he connects. Smith probably lost the 1st round. He was more aggressive in the 2nd, and showed that he can still put someone out in a hurry when they give him the opportunity.
Single Matches
Dewey Cooper vs. Arne Soldwedel. Soldwedel was more aggressive early on, quickly cutting Cooper over the right eye. Soldwedel actually tried a kneel kick. Cooper got better as the fight went on, probably because the age factor works in his favor. An accidental low blow in the 3rd round helped Cooper's cause because he wasn't penalized. In a fight that was likely even going into round 3, a little slip up like that can make the difference, especially when it happens to the guy that already has less stamina. Pretty good match.
Muay Thai Rules: Tommy Glanville vs. Mark Miller. Glanville acted all big and bad, but didn't back it up in the ring. He was cut above his right eye early and Miller knocked him down in the 2nd. The only dull fight of the night.
Tournament Final: Maurice Smith vs. Michael McDonald. This was one close fight. I mean, it was a draw and then there was a split decision with every judge scoring the last round 10-9.5. There weren't any big blows here, but it was very dramatic because it was so even that one big strike would likely be the difference. McDonald actually connected with one of those in the 2nd, a left hook, but it hit Smith in the side of the head rather than on the jaw so Smith was able to stay up and keep fighting. Smith wanted to fight on the inside and counter punch from the outside since that negates McDonalds's strengths, quickness and counter striking, but McDonald was probably winning after 2 rounds so Smith had to take it to him. Smith landed some nice uppercuts from the inside throughout the fight. I thought Smith was convincing enough in round 3 to win by 1/2 a point, but two of the judges ruled it a draw. Not a great fight in the traditional sense, but if you had a strong rooting interest you were on the edge of your seat throughout.
Tournament 1st Round
Ernesto Hoost vs. Sergei Gur. Hoost didn't seem to be in top shape and wasn't impressive by his standards. Gur was on the small side, so Hoost was able to overpower him. Don't as me why the ref stopped this as Hoost wasn't getting good shots in and simply threw Gur down violently.
Mark Hunt vs. Hiromi Amada. These guys are wide and soft. Amada looks kind of like an out of shape version of Masayoshi Motegi, and was no more impressive. Hunt had the power advantage. I thought Amada would be able to beat him to the punch, but it wasn't happening.
Michael McDonald vs. Mirco Cro Cop. McDonald stunned Cro Cop and kept throwing punches until he went down. Cro Cop answered the count, but McDonald hit him with a few more punches and Cro Cop was out on his feet. Short and one-sided, but McDonald put on a nice punching display.
Matt Skelton vs. Paris Vasilikos. Skelton controlled if not dominated the entire fight, putting Paris down three times and cutting him above his right eye. The best punch of the fight was actually a cheap shot by Skelton with Paris on his knees right after the two knockdown rule should have taken effect.
Muay Thai Rule Super Fight: Danny Manypassa vs. Paul Lee. These guys were so short they barely cleared the top rope, so not surprisingly they didn't have much power or reach. That meant there was a lot of inside fighting, but it was nothing special.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Mark Hunt. Round 1. Round 2 is on part 2.
Tournament Semifinals
Ernesto Hoost vs. Mark Hunt. Hunt put Hoost down early on in round 2, but it was more of a case of Hoost getting hit while he didn't have good balance because he was in the midst of throwing a kick. Hunt then nearly put Hoost down right after this, but Hoost did a great job of scurrying back to stay on his feet as that would have been the match due to the previous bad call. Hoost composed himself and won round 3, partly because Hunt's conditioning wasn't good and he'd tired himself out.
Matt Skelton vs. Michael McDonald. Skelton used his height advantage for leverage on the inside. McDonald tried to stay away, but that's hard to do when the other guy has the reach. McDonald had the speed, but he wasn't able to show it until round 3.
Super Fight: Dayne Brajkovich vs. Nick Karagionnidie. One-sided
Tournament Final: Ernesto Hoost vs. Matt Skelton. Hoost wasn't showing much again. I've never seen him so unimpressive as today. Skelton got Hoost in the eye, I guess with a thumb, and it was tearing badly and there was blood in the area. Skelton was docked a point here, which at the very least kept the fight from going overtime (on the other hand Hoost would have fought better if not for the eye problem). Skelton was the aggressor and although he missed a lot of punches he was doing more damage. Interesting fight, but not that great. Hoost got the benefit of the doubt because he's the huge star and defending champ.
Note: K-1 JAPAN GP 1st Round matches unless otherwise noted
Super Fight: Musashi vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga 5R
Great Kusatsu vs. Tatsunori Momose 3R
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Shingo Koyasu 3R
Nobu Hayashi vs. Tsuyoshi 3R
Super Fight: Jerome Le Banner vs. Stefan Leko 5R
Tooru Oishi vs. Masashi Suzuki 3R
Noboru Uchida vs. Yusuke Fujimoto R5 1:15
Tatsufumi Tomihira vs. Ryushi Yanagisawa R5
Super Fight: Remy Bonjasky vs. Ray Sefo
K-1 WORLD GP 2001 in NAGOYA 1st Round:
Mike Bernardo vs. Takeru R2 1:40
Bjorn Bregy vs. Lloyd Van Dams 3R
Cyril Abidi vs. Andrew Thomson R1 1:15
Alexey Ignashov vs. Petar Majstorovic 3R
Super Fight: Samir Benazzouz vs. Xhavit Bajrami 4R
K-1 WORLD GP 2001 in NAGOYA Semifinals:
Mike Bernardo vs. Lloyd Van Dams 4R
Alexey Ignashov vs. Andrew Thomson R1 1:46
Super Fight: Jan "The Giant" Nortje vs. Serguei Matkine R2 1:01
K-1 WORLD GP 2001 in NAGOYA Final: Alexey Ignashov vs. Lloyd Van Dams 4R
Tournament Quarterfinals
Noboru Uchida vs. Peter Aerts. Uchida wasn't aggressive, but his defense was good enough that Aerts couldn't get big blows or combinations in. Uchida would get in close when Aerts was on the offensive, so Aerts couldn't get the distance for his kicks or throw a series of punches. Aerts was winning easily with just the punches that Uchida couldn't stop from getting through, but he was wasting too much energy. Aerts should have coasted to a decision, but he went hard to save a minute or two and knees to the body propelled him to a victory by the two knockdown rule.
Maurice Smith vs. Jorgen Kruth. Smith took whatever Kruth gave him or he could take. He was taking Kruth apart from in close. he stayed on diagonals so the verticle mechanical Kruth was uncomfortable and didn't strike much. That said, Kruth did land a high percentage of his blows. Smith coasted in round 3 since he had the round one. Kruth finally got busy at this point out of desperation, but Smith was simply too smart, technical, and efficient for him.
Francisco Filho vs. Sergei Ivanovic. The commentary is pretty funny here because the announcers are busy putting Filho in the semifinals if not the finals while Ivanovic is preventing him from doing anything effective and busy winning the rounds. Ivanovic is a tall lanky fighter that was able to keep Filho at bay with his kicks from a distance. Ultimately he was very predictable and since Filho remained really calm he was eventually able to score when he came in. Ivanovic's strategy of backing away all the time wasn't likely to impress the judges, but given his abilities and attributes it gave him the best chance to stay in the fight. Filho won round 3, putting Ivanovic down at the end and bloodying his nose. Otherwise he didn't impress me at all, but given Ivanovic did no damage in the two rounds I thought he won going to an extra round made sense. What didn't make sense is that Ivanovic won the decision despite doing nothing in round 4. Ivanovic was gutsy, continuing despite a somewhat dangerous gash on his shin. However, you don't base a decision on sentiment. Ivanovic could have won in regulation, but after the first two round he was backing up more and landing less of his one dimensional low kick with the same leg offense.
Stefan Leko vs. Duke Roufus. Roufus use a different style where he just came out throwing. Leko seemed to be caught off guard by this. Leko is one of the best punchers. He blows are crisp, powerful, and on the mark. He hurt Roufus early in round 2, which shifted the aggressor and ultimately turned the tide of the fight. Roufus kept coming despite Leko putting several flurries on him. this was an excellent round with a highly impressive punching display by Leko. Roufus showed a lot of heart as a lesser fighter would have given up much earlier. The short upperct Leko put him out with would have done in just about everyone. Excellent fight with very impressive performances by both men.
K-1 Rules Super Fight: Frank Shamrock vs. Shannon Ritch. This was Frank's first fight where grappling wasn't allowed. Frank came out as the aggressor and was looking for the high kick right away. He missed twice, but then took Rich out when Rich was too slow pulling back from a low kick. This was really freaky because Rich's arm was flailing up high while he was pulling back and it accidentally got in the way of the kick. This was not a block as the arm wasn't sturdy with the muscles tightened, he simply took the full brunt on his unprotected forearm and elbow while turning away. Rich was in a great deal of pain and believed his arm had been broken.
Tournament Semifinals
Maurice Smith vs. Peter Aerts. Aerts was not on his game today. He was kissing Smith in round 2, probably as a way to distract from that. The first round was very even, with Smith winning by half a point IMO. What Aerts did well throughout the fight was make Smith pay anytime he hesitated. Smith did well when he was moving, especially when he was the aggressor. Smith wasn't finding the openings against Aerts like he was earlier, probably because Aerts doesn't leave many and he's so dangerous. Smith won round 2, but he was running out of gas and this got him totally out of his game. Aerts finally got aggressive in round 3 and drained Smith of most of his remaining energy by muscling him. Fatigue was causing Smith to get sloppy and look like he was hanging on, which helped Aerts cause. Aerts win of this round was by far the most convincing. The extra round benefitted Aerts a lot more than Smith since he's 9 years younger. Smith was way too gassed, but even so he should not have clinched with Aerts because he would lose every one of these segments, largely due to Aerts ability to use his knees, and Aerts would tire him more in the process. Very good fight.
Stefan Leko vs. Sergei Ivanovic. Leko did damage with right low kicks, which helped open up his big right hand. Ivanovic was in a lot of pain. The cut on his shin reopened, he injured if not broke his left foot kicking Leko, and he got a bloody nose. Ivanovic's left foot is basically his only weapon, so he had to continue using it even though it was so swollen it looked like a hump. Ivanovic showed a lot of heart, but Leko didn't have to expend a lot of energy to beat him.
Muay Thai Rules Super Fight: Melchor Menor vs. William Sriyapai. Very good match between two quick and talented small fighters. This had some excellent use of elbow strikes, particularly by Sriyapai who cut Menor above the temple. Menor did debilitating sweeps to the left leg, putting Sriyapai down several times. Although Menor was winning every round, there were so many good shots that the scorecards said nothing about the high quality of the fight. Menor was relentless, but Sriyapai kept trying even though his leg was really messed up.
Tournament Final: Stefan Leko vs. Peter Aerts. The previous fights gave Leko a big advantage because he's fought fewer than half the rounds and taken much less punishment. Aerts boxed with Leko too much. He can score with his feet and knees, so it made little sense to play into Leko's hand, especially since he had no answer to Leko's punching prowess. Aerts was sluggish. Leko won round 1, but it was round 2 where he really came on, really rocking Aerts with a series of punches. Aerts finally went down because he was against the ropes and it was the only way to stop the flurry that might have put him out. He was lucky there was no two knockdown rule in the final. Leko doesn't have the power of Le Banner, but he dos a better job of putting his punches together. Aerts was cut under his right eye and took more of a beating as the match progressed, in part because damage and fatigue deteriorated his offense. The final punch was simply incredible. Aerts walked right into a straight right out of nowhere after Leko hit him in the face when he was trying to kick. Aerts fell like a ton of bricks. More exciting than the previous fight because the underdog was winning in impressive fashion, but overall not quite as good.
