K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16 Results

I thoroughly enjoyed this event. This was my first live taste of K-1 and I thought it was fucking fantastic. There might have only been the one stoppage (well there was two but only one was proper) but the fights were mostly entertaining and the fact that they were all heading towards something made each fight more interesting. The build-up to the Aerts-Schilt fourth fight made that fight in particular highly anticipated.

Ruslan Karaev KO2 Chalid ‘Die Faust’
Fight of the night by far! This was an absolute slugfest with the better skilled fighter Karaev dominating most of the fight but the hard punching ‘Die Faust’ equalising the fight with his murderous power. Karaev dominated the first half of the round before he got decked by a right hand. He then came back to drop ‘Die Faust’ three times in the second round to win the fight by stoppage. Karaev’s chin seems to be his downfall and I think he has a chance of making the semi finals but I’ll be surprised if he is one of the two finalists.

Jerome Le Banner UD3 Junichi Sawayashiki
Le Banner is an imposing figure in the ring and Sawayashiki didn’t have the firepower to deal with him. Unlike a few of the other fights that went three rounds, this one didn’t need an extra round. Le Banner pushed the action from start to finish and was the clear winner of every round. My main problem with Le Banner is that he’s so mechanical; almost like a K-1 version of Vitali Klitschko. Against the smoother technicians I think he will struggle. Still, I think Le Banner has a strong chance at taking his first K-1 title this year.

Gokhan Saki UD (Ex. 1) Ray Sefo
I did think Sefo was up after the first three rounds but the fight was very close and the fact that Sefo was in such bad shape after three rounds shows that he wasn’t going to be in contention for the Final 8. Saki let Sefo fight his fight a bit too much and should have tried to use his speed a bit more, but even though I thought Sefo was in front after three rounds, Saki was in much better shape and the right guy went through to the finals. Saki, like Karaev (infact thats who he’s fighting, but I’ll get to that shortly) might make the semis, but I doubt he goes further.

Errol Zimmerman UD3 Glaube Feitosa
Zimmerman lived up to expectations and handed Feitosa a beating in the first two rounds. Zimmerman’s speed is incredible and he puts together a great variety of combinations with power. A few things that I think Zimmerman needs to work on is 1) not getting so right hand happy; he probably could have put Feitosa away if he didn’t throw his money punch time after time and instead used other shots to set it up and 2) his stamina; Feitosa came back and won the 3rd round after Zimmerman gassed. Lets say this was a semi final of the final 8. Had Zimmerman fought once already that night he likely would have lost that fight due to his fatigue (thats assuming Feitosa could have stayed standing after his first fight of course). I think Zimmerman has a good chance at making the final, but it’ll definately depend on his stamina. Either way, I think Zimmerman will win his first K-1 World Grand Prix within five years.

Remy Bonjasky UD3 Paul Slowinski
I underrated Slowinski a lot in this fight, he really made a good fight of it and I thought that it should have gone another round. I honestly thought the fight wasn’t as one sided as the commentators made out and that it could have gone either way after the three rounds. Slowinski was landing more shots, Bonjasky was landing harder shots. I hope Slowinski is brought back to fight in an alternate fight as he was one of the better fighters who lost on Saturday night. Bonjasky looked a little rusty, but I’m sure he’ll be fine come finals time and he has a very good shot to claim his third crown.
PS- Bonjasky’s walk-out music was ficking ace! For those of you who don’t know, he walked out to Charles Bronson’s characters theme music from ‘One Upon a Time in the West’

Ewerton Teixera UD3 Musashi
Honestly, get rid of both of them and let the loser of the Aerts-Schilt fight take the eigth place. I’d be happy to never see either of these guys fight again. To be fair on Teixera, it was mroe Musashi who wasn’t there to win and should retire. I can’t see Teixera getting past the first round in the finals.

Badr Hari TKO (Ex. 1) Hong Man Choi
The fight was ruled a draw and Hong Man Choi’s trainer threw in the towel before the first overtime round. Hari controlled 8 mins 55 secs of the 9 mins and then got dropped. Even with the knockdown I still had him up 29-28. The judge that scored for Hong Man Choi should be shot. Hari looked as good as you can when you fight someone that much bigger then you. When he fights someone a mroe suitable height he’ll look a lot better and should he make it past his quarter final fight I think he could win the lot.