Repechage Tournament A Block Semifinals:
Sergei Ivanovich vs. Francisco Filho 3R
Matt Skelton vs. Lloyd Van Dams 3R
Repechage Tournament B Block Semifinals:
Mike Bernardo vs. Adam Watt R1 2:27
Ray Sefo vs. Mark Hunt 3R
Super Fight: Cyril Abidi vs. Tatsufumi Tomihira R4 2:30
Repechage Tournament A Block Final: Francisco Filho vs. Lloyd Van Dams 4R
Repechage Tournament B Block Final: Mark Hunt vs. Adam Watt
Reserve Match: Mike Bernardo vs. Adam Watt. Watt did just enough with his feet to win round 1 from Bernardo, who was boxing as usual. Bernardo did better in R2, but was still not impressive. Watt was more active and his combinations had Bernardo on the defensive. Bernardo started doing damage with a low kick in the 3rd round though, which helped open up punches and even the high kick as well as getting him on a role.
Kesshosen Tournament Ikkaisen
Ernesto Hoost vs. Stefan Leko. Vintage Hoost. Sized his opponent up in the first round then knocked him out in the beginning of the 2nd. Leko couldn't figure Hoost out and wasn't throwing. Hoost would give him a low kick from a distance or come in with punches. In either case, Leko didn't get a good punch, if any, in on Hoost. Since Hoost has the reach advantage, he had no no problem keeping Leko at bay with his jabs. Hoost looked poised to defend his title as Grand Prix champion, but apparently he broke his instep and couldn't continue.
Mark Hunt vs. Jerome Le Banner. Le Banner was doing good for 5 1/2 minutes then Hunt hit him with a flurry for a KO. The finish looked fishy, particularly Le Banner's head movements as he was falling down. It seemed like Le Banner stopped fighting and was just waiting for a few good punches from Hunt to go down, but he's been known to run out of gas when he fails to get the early KO. The fans loved the knockout.
Alexei Ignashov vs. Nicolas Pettas. Ignashov is a head taller than Pettas. He was not the cleanest fighter, throwing Pettas down and catching him with a knee to the balls. The KO was devestating. The knee just mashed Pettas' nose, leaving it broken and bloody.
Francisco Filho vs. Peter Aerts. Aerts was the aggressor. He looked good for the first 4:15 of R1, but then Filho hit him with easily the two best punches of the round to probably steal it. As it looked on paper, this was the most competitive of the 1st round matches. Unfortunately, Aerts broke his instep and couldn't continue after the 2nd round.
Kesshosen Semifinal
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Leko. Leko was thrown back into the fire in Hoost's place. Leko, who looked like an awesome boxer in the North American championships, got in almost no good punches against a guy that only punches, isn't the most mobile, and has a reach disadvantage. Leko did get Hunt in a little trouble at 1:25 of R3, but just waited for him. This made absolutely no sense because Leko clearly needed a KO to win the fight. I don't believe for a minute that Leko thought he was going to win the decision if he got this round, yet he wasted the rest of the fight throwing no hard punches and not acting the least bit desperate. Hmm...
Francisco Filho vs. Alexei Ignashov. The first two rounds were lackluster with neither fighter distinguishing himself. The 3rd round was good because they knew they needed it to advance. A bad match if you are looking for big blows, but a good one if you are looking for something very even.
Superfight: Masato vs. Noel Soares. Soares is a sparring partner of Gilbert Yvel. These guys are small, but gave us by far the best action of the night. They were very active and the fight was perhaps very good.
Kesshosen Final: Mark Hunt vs. Francisco Filho. Another defensive struggle from Filho. Each round was at least close to a draw. The 1st was very cautious, but by the third they got much more aggressive even though most of the blows still didn't connect. Filho let Hunt get him against the ropes in overtime, a mistake that negated some of his defense and allowed Hunt to get inside and get his shots in. Hunt has a reputation for being able to take huge shots and shrug them off, but he pretty much didn't take any all night, which is mindboggling since he doesn't have any characteristics that would lead you to believe he's a good defensive fighter. I'll say one thing for him though, while his conditioning looks weak, he didn't look tired even in the overtime while the seemingly much better conditioned Filho was starting to wilt. Filho was doing so little offensively that the ref warned him in the final minute of the match.
Martin Holm vs. Jokki Obi
Jan "The Giant" Nortje vs. Jurgen Kruto
Glaube Feitose vs. Musashi
Jerome Le Banner vs. Hiromi Amada
Ray Sefo vs. Mike Bernardo
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Mark Hunt
Ernesto Hoost vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako
Peter Aerts vs. Nicholas Pettas
Musashi vs. Semmy Schilt
Full match list coming soon
Nobu Hayashi vs. Masaaki Miyamoto
Cyril Abidi vs. Quintin "Rampage" Jackson
Glaube Feitose vs. Martin Holm
Musashi vs. Josh Dempsey
Mirko Cro Cop vs. Remi Bonyasky
Peter Aerts vs. Alexei Ignashov
Ray Sefo vs. Gilbert Yvel
Grand Prix Tournament Quarterfinals
Ricardo Duenas vs. Michael McDonald. Your basic 1st round mismatch. McDonald went for the high kick right away. The 1st didn't get up high enough and Duenas blocked it, but the 2nd put Duenas down.
Tony Gregory vs. Petr Vondracek. Pretty wild match. It seemed like whoever was the agressor was overwhelming their opponent. The thing is, the aggressor was changing about every 10 seconds. Good fight.
Pavel Majer vs. Adam Watt. I liked what Watt did here. Majer was stronger, but Watt kept him off balance and kept him from turning it into a brawl. It wasn't very exciting, but I appreciated how Watt tried to make up for being overmatched physically.
Andrew Thomson vs. Errol Parris. Parris focused on combinations, and was always able to follow up when he landed a good shot.
Super Fight: Ernesto Hoost vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje. Hoost mainly feels his opponent out in R1 and Nortje took advantage of Hoost's initial non aggression. He tried to use his big reach advantage. Hoost would block and try to get inside, but Nortje kept punching so it was hard for Hoost to transition from blocking to offense. Hoost soon began mixing it up, which I doubt was his strategy. Nortje's big problem is he doesn't have much stamina. Nortje barely kicks, and by the middle of R2 his punches were getting slow. Hoost would avoid a few then hit Nortje with a combination. Nortje was letting Hoost know that he didn't have the power to hurt him, but that missed the point that at best Nortje was going to take "weak" punches for 3 1/2 rounds en route to another loss. Interesting fight, but not one of Hoost's better ones.
Grand Prix Tournament Semifinals
Michael McDonald vs. Tony Gregory. Gregory was much more patient and strategic here. He used his height and reach advantage. He scored from the outside, and kept McDonald from scoring in the inside. When McDonald got inside, he could lock McDonald's head up and go for knees. McDonald is the better and more powerful fighter, but even if he tended to be more aggressive, Gregory kept him from getting off and/or landing. I thought McDonald won R3 because Gregory was coasting home to victory, but I have no idea how the judges came up with this scoring. One judge didn't even give Gregory a single round, which is just nutty.
Pavel Majer vs. Errol Parris. Majer is a big unskilled brawler. His whole game is getting you against the ropes and using his size. Parris should have stuck and moved more instead of letting Majer get him near the ropes. He was the only one that got some good shots in, especially body punches, but he let Majer control to much of the fight. I thought this was close to an even fight, but again one judge had it 30-27.5.
Super Fight: Stefan Leko vs. Remy Bonjasky. Leko was looking pretty one-dimensional here. His boxing is excellent, but Bonjasky had some boxing skill in addition to good knees and some kicking. Leko was the much smarter fighter though. He had Bonjasky fighting his fight rather than using his size advantage or taking advantage of being more equally skilled. Both guys were active, but neither were getting good shots in as they kind of negated each other.
K-1 vs. PRIDE Super Fight: Mike Bernardo vs. Gary Goodridge. This was a shady joke of a fight. Goodridge was an out of control roid rage brawler. He was wildly pressuring Bernardo. Bernardo slipped and Goodridge tried to level him when he was down, but lucky for Bernardo he even screwed that up and the ref got in there quick enough to save him from the second blow. Huge boos. Soon after there was this questionable finish where Bernardo went down hard from a punch to the shoulder blade of all places. Bernardo got up looking like he rightfully wasn't even hurt, but ref Nobuaki Kakuda stopped the fight.
Grand Prix Tournament Final: Michael McDonald vs. Pavel Majer. McDonald was up against a much taller fighter again. By no means did he dominate this fight, but he was the smarter more diverse fighter. McDonald obviously noticed that Majer's attacks are slow and he's not a great defender, especially when he's going on offense. His game is to jump in with a punch or a knee when you are backed into or near the ropes. He did this to McDonald a few times, then McDonald timed it and Majer jumped right into a front kick.
PRIDE Tokubetsu Rule: Vanderlei Silva vs. Tatsuya Iwasaki
PRIDE Tokubetsu Rule: Jerrel Venetian vs. Daijiro Matsui
PRIDE Tokubetsu Rule: Gary Goodridge vs. Lloyd Van Dam
K-1 Rule: Ernesto Hoost vs. Semmy Schilt
K-1 Rule: Jerome Le Banner vs. Don Frye
PRIDE Rule: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Bob Sapp
Jacket Match Tokubetsu Rule: Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Royce Gracie
PRIDE Tokubetsu Rule: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Mirko Cro Cop
Super Fight: Bob Sapp vs. Cyril Abidi
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Ikkaisen: Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Ryuuta Noji
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Ikkaisen: Yusuke Fujimoto vs. Ryo Oishi
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Ikkaisen: Hiromi Amada vs. Musashi
Super Fight: Mike Bernardo vs. Tom Erickson
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Junkessho: Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Junkessho: Musashi vs. Tomihira
K-1 Grand Prix Tournament Kesshosen: Musashi vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako
Mark Hunt vs. Mike Bernardo
Ray Sefo vs. Martin Holm
Peter Aerts vs. Glaube Feitose
Stefan Leko vs. Alexei Ignashov
Michael McDonald vs. Semmy Schilt
Jerome Le Banner vs. Gary Goodridge
Ernesto Hoost vs. Bob Sapp
Genki Sudo vs. Jinu Kim
Takayuki Kobirumaki vs. Peter Crook
Kensaku Maeda vs. Miroslav Safra
Takehiro Murahama vs. Melchor Menor
Masato vs. Albert Krause
Reserve Fight: Michael McDonald vs. Martin Holm
Tournament Ikkaisen
Peter Aerts vs. Ray Sefo
Ernesto Hoost vs. Bob Sapp
Mark Hunt vs. Stefan Leko
Musashi vs. Jerome Le Banner
Tournament Junkessho
Ray Sefo vs. Ernesto Hoost
Mark Hunt vs. Jerome Le Banner
Tournament Kesshosen: Ernesto Hoost vs. Jerome Le Banner
Tournament Quarterfinals:
Michael McDonald vs. Carter Williams
Yusuke Fujimoto vs. Dewey Cooper
Rick Roufus vs. Edourdo Maiorino
Maurice Smith vs. Guiseppe Denatale
Sanshou Rules Super Fight: Cung Le vs. Scott Sheeley
Tournament Semifinals:
Carter Williams vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Rick Roufus vs. Maurice Smith
Super Fight: Mark Hunt vs. Gary Goodridge
Tournament Final: Carter Williams vs. Rick Roufus
Super Fight: Michael McDonald vs. Bjorn Bregy
Tournament Semifinals:
Carter Williams vs. Ray Sefo
Peter Graham vs. Sam Greco
Alexey Ignashov vs. Mike Bernardo
Peter Aerts vs. Jerrel Venetiaan
Stefan Leko vs. Franciso Filho
Francois Botha vs. Cyril Abidi
Remy Bonjasky vs. Bob Sapp
Hiroyuki Doi vs. Marfio Candletti
Tony Valente vs. Takayuki Kohiruimaki
Takehiro Murahama vs. Andy Souwer
Toshio Matsumoto vs. Duane Ludwig
Genki Sudo vs. Albert Kraus
Kojiro vs. Daniel Dawson
Masato vs. Vince Phillips
Reserve Fight: Carter Williams vs. Bjorn Bregy
Tournament Quarterfinals:
Cyril Abidi vs. Francois Botha
Peter Graham vs. Remy Bonjasky
Ray Sefo vs. Musashi
Peter Aerts vs. Alexey Ignashov
Tournament Semifinals:
Remy Bonjasky vs. Cyril Abidi
Peter Aerts vs. Musashi
Tournament Final: Remy Bonjasky vs. Musashi
MMA Rule: Genki Sudo vs. Butterbean
K-1 Rule: Ernesto Hoost vs. Montanha Silva
Mike Tyson interview from Hawaii: Tyson watched the whole show from some stadium in Hawaii with a super hot interviewer. He was asked whom he thought would win between Akebono and Bob Sapp and he chose Sapp because, "He is more coordinated." Tyson talking about coordination is hilarious.
MMA Rule: Yoshihiro Nakao vs. David Khakhaleichivili
MMA Rule: Alexei Ignashov vs. Shinsuke Nakamura K-1 Rule: Francisco Filho vs. TOA the Samoan Beast K-1 Rule: Bob Sapp vs. Akebono1st Round
HAYATO vs. Takayuki Kohiruimaki
Kozo Takeda vs. Kenichi Ogata
Kazuya Yasuhiro vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Takehiro Murahama vs. Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto
Semifinals
Kozo Takeda vs. Takayuki Kohiruimaki
TOMO vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Final: Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Serkan Yilmaz
Winner gets a slab of pork match: Hiromi Amada vs. Eric "Butterbean" Esch
Masaaki Miyamoto vs. Cliff "Twin Tyson" Couser
Tatsufumi Tomahira vs. Petr Vandrechek
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Maverick
MMA Rules: Alexey Ignashov vs. Steve Williams
MMA Rules: Bob Sapp vs. Dolgosuren Sumiyabazul
Cyril Abidi vs. Hiraku Hori R3 2:58
Jerrel Venetiaan vs. Sergei Gur 3R
Mike Bernardo vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje R1 2:32
Francois Botha vs. Aziz Khattou 3R
Shannon Briggs vs. Tom Erikson R1 1:02
Bob Sapp vs. Seth Petruzelli R1 0:57
Alexey Ignashov vs. Carter Williams R2 2:42
Ernesto Hoost vs. Xhavit Bajrami 3R
Musashi vs. Akebono 3R
K-1 ASIA GP Tournament 1st Round:
Akebono vs. Zhang Qing Jun 3R
Dolgosuren Sumiyabazar vs. Shingo Koyasu R2 1:08
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Lee Myeon Ju 3R
Denis Kang vs. Kaoklai Kaennorsing R1 1:48
Super Fight: Remy Bonjasky vs. Aziz Khattou R2 1:59
K-1 ASIA GP Tournament Semifinals:
Seo Chal vs. Shingo Koyasu 4R
Tsuyoshi Nakasako vs. Kaoklai Kaennorsing 3R
Super Fight: Glaube Feitosa vs. TOA R1 1:49
Super Fight: Jerome Le Banner vs. Terence Reasby R1 0:53
K-1 ASIA GP Tournament Final: Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs. Shingo Koyasu 5R
Mike Zambidis vs. HAYATO
Takayuki Kohiruimaki vs. Paolo Balicha
Shamil Gaidarbekov vs. Marfio Canoletti
Duane Ludwig vs. John Wayne Parr
Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Jordan Tai
Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto vs. Tony Valente
Albert Kraus vs. Jadamba Narantungalag
Masato vs. Serkan Yilmez
Tournament Quarterfinals:
Carter Williams vs. Mighty Mo
Dewey Cooper vs. Nobu Hayashi
Marvin Eastman vs. Michael McDonald
Kenny Leo vs. Tatsumi Tomihara
Super Fight: Bob Sapp vs. Tommy Glanville
Tournament Semifinals:
Mighty Mo vs. Dewey Cooper
Michael McDonald vs. Kenny Leo
Super Fight: Gary Goodridge vs. Toa
Sanshou Rules Super Fight: Cung Le vs. Brian Warren
Tournament Final: Dewey Cooper vs. Michael McDonald
Tournament Quarterfinals:
Carter Williams vs. Brecht Walis
Rony Sefo vs. Jorgen Kruth
Alexander Ustinov vs. Jan "The Giant" Nortje
Sergei Gur vs. Mighty Mo
Super Fight: Marvin Eastman vs. Ray Sefo
Tournament Semifinals:
Brecht Wallis vs. Jurgen Kruth
Scott Lighty vs. Mighty Mo
Super Fight: Rick Roufus vs. Akebono
Tournament Final: Mighty Mo vs. Brecht Wallis
Mighty Mo vs. Kaoklai Kaennorsing
Ray Sefo vs. Musashi
Peter Aerts vs. Francois Botha
Remy Bonjasky vs. Ernesto Hoost
Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs. Musashi
Francois Botha vs. Remy Bonjasky
Musashi vs. Remy Bonjasky
Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs. Zhang Quin Jun
Lee Myun Ju vs. Hiraku Hori
Akebono vs. Nobuaki Kakuda
Hong Man Choi vs. Wakashoyo
Super Fight: Semmy Schilt vs. Montahna Silva
Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs. Hiraku Hori
Akebono vs. Hong Man Choi
Super Fight: Peter Aerts vs. Carter Williams
Super Fight: Remy Bonjasky vs. Ray Mercer
Kaoklai Kaennorsing vs. Hong Man Choi
Shungo Oyama vs. Valentijn Overeem R1 1:28. Overeem landed some crisp low kicks early, so Oyama pulled guard. Overeem tried a heel hold, but Oyama countered with one of his own for the tap out.
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Ian Schaffa 3R. Schaffa is very quick, but wasn’t able to utilize his standup skills all that much as Miyata kept him on his back. The match quickly became stale and repetitive. Schaffa landed a good shot here and there before being planted, particularly a clinch knee near the end of round 2, but for the most part Miyata lied on top of him without doing much damage. Miyata wasn’t really active in ground and pound until the final minute, and he wasn’t trying for submissions. Schaffa tried a few submissions from the bottom, but never got past the setup. I was surprised Schaffa got the split decision, but he was at least aggressive when he had the advantage. Miyata wasn’t completely passive, he even tried a risky move or two such as a jumping stomp, but overall certainly too content to simply control the opposition.
Caol Uno vs. Joachim Hansen R3 4:48. Probably the best match in the HERO’s series, three back and forth rounds of rounds of non-stop action with tons of escapes and reversals leading to a shocking climactic finish. Obviously the skill level is incredibly high, but rather than negating each other their advanced level led to some rarely seen techniques and positions. Both fighters were able to take each other down, but keeping their opponent down was another story. Though Hansen is the stronger fighter, and certainly had the takedown of the night with a belly to back suplex, Uno seemed to get about 2/3 of the takedowns as he understands the leverage game so well he won most of the clinch battles. Hansen is skilled in defending standing attacks with the up kick, but Uno took advantage of Hansen having his legs up in the air, dropping down on him and using his weight to fold Hansen in half. Uno kept one of Hansen’s legs down by leaning on it and held his other ankle with his arm, repeatedly punching his prone bent in half opponent. Though Uno appeared in worse shape as his face was marked and bloodied, he clearly won the first round, so the fight was likely even going into round 3. Hansen took Uno down into side mount at the start of the 3rd, but Uno swept Joachim when he tried to transition into full mount. Uno tried a cartwheel guard pass, and though he didn’t succeed he came down on top of Hansen’s legs, again folding him at the waist with his weight and landing a few free punches. Uno passed and took Hansen’s back , but Hansen shook Uno off when he stood up. Uno quickly leveraged another takedown, but Hansen trying to prevent Caol from passing was a war in itself. Uno scored again with a Kimura takedown. Obviously there wouldn’t be all these takedowns if it wasn’t so difficult to keep the opposition down, but it got to the point where all Uno had to do was hang on for another 15 seconds to get a decision win. However, he gave up on the ground and backed off when Hansen began to escape to his feet. Hansen pursued Uno and within a second landed a huge knee for the KO. It’s hard to describe just how improbably this finish was. I mean, one second they are on the ground, the next Hansen walks over to Uno and smashes his chin with a knee. Excellent match.
Ramon Dekker vs. Genki Sudo R1 2:54. Sudo lulled everyone to sleep running away then dancing as if he’d accomplished something beyond postponing the action. Eventually he caught the kickboxer off guard, exploding for a takedown and working an Achilles’ tendon hold. Dekker countered with a heel hold and took the top. He stood so he could punch down on Sudo, but as Genki never released Dekker’s leg he tripped him up reapplying the heel hold for the win.
Alan Karaev vs. Gary Goodridge. Karaev is so fat you fall when he leans on you. Goodridge slipped around his back when Karaev was working an arm lock and smothered him with a forearm choke for the win
B.J. Penn vs. LYOTO (Machida) 3R. A chess match where both refused to even surrender a pawn. The kind of people who want to see Melvin Manhoef throwing wild haymakers will be bored to death, but from a technical standpoint this is MMA at its finest. It was a stalemate with a lot of clinching, but due to both being so good they can counter everything their opponent attempts before it get beyond shifting their weight. Though they are well conditioned, both were gassed in round 3 due to the difficulty of succeeding in anything. Machida got a takedown into side mount, but gave it up to strike his downed opponent, trying a jumping stomp only to have Penn display his quickness in scrambling back to his feet. The fight was extremely close. I agree Lyoto did a little more than Penn as he had a few takedowns and landed some low kicks. I was surprised he got a unanimous decision if only because Penn is such a big name and this was Machida’s first big test. Good match.
Heath Herring vs. Sam Greco R1 2:24. Herring was manhandling Greco early, but suffered one of the most bizarre injuries when he missed a low kick. Herring lost his balance on the follow through and did a little hop to try to remain standing, but his knee buckled and blew out.
Bob Sapp vs. Min Soo Kim R1 1:12. The most credible of Sapp’s worked wins, there’s even a slight chance it was actually legitimate. Though Kim landed a flurry of punches to Sapp’s shoulders despite Sapp standing right in front of him with his humongous head down, Mr. Shark at least managed to get some juice out of Juice. I’ve never seen a lamer cut induce a doctor’s check. Not only wasn’t there much blood, it was from the nose, so it’s not as if it was going to hamper Sapp in any way. After a pause long enough to bandage the actually wounded, they walked toward each other and Kim tried a left straight at the same time Sapp tried the right that knocked Kim out. I know Kim’s head hit Sapp’s shoulder on the follow through, but miraculously no camera managed to provide an angle that would allow the audience to tell if the one punch KO even connected. Hmmm...
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Jerome Le Banner R1 2:24. Le Banner has little experience in MMA, but he’s a huge man, almost a super heavyweight, while Akiyama is a light heavyweight. Akiyama quickly closed the gap and leveraged a takedown, but Le Banner actually when reversed Akiyama tried to finish with the cross armbar. Akiyama got caught with a hard knee when he was looking to shoot, so he tried to shoot before he sustained any more damage only to eat a second knee for the KO.
Mark Selbee vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako
Gary Goodridge vs. Sean O'Haire
Glaube Feitosa vs. Dewey Cooper
Carter Williams vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Super Fight: Musashi vs. Rick Roufus
Scott Lighty vs. Gary Goodridge
Glaube Feitosa vs. Carter Williams
Super Fight: Remy Bonjasky vs. Mighty Mo
Final: Gary Goodridge vs. Glaube Feitosa
Alexey Ignashov vs. Noburu Ichida
Aziz Khattou vs. Naoufal "Iron Leg"
Semmy Schilt vs. Petr Vondracek
Nobu Hayashi vs. Freddy Kemayo
Noburo Ichida vs. Naoufal "Iron Leg"
Semmy Schilt vs. Freddy Kemayo
Super Fight: Nobuaki Kakuda vs. MAVRICK
Super Fight: Jerome Le Banner vs. Cyril Abidi
Final: Semmy Schilt vs. Naoufal "Iron Leg"
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Carl Toomey R1 0:59. Akiyama had an immediate leg trip into mount. Toomey used his arm to try to push Akiyama off when he bucked, but Akiyama transitioned into the armbar he’d been setting up for the win.
Bob Sapp vs. Alan Karaev R1 3:44. They decided to have Juice actually try to fight a legitimate match, so they came up with the lamest opponent possible, a man who was quickly smothered by master of mediocrity Gary Goodrige in his MMA debut at HERO’s 1. Sumos are the most useless mixed martial artists, as their background provides them with zero offense and their obesity makes it difficult for them to even last a round. Karaev is no mere sumo, as he’s also had success in arm wrestling, and we all know how deadly Bull Hurley would be in MMA. If not, EliteXC will be glad to sign him up to come on after the real fighters and get knocked out by Kimbo Slice in 30 seconds. In any case, the result of the latest Sapp experiment was the world’s most awful bungle of clueless no stamina giants. If this isn’t the ugliest MMA match I’ve ever seen, my memory is shorter than I think. Karaev was very aggressive and had Sapp turning and running from his early punches, similar to Sapp’s recent laughable loss to Jan “The Giant” Nortje at Strikeforce at the Dome except Karaev lacks any of Nortje’s striking ability. Karaev sloppily took Sapp down into side mount, quickly passing to full where he did little as he was already blown up. Sapp gave his back and Karaev tried perhaps the worst choke and armbar in MMA history, not bothering to control Sapp’s body in the least on either submission attempt, and thus allowing Sapp to take the top and mount. Sapp did nothing and was swept by Karaev, so Sapp again gave his back. Karaev repeated his earlier mistake, doing nothing to control Sapp’s lower body, so Sapp was able to regain the top. At this point the ref was probably getting embarrassed at how atrocious the match was, so he called for a restart. Karaev managed to stand up, but was so exhausted Sapp probably could have won by blowing him over. Karaev certainly lacked the energy to attempt a legit shot, so Sapp quickly KO’d him with 3 mediocre left jabs. Worst shoot match of the year candidate.
Ray Sefo vs. Min Soo Kim R2 0:30. They fought 3 minute rounds so it would be more similar to what Sefo is used to in kickboxing. Sefo fought just as aggressively as he does in K-1, not striking to avoid the takedown as so many kickboxers do. He was all about the knockout, and if Kim took him down so be it. Many kickboxers have employed this strategy, but Sefo actually had takedown defense and could scramble, so he wasn’t going to be pinned on the mat by any old opponent, which is about the best praise one can give to Mr. Shark. Sefo landed some powerful right hands, not getting taken down until the final 2 seconds of round 1. The fact that Kim was dropped in similar fashion to his HERO’S 1 loss to Bob Sapp - trying a left straight but getting knocked down by a right hook - adds to the potential legitimacy of the Sapp fight. On the other hand, Sefo is one of the most powerful punchers in the world and he connected cleanly at say 85% of the deadliest punch he could possibly throw yet Kim, who was clearly far more worn down given Sefo had landed several quality strikes in round 1, still managed to get up at 8. It’s hard to imagine how Kim could withstand this punch and not the one Sapp maybe hit him with. In any case, Sefo quickly followed up with a spectacular right high kick KO. Granted Kim isn’t exactly Fedor Emelianenko, but Sefo was really impressive here. He could probably be a Mirko Cro Cop level fighter in MMA if he made the transition full time.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament Quarterfinal: Takehiro Murahama vs. Remigijus Morkevicius R1 1:14. Two quick strikers who kept it in standup. Morkevicius leveled Murahama with a left hook he never saw coming for the KO.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament Quarterfinal: Hideo Tokoro vs. Alexandre Franca Nogueira R3 0:08. Fast-paced action packed ground match with several submission attempts. Tokoro is HERO’S most exciting fighter, as his fights consist of super fast technical ground work. He’s a fighter who is willing to risk losing to for the chance to win, so decisions are extremely rare. Nogueira got a guillotine out of a scramble, but Tokoro made him pay with ground and pound when he got his neck out. Nogueira had a nice slam into side mount, but Tokoro was content to be on his back, escaping an Achilles’ tendon hold and remaining there even though it meant Nogueira would always start with the advantage. Though Tokoro is dangerous with submissions from the bottom, this strategy was unnecessary with Nogueira, who is also much more of a ground fighter. When Tokoro actually began striking he proved to be the better of the two at it. This didn’t occur until the ref stood him up late in the second round when Tokoro hurt Nogueira with a right hand and brought a jumping knee, but Nogueira caught his leg and slammed him. The fight was even so they called for a third round. Tokoro came out with an uraken for the knockdown then flurried with punches for the win. Very good match.
Peter Aerts vs. Wakashoyo R1 1:36. Aerts tried to strike, but the sumo got hold of him, drove him into the corner, and shifted his girth for the takedown. Wakashoyo didn’t know what to do with Aerts once he got him there, so he settled on nothing, resulting in a quick standup. This time when Wakashoyo did his sumo charge Aerts knocked him out with a tight right hook. The ref didn’t stop it, so Aerts had to land a few punches to his down and not moving opponent before he was granted his victory.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament Quarterfinal: Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Shamil Gaydarbekov R1 2:49. Miyata shot immediately, getting the takedown out of the clinch on the second try. The kickboxer was far from clueless on the ground, but Miyata didn’t wrestle at the Sydney Olympics for nothing. Still, Gaydarbekov was getting close to getting back to his feet, trying to stand when Miyata had his back, but Miyata got him back to the ground and finished it with the rear naked choke.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament Quarterfinal: Norifumi “KID” Yamamoto vs. Ian Schaffa R3 1:23. Certainly one of Yamamoto’s toughest matches with Schaffa making a good enough showing he would have had a chance for the decision. Tempers flared early, which is no surprise considering Yamamoto is an out of control hothead. He kept his cool after the first low blow, a knee that had to be painful, but the middle kick Schaffa landed after the recovery break (which appeared to be at the waist at worst) set him off. Both were swearing at each other back and forth and Schaffa got a yellow card. Schaffa landed a legal shot here and there, bloodying Yamamoto’s nose. He was clearly the better standup fighter, as he’s accurate. He could land one shot and avoid Yamamoto’s or win an exchange as Yamamoto threw little beyond wind full force hooks. Of course, since Yamamoto swings for the fences, he’s always a threat to knock you out if he actually makes contact. Yamamoto was mainly scoring with the ground game, taking Schaffa down and dropping punches and hammerfists that swelled Schaffa’s right eye while Schaffa failed with up kicks. Schaffa stopped a single leg, but Yamamoto held on, lifting Schaffa over his shoulder and slamming him. Yamamoto was unable to capitalize on the ground, but partially landed a wild uppercut early in round 3. Schaffa backed away seeming fine, but basically just collapsed when Yamamoto pursued and began a combination of punches. It was truly a bizarre KO as though no one will deny the power behind Yamamoto’s punches, none of them seemed to be more than a grazing blow. Good match.
Gary Goodridge vs. Wesley "Caggage" Correia
Carter Williams vs. Nobu Hayashi
Butterbean vs. Marcus "XL" Royster
Scott Junk vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Super Fight: Musashi vs. Rickard Nordstrand
Gary Goodridge vs. Carter Williams
Marcus "XL" Royster vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
Super Fight: Akebono vs. Hong Man Choi
Final: Gary Goodridge vs. Yusuke Fujimoto
MMA Rules Super Fight: B.J. Penn vs. Renzo Gracie
Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinals
Genki Sudo vs. Kazuyuki Miyata R2 4:45. The wrestler Miyata controlled the first round with his takedowns, including a head and shoulder throw that was very similar to a suplex. Sudo figured out Miyata's shot, stopping the takedown toward the end of R1 and effectively ending Miyata's advantage. R2 saw Sudo get a takedown, but with 1 1/2 minutes left neither had done any damage, or anything of note beyond the takedowns. It figured to be a too tough to call decision, but sensing they needed to do something to steal the fight both let fists fly. This quickly proved disastrous for Miyato, who took a high knee and a few good punches before resorting to a desperation shoot Genki again stuffed. Miyata had no interest in returning to the standup game, but made the mistake of giving his back. Fair.
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Remigijus Morkevicius R2 4:16. Morkevicius had an edge in standup, but possesses no ground defense. He stayed on his feet most of R1, but was saved from mount punches by the bell. R2 started with the best exchange of the fight, but Takaya learned not to give Morkevicius distance, tying him up and eventually getting the takedown. Takaya did whatever he wanted on the ground, passing immediately and punching from his chosen distance as Morkevicius simply used his arms to protect his head. Decent.
Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto vs. Royler Gracie 2R 0:38. Gracie ate a punch to take Yamamoto down, but Yamamoto used his feet to push Gracie off and keep him gaining control, allowing him to quickly scramble back to his feet. Gracie tried to take KID right back down with a guillotine choke, but Yamamoto shook his neck out and took Gracie down. Most of R1 was standup, controlled by Yamamoto though he failed to land any good shots. In R2, Yamamoto nearly ducked into a high knee, but avoided it enough that it only grazed, allowing him to fire back with an overhand right, knocking Gracie cold. Gracie fell like a ton of bricks, so Yamamoto didn't even have to move toward him, much less pounce on him, to attain the ref stop.
Caol Uno vs. Hideo Tokoro 2R. Good fast-paced bout. Success rate was low, but they fought hard, throwing what they had at each other in R2. Uno controlled the fight, not doing much damage in R1, but his punches increasingly got through in R2, bloodying Tokoro. Tokoro knew he was losing so he took more chances in R2, even pulling out the kneel kick. Tokoro had a standing Kimura late, but lacked the leverage.
Middleweight Tournament Semifinals
Genki Sudo vs. Hiroyuki Takaya 2R 3:47. Takaya wasn't fooled by Genki's dancing and stance switching, but Genki has more weapons and gets off faster. Genki would jog away from Takaya when he engaged, but then he'd launch his own attack. Genki didn't have a lot of success in standup, but he landed some, while Takaya was inaccurate and didn't wind up throwing half the time he intended to because Genki retreated. Genki got a few takedowns, but generally preferred standup. Still, a key is Genki would actually try a series of submissions, transitioning to a different one as soon as Takaya blocked the first, while Takaya didn't really do ground and pound or attempt submissions when he had top position. Average bout.
Caol Uno vs. Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto 2R 4:04. A standup fight where the defense was ahead of the offense. Yamamoto was a bit more accurate, while Uno was more aggressive. It was pretty much an even fight with Yamamoto's punches against Uno's low kicks until Yamamoto landed good right hook late in R2, cutting Uno's left eyebrow. Uno initially continued, but despite the blood mainly dripping down his cheek, the ref saw how quickly it was coming out and stopped the fight. Yamamoto probably would have won the decision as the one punch essentially accounted for the damage done during the fight, but with less than a minute left it seemed a weak stoppage.
Un Sik Song vs. Michihisa Asano R1 3:40. Song had a considerable reach advantage, but seemed comfortable fighting from his back. Asano was fiery with good takedowns, but a bit impetuous. Song hurt him with an up kick, but Asano recovered with a takedown before he could secure his back for the rear naked choke. Asano exposed his arm punching to set up a pass into side mount. He withstood the ensuing triangle for a while, leading to one of the wickedest submissions ever. Song transitioned into the arm bar, essentially flipping Asano over with a headscissors. As Asano didn’t cooperate with the momentum, his arm dragged his body in a brutal manner that looked sure to dislocate something.
Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Do Hyeong Kim 2R. Takaya had good hands, but Kim was forced to stand with him if Takaya wanted. Though Kim kept looking for the takedown, Takaya would stop it and either fall on top for his own takedown or back up and keep it standing. Takaya did most of his damage in R1 with ground and pound, busting Kim’s nose up badly. Kim got his only takedown at the outset of R2, but Takaya popped back to his feet when Kim got off him preparing to strike. After that it was really all downhill for Kim, as Takaya mixed punches and clinch knees, further opening the cut, which now seemed to engulf his face as blood was smeared everywhere for the proverbial crimson mask. Average match.
Jong Man Kim vs. Atsushi Yamamoto R2 4:25. Yamamoto got the takedown, defended a triangle and arm bar, and took Kim’s back after slipping out of a headlock. Yamamoto tried for a rear naked choke for the final three minutes, but Kim defended his neck at all costs, which meant taking punch after punch until the bell gave him a reprieve. Boxing is Kim’s secondary skill next to judo, so when he started R2 with a flurry of punches (that largely missed) Yamamoto shot for the takedown, but was guillotined. Once Yamamoto slipped his neck out it could have been another round of eating punches for Kim, but he swept Yamamoto when he tried to mount. The Korean crowd went nuts for Kim’s ground and pound, which was quite effective as Yamamoto didn’t bother to control his upper body, simply allowing him to drop towering hammerfists on him until he completed the dramatic comeback by attaining the stoppage. Good match.
Shungo Oyama vs. Sub Kwak Yun 1R 1:14. Oyama got the takedown and went for the Achilles lock. Yun saw it coming and tried to kick Oyama with his free leg, but Oyama exploded into the submission when the kick was coming, causing it to miss and Yun to have to tap almost immediately.
Kiuma Kunioku vs. Jung Hwan Cho 1R 2:01. Textbook win for Kunioku, taking his opponent down, passing into rear mount, flattening them out and choking away.
Kristof Midoux vs. Jun Soo Lim R1 0:50. Thankfully it was short, as a Kristof match of any length is rarely even Midouxocre. Midoux rocked Lim with a few knees from the clinch until he fell then punched his downed opponent for the stoppage.
Yushin Okami vs. Myeon Ju Lee R1 4:14. Lame fight. Okami scored the quick takedown and once he mounted that was it for Lee. Lee repeated bridged - apparently this technique was the only one he knew - as if that was going to buck Okami off.. In the meantime, Okami landed punch after punch until Lee’s corner threw the towel in.
Min Soo Kim vs. Sean O’Haire R1 4:46. O’Haire looked like a fighter in his second pro fight, at best. His technique was really sloppy and he had no stamina, but he got by on size and strength for a little while. Kim got off to a quick start as O’Haire was trying to lock him too high, landing several punches before O’Haire tied him up and took him down. O’Haire landed a number of knees, but Kim took some to get back to his feet, and by that point O’Haire was too blown up to continue bringing them. Kim landed a few wild punches, so O’Haire shot, but he exposed his next and Kim took him out with the standing guillotine. Kim isn’t a bad fighter, but this was very much out of 1994.
Hiromitsu Kanehara vs. Chalid “Die Faust” 2R. Quality wrestler vs. kickboxer match. Kanehara had the quick takedown, but Chalid held onto the ropes on the way down and reversed. The ref caught him, but put them back on their feet where Chalid rocked Kanehara with a right straight. Kanehara scored the takedown, mounted, and set up the arm bar. He had a hard time setting his feet on the submission, but I was sure Chalid was dead. Apparently Chalid has extremely flexible shoulders and elbows, as he was able to roll to his knees and take the offensive with punches in a manner that more muscular fighters would never pull off without tearing something. Kanehara was smart, dropping to his back when his takedowns failed, which forced Chalid to either let him back up or oblige him with ground fighting. That being said, Chalid’s takedown defense wasn’t that great given everyone knew what Kanehara was going to try. What allowed him to win the fight is he was able to reverse Kanehara twice. The second time came with about 90 seconds left, allowing him to make an impression on the judges with some ground punches. I thought Kanehara won a close decision, though a draw may have been fairest. Chalid is a striker who landed one good punch to a fighter who has a propensity for getting pummeled. Meanwhile, Kanehara would have beat most fighters with the arm bar and had some success with takedowns even though Chalid defended on the mat. Pretty good match.
Bob Sapp vs. Jong Wang Kim R1 0:08. Juice charged in and kind of connected with one punch and a knee to the neck or collarbone, obviously too much for any fighter to deal with know whatahmean, nudge nudge.
The Predator vs. Mu Bae Choi 2R. Ugly match. If they had a tough man contest for MMA it might look something like this. It couldn’t be any slower or more boring. The Terkay who thinks he’s Bruiser Brody got busted for an eye gouge early. Otherwise, Choi got off to a good start landing some solid hooks. He faired well when he had distance, but that didn’t last long as he did nothing to keep Predator from tying him up and leaning his 300 pounds on him. Predator would pin him in the corner and throw punches and knees, busting Choi’s nose open with an uppercut. The match slowed as both were blown up before the end of round 1. Predator took Choi down at the start of R2 and from there the match almost came to a standstill. I’m probably exaggerating, but it seemed as though Predator would go 20 seconds between pounds, yet there was no standup. Terrible match.
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Masakatsu Okuda R1 3:31. Akiyama got the takedown and stood over Okuda punching down. Okuda tried to make him pay, hooking an arm bar. However, before he could straighten the arm Akiyama slammed free, smashing the side of Okuda’s head to the canvas hard enough to knock him out, though Akiyama got a few punches in before the stoppage.
Erikas Petraitis vs. Takayuki Okouchi 2R. Very one-sided contest with Petraitis failing to really hurt Okouchi, but Okouchi being completely blanked offensively as he was always on defense and unable to counter. Petraitis blitzed Okouchi in standup, with Okouchi trying to run, but Petraitis pursuing to keep the heat on. Okouchi fell throwing a high kick while retreating, but while Petraitis dropped some punches down on him he was unable to pass guard. Petraitis landed some good clinch knees and ½ clinch punches. Petraitis kneed Okouchi low, but the ref didn’t see it, so Okouchi took a few knees while standing there holding his unit before the ref gave him his breather. They actually played some cheesy mystery music while Okouchi was verging on tears, slumped over rubbing his scrotum. Petraitis immediately took Okouchi down after the restart, this time succeeding with his standing guard pass only to give up on the position and stand again. Okouchi finally had a takedown midway through round 2, but even if his ground and pound wasn’t short lived it probably would have been too little too late. Average match.
Ido Pariente vs. Mindaugas Smirnovas R1 0:39. Smirnovas used ground and pound, but Pariente caught him in the kneebar for the win.
Valdas Pocevicius vs. Konstantin Uriadov R1 3:10. Uriadov got a double leg takedown and mounted off a standing guard pass, but Pocevicius reversed when Uriadov tried to take his back, only to quickly succumb to a triangle armbar that appeared to break Pocevicius’ arm.
K-1 Rule: Darius Skliaudys vs. Janas Kacenovskis 3R. Kacenovskis basically boxed, while Skliaudys fought Muay Thai style, scoring with low kicks and knees. Kacenovskis tried to be aggressive, but would eat kicks coming in. He hoped to rough Skliaudys up in the corner, but Skliaudys rocked him with a clinch knee as he was slipping out and landed a high kick when he turned the corner to elicit a standing 8 count. Skliaudys landed a nice high front kick. He simply had too many weapons for one-dimensional Kacenovskis, securing a unanimous decision. Average match.
Tadeushas Chilodinskis vs. Evert Fyeet 2R. A very active match with regular position changes and submission attempts. Chilodinskis dominated Fyeet with his wrestling, but showed excellent effort to finish the fight, using his takedowns to set up submissions. He tried a heel hold, various armlocks, and rolling Fyeet into a guillotine choke. Fyeet was the superior striker, but right from the outset Chilodinskis didn’t give him much opportunity, catching Fyeet’s first kick and getting him to the ground with a short right straight. Fyeet switched to wrestling in the second round, getting 3 takedowns of his own including a nice counter with the wizard. Cholodinskis won a unanimous decision. Good match.
Jair Goncalves vs. Egidijus Valavicius R1 2:55. Goncalves got a double leg takedown and used ground and pound to open up the guard pass, soon taking Valavicius’ back and finishing him with the rear naked choke.
Tadas Rinkevicius vs. Keigo Takamori R1 2:41. This matchup of seemingly unskilled bangers produced the desired heavy hitting. Both came out slugging with Takamori quickly dropping Rinkevicius, though perhaps to some extent Rinkevicius was escaping to his back. Rinkevicius kept Takamori from passing, so Takamori opted to allow him to stand back up. This time Rinkevicius landed an overhand right that sent Takamori running, pursuing him and finishing Takamori off with a couple more right hands. I guess it was good if you enjoy this “style” of fighting.
Kestutis Smirnovas vs. Hiromitsu Miura R1 4:30. These two were well matched with neither being able to get anything going early due to the defense being ahead of the offense. Smirnovas got a single leg takedown, but Miura tried a heel hold only to have Smirnovas break it with punches and mount. Miura gave his back, so Smirnovas choked him out. Pretty good match.
Valerijus Golubovskis vs. Yurij Kiseliov R1 0:22. Golubovskis missed a spinning heel kick, but followed with a spinning backfist that flattened his opponent for the KO.
Mikhail Illoukhine vs. Jordanas Poskaitis R2 1:10. Poskaitis is a good standup fighter with particularly nice kicks. His spinning strikes are difficult to defend if you don’t back off quickly, as he holds off the revelation of kick or punch as long as possible. He had Illoukhine on the run early after landing a spinning heel kick. Illoukhine soon learned to back away from Poskaitis’ strikes though, then set about shooting for the takedown, willing to eat a kick in the process. There was major controversy when the ref called for a quick standup after Mikhail’s first takedown, as Poskaitis punched Illoukhine after he’d stopped his ground and pound attack to break. Illoukhine showed a serious case of temporary insanity, heaving the ref out of the way and trying to attack his opponent who hadn’t had a chance to stand up yet. Illoukhine got a stomp in before being tackled by a group of refs who rushed the ring, leading to a double yellow card. Though provoked, I would have DQ’d Illoukhine as you cross the line when you touch the ref. Illoukhine was able to take Poskaitis down after the first few minutes, but Poskaitis would guillotine him or hold him close to eliminate the action, hoping for the standup. Illoukhine finally pulled out one of his favorites from the old RINGS works, catching Poskaitis’ leg and dropped into an Achilles’ tendon hold for the win. Illoukhine didn’t want to break, with the ref having to tackle him to get him to release the hold, resulting in Poskaitis being hobbled. Illoukhine was simply out of control, and his craziness probably has a lot to do with why he hasn’t fought since. Good match, though more memorable for the unfortunate antics.
Remigijus Morkevicius vs. Ramazi Jakharydze R1 0:09. Morkevicius cracked Jakharydze at the bell with a left high kick for the KO.
Shungo Oyama vs. Melvin Manhoef 1R 2:51. Manhoef's striking was too much for Oyama. Once he landed his first good shot he followed up with several more which Oyama had no defense much less answer for. Oyama was basically done when his takedown backfired, as Manhoef busted him up in a brief ground and pound segment before letting him up so he could flurry on him. Oyama's cut above the left eye was pretty bad, but gave him a temporary reprieve that likely kept him from being knocked out within the next minute. Unfortunately for him, Manhoef picked right up where he left off, rocking Oyama several times for the TKO.
Jerome Le Banner vs. Jimmy Ambriz 1R 2:04. Le Banner tried to kickbox Ambriz, but was taken down after landing a few blows. Ambriz wasn't super active, but his ground and pound did do some damage. Le Banner wasn't getting off his back any time soon, but being a big name the ref stood them up within two minutes. This time Ambriz tried to use wild looping punches to set up his takedown, but Le Banner countered with an overhand right, dropping him with one punch.
Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Erikas Petraitis 1R 3:59. Miyata scored the immediate takedown, landing a few good punches when he had space to open up the guard pass. Miyata flurried from the mount, but Petraitis regained guard and tied im up. Petraitis negated Miyata's offense for a while, but was never able to get back to his feet.
Caol Uno vs. Rich Clementi 2R. Good match with wily veteran Uno against powerful Clementi. Clementi got the early takedown, pinning Uno's arm behind his back so he couldn't use it to defend. It was looking as though Uno might be in for a long night, but when Clementi took side mount Uno gave his back, and after avoiding the rear naked choke turned into top control. Uno did a surprising amount of damage with his ground and pound before the round ended to steal it, but he still looked the worse for wear at rounds end as his nose was cut and his cheeks were puffy. Uno wanted the takedown, but knowing he couldn't overpower Clementi he used leverage through a Kimura. Clementi held haft guard and kept Uno off balance so he couldn't flurry on him, eventually getting back to his feet with a minute left. Uno spun Clementi back down out of a waistlock, but Clementi grabbed his leg and pulled him down to gain the late advantage. Competitive fight, but Uno has too many skills for Clementi.
Gary Goodridge vs. Heath Herring 2R 1:55. Interesting fight between erratic fighters who balance moments of brilliance with moments of ineptitude. Herring is a more well rounded fighter, but Goodridge is the kind of fighter you can't make a big mistake against because he'll knock you out in a hurry. Herring was sloppy early, getting taken down when Goodridge caught his high kick. Goodridge is more interested in big offense than control, so he's prone to losing his advantages. Once Herring got the takedown Goodridge was stuck on his back, but he was lucky enough to get a standup. Goodridge was generally the better fighter on their feet, but he fell prey to one good punch.
Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama 2R 1:41. Kashin has a tough time shooting, as his amateur wrestling days were a long time ago and he's only able to train sporadically. He's not one of those overpowering wrestlers who can just charge through you, and whatever he did back in the day, it's harder to take guys down in MMA because they don't have to lock up and obviously can throw a lot more varying offense at you. Ishizawa couldn't get the takedown, as Akiyama has good balance and wouldn't let Ishizawa get anywhere once he grabbed him. Ishizawa did eat flurries of punches trying to get Akiyama to the ground, but this was a dull fight with Ishizawa a lot of clinching and grabbing but Ishizawa unable to mount any kind of offensive.
Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Min Soo Kim 2R 1:32. Hard fought bout with both having their moments and chance to attain victory. Yamamoto may not have a good record, but as in his works, he's always capable of an exciting fight. Kim is a bit sloppy with his punches, but was landing some. Yamamoto got off to a slow start, but got aggressive catching Kim with a surprise uraken followed by two good lefts to knock him down. Yamamoto flurried from side mount and Kim wasn't defending himself, but apparently Yamamoto didn't have enough on the punches to warrant the stoppage. Kim's nose was badly bloodied, and Yamamoto had a few cuts as well, so instead the ref gave Kim a break so the doctor could check him out. This decision was probably the sole reason Kim survived the first round. Yamamoto now had confidence in standup, but Kim was landing his punches as well. Yamamoto wanted the takedown, but Kim got it instead and Yamamoto fell apart. Good fight.
Genki Sudo vs. Ole Laursen 3R. Good match with Genki trying all kinds of crazy submissions. He was into rolling ones today, including a heel hold. At one point he was on Laursen's back, but when the choke failed he tried to roll into a leg lock. Laursen had poor takedown defense, which puts him in a tough spot since Genki can always find a submission to try, and that looks good to the judges. Genki was hurt in R2 by a knee to the mid section he claimed was a low blow. Despite the shady break, Laursen, who had almost no offense before this, came alive trying jumping attacks on his downed opponent. Genki took some ground and pound, but a tiring Laursen wasn't active enough. Given he lost R1 for sure, he needed to put a lot more pressure on Genki, but just didn't have it in him. Nonetheless, Laursen did enough to send it to the extra round. Never one to be shown up, Genki got the takedown and tried jumping on Laursen.
Hideo Tokoro vs. Yoshinori Ikeda 1R 0:49. Tokoro got a single leg takedown into side mount, quickly transitioning into full mount but getting so high on Ikeda trying to set up a submission he was reversed. This turned out to be a good thing for Tokoro, as being on his back made it easier to sink the triangle choke in deeper.
Tom Erikson vs. Antonio Silva 1R 2:51. The problem with being such a dominant wrestler is you're normally only on your back in practice, and due to that you probably don't work on it as much as something you anticipate taking place in the fight. Silva surprisingly took Erikson down, and Erikson looked bad, never threatening to make it back to his feet.
Don Frye vs. Akebono 2R 3:52. One of the worst, dullest, lamest fights I've ever had the misfortune of being tortured by. Akebono's whole game is pinning his opponent in the corner or against the ropes and leaning on them. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be fighting or it's how he achieves his Akeboner, but the fight had a snail's pace and bad punching was the most you could hope for. Despite the perpetual inaction, Akebono completely ran out of gas and just gave up as far as I could tell. Frye "knocked" him down with a weak low kick when Akebono was off balance trying to punch and forced him to submit to a "guillotine choke" that had no leverage and may not have even been locked on the neck. Beyond awful.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament (Middleweight World's Strongest King Decision Tournament) 1st Round
Ivan Menjivar vs. Taiyo Nakahara 2R. Uneventful match that may as well have been kickboxing. Menjivar was clearly the better striker, though he did little damage. Nakahara didn't seem to have much of a game plan and never changing things up.
Rani Yahya vs. Ryuki Ueyama 2R. All on the ground. I thought this would be exciting, but they are so skilled they largely negated each other. They tried to use ground and pound to create openings, to little avail. Yahya worked hard for an arm bar then kneebar at the end. Close, fairly interesting fight.
Hidetaka Monma vs. J.Z. Calvan 1R 2:06. Calvan immediately knocked Monma down with a front kick. Monma had guard, but allowed Calvan to stand up hoping he'd expose a limb to submission, but instead he wailed Monma with hammerfists that left Monma too dazed to even attempt to regain body control.
Hideo Tokoro vs. Black Mamba 1R 0:35. Tokoro tried to shoot when Mamba kicked, ducking into it and turning it into a wicked knee to the head.
Caol Uno vs. Ole Laursen 2R 4:36. Uno controlled position the entire fight, keeping it on the ground. He had Laursen's back at the end of R1, so Laursen just tucked his neck for the final minute, getting punched repeatedly but living to fight another round. Uno was less active in R2, concentrating solely on gaining the proper position for a submission. Pretty good.
Super Fight: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Katsuhiko Nagata 1R 2:23. Nagata didn't seem to have a standup game, but surprisingly couldn't get the takedown. Akiyama's punching was too good for Nagata, especially since he had no offense at all. Akiyama took him out with a beautiful spinning savate.
Super Fight: Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto vs. Kazuyuki Miyata 1R 0:04. Yamamoto ran across the ring at the bell, connecting with a jumping knee for the wild KO.
Alexandre Franca Nogueira vs. Boku Kotetsu 2R. Boring fight that was essentially a stalemate. Nogueira has no standup game, so he'd just shoot at first opportunity. In R1, he was taking Kotetsu down and utilizing ground and pound. Kotetsu wanted to strike, but in R1 he couldn't stay on his feet. In R2, he stopped Nogueira's predictable shoots, but in focusing on that he couldn't really commit to his punching. He landed a few good shots and had a brief good flurry of ground and pound. Poor match.
Semmy Schilt vs. Min Soo Kim. Not as bad as the previous match, but rather awkward. Schilt badly bloodied Kim's nose with a short left. Kim got the takedown to side mount, but was painting the canvas with red drips. Kim tried to stand over Schilt and punch down on him, but Schilt triangled him. It's weird seeing such a tall man utilize a triangle choke. Poor match.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament (Middleweight World's Strongest King Decision Tournament) Quarterfinals
Hideo Tokoro vs. Ivan Menjivar 2R. Exciting fast paced match with several quick scrambles on the mount, countless position changes, and both going all out for the duration. Tokoro knew he was overmatched, so he threw caution to the wind, even rolling around the canvas looking to hook Menjivar's leg. Tokoro was extremely aggressive and very unconventional. He had several submissions at least partially applied, but Menjivar usually closed the door as soon as he opened it. Menjivar is a much better striker, and he was the one who did the damage during the fight. He never hurt Tokoro, but he was pretty accurate and made Tokoro pay for some of the gambles he took. Both fought very well, and I didn't see enough of an advantage on either side to call this anything but a draw. Very good match.
J.Z. Calvan vs. Hiroyuki Takaya 1R 0:30. Quick highly impressive KO for Calvan with his flying knee.
Rani Yahya vs. Kazuya Yasuhiro 1R 1:08. Yahya fought very aggressively, taking Yasuhiro down and going right into ankle lock. Yasuhiro kicked Yahya off with his free leg and got back to his feet. However, Yahya took him right back down, maneuvered to north/south position and took him out with a Brabo choke.
Caol Uno vs. Black Mamba 2R 3:30. Uno wasn't at his best here, as he wanted no part of standup so he quickly became quite predictable in shooting immediately. He obviously had Mamba's spectacular quick KO of Hideo Tokoro from HERO'S 5 in mind, as though Mamba can strike the vast majority of his matches end via submission. Mamba hurt Uno early, as in attempting to shoot Uno ducked right into a big knee that I believe was intended to be a right high kick. I was surprised Uno wasn't KO'd, and Mamba was certainly thinking finish pouncing right on him and flurrying in hopes of a ref stoppage. Uno survived, but pretty well refused to return to his feet, crawling around the mat and grabbing Mamba's leg. Uno was getting punished utilizing this method, including getting his right eye busted open, but when he finally secured both legs he scooped Mamba to the canvas. Mamba wasn't looking too impressive on the mat, but after putting himself in harms way he was able to defend the rear naked choke. Mamba got two takedowns in R2 as Uno was sloppy, jumping at Mamba to close the distance and lock him up as quickly as possible. I felt Uno would have lost the decision, but he managed to avoid putting it in the judges hands. Pretty good.
Light Heavykyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament (Light Heavyweight World's Strongest King Decision Tournament) Quarterfinals
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Taiei Kin 1R 1:59. Akiyama give the kickboxer any opportunity to strike, tying him up immediately and wrestling him to the canvas when his judo throw failed. Akiyama got an arm bar, but Kin completed all his steps to escaping, turning and getting to a squatting position, except freeing the arm itself. Akiyama was now lying stomach maintaining the lock, and it looked as though there was a lot of pressure on Kin's forearm, though Kin wasn't reacting as if he were in agony. The ref stopped it, which needless to say didn't please Kin. It's possible it was a good call, but as Kin had progressed this far it was a rather infuriating one given all that was left to do was utilize the better position he'd attained to take his arm back.
Melvin Manhoef vs. Crosley Gracie 1R 9:12. Worst match of the year candidate. Gracie's strategy was to only fight on the ground, while Manhoef's was to only fight on his feet. Gracie couldn't get Manhoef down in any manner, so rather than give in he simply dropped to his back every time Manhoef hit him. No amount of yellow cards could deter him. The fans began booing Gracie every time he employed this strategy, which says a lot given the show eminates from Japan. Manhoef got so pissed he finally tried some ground and pound. Gracie tried to roll away, but wound up in the corner trapped on his side unable to do anything beyond cover up. The ref should have restarted them in the center as Gracie was barely even in the ring, but Gracie hadn't earned any favors. In fact, it was more like everyone was just looking for an excuse to get this travesty finished.
Super Fight: Yoshihisa Yamamoto vs. Don Frye 1R 4:48. One-sided match. Yamamoto looked bad. Frye locked a standing guillotine, but Yamamoto kept backpedaling to avoid being dragged down until he ran out of real estate, at which point Frye drove him through the ropes. Maybe Yamamoto never recovered, as the short little hook Frye put him down with didn't look that deadly.
Shungo Oyama vs. Rodrigo Gracie 2R. Oyama had a consistent careful ground and pound that never threatened to stop Gracie, but was enough to avoid any standups. Gracie used an open guard, but was trying to push Oyama away with his feet rather than attempting submissions. I'd understand the strategy if I were viewing a fighter who thought he could win on his feet. Okay for a while, but got real dull given the entire fight was the same.
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kestutis Smirnovas 1R 6:43. Crazy all action match. Smirnovas fell after landing a middle kick, so Sakuraba rushed to take advantage. However, in the wild exchange Smirnovas knocked him down with a hook. I thought the ref stopped the fight during the ensuing ground flurry, but he simply reset them as Sakuraba was in the ropes. Sakuraba face was bloodied and bludgeoned. He was getting mauled, but K-1 didn't want him to lose his highly anticipated debut, so he was granted a considerable amount of leeway. Sakuraba showed some life with knees then flurries of punches once he got back to his feet. He was tired from taking so much punishment, but Smirnovas seemed even more gas as he emptied most of his tank trying to finish the fight. Sakuraba bloodied Smirnovas face with some good shots to the nose, and suddenly Sakuraba was looking the less abused of the two. Smirnovas escaped to the ground as he wasn't liking the punishment he was taking on his feet, but giving Sakuraba an advantageous position on the ground typically made for a quick trip to the showers. Very good match.
Ernesto Hoost vs. Yusuke Fujimoto R3 2:09. Hoost came out of semi-retirement in hopes of upping his record to five WORLD GP championships, but showed obvious ring rust, giving one of his worst performances despite attaining a KO victory. Hoost often loses the first round feeling his opponent out, but today he was tentative and gunshy even in the later stages. Hoost normally comes out strong in the second, but Fujimoto started the round fast in an effort to throw Hoost off his game. Hoost tried to establish the jab and low kick, but Fujimoto was countering with punches. Fujimoto’s is always his own worst enemy, as the longer the fight goes, the sloppier he gets, and by the third round he begins to beat himself by slipping and sliding like a hot oil wrestler. Hoost eventually got his leg kicks going, which didn’t help Fujimoto’s always questionable balance. Fujimoto took a tough low kick to the knee when he attacked with a right hand then landed a lunging left, but Hoost followed by sweeping the leg for the knockout. I expected Fujimoto to get up until I saw him wincing, and in fact he was down for quite a while after the bout. Average match.
Remy Bonjasky vs. Gary Goodridge R3 0:52. Late replacement Goodridge was way out of his depth against the two-time WORLD GP champion. Bonjasky has the reach, speed, and can close the distance in a heartbeat, the combination of these assets keeping Goodridge from even having a chance to mount an offensive. Bonjasky went for the quick win with a high kick/flying knee combo that Gary partially blocked, putting Goodridge down with a subsequent flying knee 50 seconds into the contest. Bonjasky was blasting away with the low kick, slowing Goodridge while trying to set up a clean high kick. Goodridge’s mobility and ability to plant were very obviously hampered by the start of the second. Bonjasky knew he was going to win one way or another, so after a exhilarating first round he didn’t take too many chances in the second. Deciding to try to finish in the third, Bonjasky rediscovered his aggression, connecting with a huge knee, left straight, and high kick for the KO. Good match.
Badr Hari vs. Ruslan Karaev R1 0:52. One of the more controversial knockouts in K-1 history, Hari landed some powerful low kicks at the outset but lost his balance on the rebound. Karaev capitalized, driving his opponent into the corner with punches and arguably illegal elbows, putting Hari down with a right straight. Before the ref could get in, Karaev followed with a wicked roundhouse kick to the face of Hari, who was down in the corner and thus should not be able to legally sustain any blows. Hari threw a temper tantrum when Karaev was ruled the victor, feeling he clearly would have survived the punch. This set up a rematch on 3/4/07 WORLD GP 2007 in YOKOHAMA, which Hari won.
Musashi vs. Chalid “Die Faust” 3R. A dominant performance by Chalid, who predictably mixing powerful hooks, straights, and uppercuts for three rounds against an opponent who surprisingly mustered no answer. Musashi made little effort to slow Die Faust with low kicks, instead repeatedly going for his middle kick without any setup. Faust explodes out of the gate, while Musashi is a slow starter, so it was no surprise when Chalid claimed the first closing the distance and punching through and around Musashi’s block. Musashi tried to attack in round 2, but Die Faust was backing away in circles with the best of them, stopping only to throw his own punches. Musashi still arguably did better in this round, but Chalid’s short range punches were simply too strong. Die Faust landed a barrage of punches 40 seconds into the third round to elicit a standing count when Musashi was forced to turn his back to his opponent. Musashi’s left eye was considerably swollen by this point, nearly shut. It’s difficult to figure what round a judge might have given to Musashi, but one actually gave the Osaka native the fight, so Die Faust only attained a split decision victory in one of the most one-sided wins of his K-1 career. The loss was a crushing blow to the Japanese, as it meant there would be no native fighter in the on 12/2/06 at the 2006 WORLD GP Final. Above average.
Glaube Feitosa vs. Paul Slowinski 3R (R1 skipped). Feitosa was at his best, fighting aggressively with sharp combos where he mixed level and type, using his strong kicks to open up his oft-underutilized punching game. Slowinski was wobbling around with his hands down in the middle of the second, but began putting combos together, albeit without their usual amount of steam. Though he finished his combos with low kicks, Slowinski was unable to get his famed low kick game going. Round 3 was closer than round 2, but Feitosa coasted to the unanimous decision. Above average match.
Semmy Schilt vs. Bjorn Bregy R1 2:21. 6’8” Bregy towers over most opponents, but very obviously lacked the skill to hang with a man his own size. Schilt quickly destroyed him, using his left jab to beat him to the punch. Bregy would load up for power, but Schilt would hit him before he could get off, resulting in two knockdowns from left jabs. The middle knockdown was a standing down when Bregy turned his back after failing to run away from Schilt.
Jerome Le Banner vs. Hong Man Choi 4R. Intense strategic battle. Le Banner was much better at dealing with Choi’s size during their 12/8/07 WORLD GP 2007 FINAL rematch. The fact a conflicting acting gig left his participation up in the air literally until the final minutes, arriving in Osaka just a few hours before the show, didn’t help him, as he mainly wound up hanging on the outside throwing low kicks. These theoretically should have opened up the overhand right, but Le Banner was very tentative and didn’t make much attempt to close the gap for punches due to fearing Choi’s knee. While Choi’s size prevented Le Banner from utilizing his famed fists, he had little idea of how to utilize it for his own offense. Choi should be so difficult to deal with, but beyond being so slow his punches from a distance are easily avoided, he simply lacks Semmy Schilt’s left jab and front kick, negating his reach advantage and allowing Le Banner to peck away with low kicks. In fact, Choi’s whole game was closing the gap to bring up the big knee. Choi came on toward the end of the 2nd round with a knee, elbow, and backfist to probably steal the round despite Le Banner’s last second superman punch. Choi was looking a bit sluggish in the third, but while a bloody nosed Le Banner was elusive, he wasn’t having much luck landing his own blows, which were also pretty weak by Jerome’s standards. One judge ruled for Le Banner, but even though I would have given Choi the bout if absolutely forced to decide, overtime was certainly the proper course. Hong was landing some jabs in the extra round, but Le Banner kicked his leg again. If you’ve read many of my reviews you’ll know I’m a proponent of the low kick, but Le Banner’s were wimpy and ineffective, failing to slow the giant down in the least. No one was able to distance themselves, but Choi’s punches were more damaging than Le Banner’s kicks, and though I was rooting hard for Le Banner, I felt Choi landed enough solid punches to say he got the better of another close round that could easily have been scored even. Surprisingly, everyone ruled for Le Banner this time. Good match.
Lightheavykyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament (Light Heavyweight World's Strongest King Decision Tournament) Semifinals:
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Kestutis Smirnovas R1 3:01. Smirnovas found himself back in the tournament when quarterfinals conqueror Kazushi Sakuraba bowed out due to injury. Akiyama blistered the outside of Smirnovas’ left thigh with low kicks that caused immediate welting. Smirnovas was forced to defend his legs before he was too hobbled, which was almost a good thing but went awry almost in the same instant. Smirnovas caught Akiyama’s leg, but slipped while firing back with a right straight while Akiyama was scrambling away. Smirnovas managed to get back to his feet before Akiyama came at him aggressively, but in backing away he quickly found himself in the corner looking for yet another low kick. Unfortunately for him, this time Akiyama went high, leveling Smirnovas with a devastating kick then landing a few punches for the stoppage.
Melvin Manhoef vs. Shungo Oyama R1 1:04. Manhoef came out firing, simply overwhelming Oyama with powerful albeit wild strikes.
Middlekyu Sekai Saikyo Oja Kettei Tournament (Middleweight World's Strongest King Decision Tournament) Semifinals:
Caol Uno vs. Ivan Menjivar 2R. Both fighters did an excellent job of defending against the other man’s strengths and desired position. Though Uno can stand with anyone without getting beat up, Menjivar was certainly going to win a standup battle. Uno looked to close the distance to stay away from Menjivar’s powerful strikes, fighting him evenly on the inside where he peppered him with series of quick punches and matched his knees. Considering the fight was 90% standup, Uno did really well. However, he was repeatedly unable to take Menjivar down, which was his whole strategy, and did quickly get a red cheek from the right hands Menjivar was landing. Uno finally leveraged a toss in the last minute, going right from full mount to rear and trying to choke Menjivar out. Menjivar quickly got back to his feet, getting a yellow card for a high kick he threw while Uno was doing the same. I was shocked they didn’t send them into the extra round. Uno is one of my favorite fighters, but if I had to pick a winner I’d give a slight edge to Menjivar as he’s the better striker and he was able to ward off the takedowns and keep it in his domain. Instead, Uno got the unanimous hometown decision. Pretty good match.
J.Z. Calvan vs. Rani Yahya R1 0:39. Yahya’s only chance was to get it to the ground, but unfortunately he was guillotined in the process.
Super Fight: Kaysinov Georgy vs. Antonio Silva R1 1:08. Georgy used punches to set up the takedown, but still couldn’t get it. Silva landed a right body hook then came up high with a left hook for the KO.
Super Fight: Don Frye vs. Min Soo Kim R2 2:47. Kim leads with his right leg, his stance making it incredibly easy for Frye to land the inside leg kick to his injured knee. Otherwise, Kim dominated the first round. Kim always goes high for the takedown due to his judo background, which when you can’t get the throw leads to struggles based largely upon brute force. Kim has a strong base, and was consistently overpowering Frye. He didn’t do any damage with his first takedown as Frye turned to his knees and stood up when Kim got north/south, but he was pummeling Frye in ground and pound the second time. Had there been more time left in the round, I don’t think Frye would have survived Kim’s mount punches. Kim was looking tired in round 2, and Frye came on mixing punches with his low kicks. By mid round Kim was completely blown up, and the repeatedly low kicks opened the window to victory as Kim came in expecting them, but instead walked right into a right hook for the knockout. Slow paced and somewhat dull, but they were fairly well matched and it was a nice come from behind win for The Predator. Average match.
Super Fight: Hideo Tokoro vs. Ken Kaneko. Kaneko is an actor who doesn’t have the slightest clue of what the hell he’s doing. Tokoro didn’t need to strike and didn’t have to work for anything, he could just take whatever position he wanted on the ground without any opposition. Kaneko slipped out of the arm bar the first time, arguably the only thing he did right all fight. It didn’t matter though, as Tokoro just set the arm bar up again for the submission. An embarrassment.
Hero’s Middleweight Tournament Final: Caol Uno vs. J. Z. Calvan. Pretty similar to Uno’s previous match, more of a stalemate but also more exciting due to the increased stakes and how evenly matched they were. Calvan is an even more imposing striker than Menjivar, but Uno is about as difficult to rock as anyone. In standup you almost have to hit him when he’s trying to strike or shoot, as otherwise he’ll just dodge or run away. On the ground, he avoids most of the ground and pound and blocks the rest. The difference between the two matches is Calvan is a far more capable wrestler, so not only didn’t Uno closing the gap work at all for his own takedowns, Calvan was able to use the threat of his strikes to take Uno down. In R1, Uno got in trouble getting caught against the ropes, and though he blocked the couple punches Calvan threw before he was forced to shoot, Calvan stopped the takedown and landed a few ground punches before Uno gave his back and immediately got wrist control so he could stand back up. Though Calvan landed sporadically in standup, he mainly scored with three takedowns in round 2 that had him in control the majority of the round even though they amounted to negligible damage. Uno may have gotten lucky against Menjivar, but if anything he got a raw deal here as only one judge called for a third round. Obviously if I was forced to decide I’d give it to Calvan, but when another option is available I can’t see giving a decision in the final based solely on control. Good match.
Hero’s Light Heavyweight Tournament Final: Yoshihiro Akiyama vs. Melvin Manhoef R1 1:58. A memorable little final which often bared more resemblance to pro wrestling than MMA. Manhoef came out like a house of fire as usual, but after landing some blows Akiyama got a hold of him. Manhoef picked him up for the belly to belly suplex, but Akiyama pulled off a tremendous midair reversal into mount. Akiyama wasn’t able to capitalize on the position, and Manhoef again tried to slam him. This time he had the pump handle, but Akiyama reversed with a Kimura and arm barred Manhoef for the win.
K-1 Rule: Nicholas Pettas vs. Badr Hari R2 1:28. Pettas returned to K-1 for the first time since breaking his leg on 6/2/02, but his parade was rained on by another injury. Hari exploited his reach advantage with jabs and low kicks. Pettas’ block was good, but he was inactive early on. When he did try a low kick Hari caught him with a left straight. Pettas stopped fighting after a punch to the elbow in the second, so it was ruled a down. Pettas once again stopped fighting after blocking a high kick with the left arm, but this time his corner threw the towel in, figuring he broke his arm when they saw him cringing in agony.
HERO’S Rule: Tokimitsu Ishizawa vs. Taiei Kin R1 2:48. Even if with some difficultly, Ishizawa could take Kin down. The problem was he couldn’t keep him there for any length of time. Kendo Kashin did a bad job with positioning, allowing himself to get trapped in the corner. Kin wasn’t particularly active, but found the opening for a left high kick KO.
8/28/02 MMA Rule: Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Mirco Cro Cop 2R. Early in Cro Cop’s MMA career, Kazushi Sakuraba had a legitimate chance to defeat him in this heated contest. Sakuraba took some shots trying to get it to the ground, but nothing major early on. Cro Cop began to blast his lead leg with low kicks, but was taken down with just under two minutes in round 1. Sakuraba wasn’t able to get much going, but an early highlight saw Cro Cop try to take advantage of Sakuraba’s standing guard pass attempt by scrambling back to his feet. Sakuraba reacted immediately, charging with a left and trying to sit on Mirko as he returned to his back, but Cro Cop flipped him off with his legs. Cro Cop lost his balance when Sakuraba caught his left low kick and tried to counter with a left straight, leading to another takedown. Cro Cop tied Sakuraba’s hands up in between landing a few pretty good punches from his back. Sakuraba wasn’t having a lot of success, but he wasn’t getting beat up and he was in control enough he had a chance of winning the rounds. Unfortunately, he took a toe to the right eye on an up kick, causing major swelling that led to a doctor stoppage before the start of the third round.
K-1 Rule: Semmy Schilt vs. Peter Graham 5R. A dull, extremely one-sided fight. Graham comes out to AC/DC’s Thunderstruck and resembles the band in that he’s not very talented, but just won’t go away. He’s the kind of fighter you have to knock out as there’s no quit in him. The story remains the same with Schilt kickboxing matches. The near 7 foot Dutchman has way too much reach. The ease at which Schilt can bring a knee to his opponent’s chin is one of the reason’s lines such as “you can’t teach height” become tiresome cliches. Schilt was efficient as ever, picking Graham apart with punches while Graham missed almost everything he threw due to Schilt’s reach keeping him too far away to connect. Graham would charge in with a combination, but Schilt would simply back away until Graham was done or left himself open to the counter. Graham tried the clinch game, but Schilt would knee his thighs. Graham tried his rolling thunder a few times, but Schilt was too smart for that. About the only thing Graham did land were some body blows. Below average match.
K-1 Rule: Musashi vs. Randy Kim R3 0:33. Kim holds the Korean record for shot put. If only he were allowed to stay in his corner and put the heavy metal ball in Musashi’s direction prior to the start of each round, he might be dangerous. Actually Musashi, who hadn’t won a fight since beating Bob Sapp at the 12/31/05 PREMIUM 2005 Dynamite!! show, was once again pretty lousy here. Rather than utilizing his quickness, Musashi stood in front of his larger heavy hitting opponent and allowed himself to be backed into the ropes. Debuting Kim only had punches, but was the aggressor, even if he wasn’t particularly active. Kim probably won the first round with some good straights when Musashi was against the ropes. Kim certainly won the second, battering Musashi with some punches against the ropes early in the round. In his defense, Musashi did come on a little at the end of the round with a good left body hook. After Kim flurried with Musashi on the ropes early in round 3, Musashi finally exploited Kim’s low block, KO’ing him by using a left body jab to set up a big right hook. Musashi was lucky, as in 2 plus rounds against a greenhorn he landed about two blows that were better than average. Average match.
HERO’S Rule: Ken Kaneko vs. Andy Ologun 3R. Ken Kaneko fights like an actor who lacks a director. They should at least get his Kids Return director Takeshi Kitano in his corner if they are going to torture us with this nonsense, but hell, Takeshi could probably Beat this pussy’s ass even if he is around 60. A match this atrocious is hard to come by. On one hand, you have a movie star who has nothing beyond a takedown that wouldn’t work against a better or more experienced fighter. On the other hand, you have a kickboxer who is afraid he’ll get taken down if he actually tries to strike. The motif of the match was action, not the kind fans are used to but rather that ref repeatedly screaming it in hopes of prodding these bozos to do something. Perhaps Kaneko got confused, and thought “action” meant the camera was rolling so it was time for him to make more of his goofy faces. I don’t know, but I do know you’ll rarely have the misfortune of witnessing a more tedious and repetitive bout. Kaneko put the P in lay and pray like none before or since. Ologun finally opened up some in the middle of the second round, as even though he had no takedown defense he realized all Kaneko was going to do was lie on top of him until the ref stood them up. Ologun connected with a right high kick, which gave him some confidence. He landed three low kicks in a row, but then was taken down. Later he put a series of low kicks together that weakened Ken’s legs as he’s oblivious to the concept of checking them, resulting in Kaneko limping by the time the third round ended. Ologun won a unanimous decision. Beyond awful.
HERO’S Rule: Akebono vs. Giant Silva R1 1:02. Akebono drove Silva into the ropes, but Silva worked a Kimura. Akebono fell on top, but