Peter Aerts UD3 Semmy Schilt
Thats right, the three time defending champion won’t be in the main bracket at the finals. I assume Schilt will come in as an alternate, but someone will have to pull out for him to get a chance to defend his title. Aerts did what he had to, he got inside and he outworked Schilt. I had Aerts up 29-28 (I gave Schilt the first round) and, even though I do think it should have gone an extra round or two, I’m glad it didn’t as I wanted to see Aerts win. Depending on how his body holds up over three rounds, I think Aerts is a good chance to win his fourth crown and tie Ernesto Hoost’s record.

The Final Match-ups
The match-ups were selected after the fights. After Karaev (3rd), Bonjasky (4th) and Zimmerman (2nd) chose where they wanted to fight instead of who, Gokhan Saki selected Ruslan Karaev as his opponent. Next up Teixera chose Zimmerman as his opponent. Aerts had the option of fighting either Bonjasky or letting Le Banner choose between him and Bonjasky and he decided to be the first fight of the finals and let Le Banner take his choice. Le Banner left Badr Hari to face Aerts and chose to face Bonjasky for the second time.
The way the draw stands, the winner of Aerts-Hari will face the winner of Zimmerman-Teixera and the winner of Bonjasky-Le Banner will fight the winner of Karaev-Saki. Going off this, I expect Peter Aerts to face Remy Bonjasky in the Final match. I think Zimmerman will breeze through Teixera, but other then that anything could happen. I think either Aerts or Hari will be too experienced for Zimmerman, but if they have a hard fight it might gift Zimmerman a finals spot. I also think the same with Bonjasky and Le Banner in that they should handle either of Karaev or Saki easily (I honestly don’t have any idea who will win that fight) but depending on how they handle each other it could be difficult. It could very well end up being two of the regional titlists facing each other in the final after the experienced guys beat each other up. Either way I can’t wait for December 6th and not because of De La Hoya vs Pacquiao!

PS- Did I mention that I got 7/8 in my first go at picking K-1?

Shane Mosley vs Ricardo Mayorga Predictions

Back in July I was really looking forward to this fight. Mosley is one of my favourite fighters and I had the chance to meet him down here when he was down for World Youth Day and was at the Mundine-Crazy Kim fight (I won a free ticket, I didn’t pay for it). This fight sort of snuck up on me with my new interest in K-1 (I’ll do a recap of that event tonight) and its on in a few hours. Mosley comes back from a loss albeit a close and hard fought loss to Miguel Cotto last year while Mayorga fights for the first time since beating Fernando Vargas last December.

I think Mosley should win this fight hands down. There are a few factors which could help Mayorga but I doubt they’ll come into play. Mosley is getting a bit older and hasn’t fought in nearly a year so theres a chance he’ll come into this fight a little rusty which the hard punching Mayorga could take advantage of early on. This though is countered by the fact that Mosley has never been stopped and I doubt Mayorga will be able to find the punches to put Mosley away if he can hurt him.

The big difference between these two is skill. Mosley should win this fight with his handspeed and reflexes. Mosley is also an excellent body puncher which is a big advantage against Mayorga who hates body punches. Felix Trinidad busted Mayorgas body up and that was what won him that fight. Mosley should be able to land to Mayorga’s body frequently without putting himself in danger. I expect Mosley to go in and out early on and frustrate Mayorga with his speed and then after 4-5 rounds start to bust Mayorga up on his way to a late stoppage. The fight should be exciting early on, and then very one sided after the fifth round.

On the undercard Andre Berto makes the first (?) defence of his WBC Welterweight title against Steve Forbes. This is a dangerous fight for Berto who is a big puncher but still a little inexperienced. Forbes is extremely durable and has good skill and could cause Berto a lot of problems with his experience and toughness. I think Forbes will make a very good fight of this and probably do enough to win on the cards but won’t get the decision. I’ll be very impressed if Berto can win this fight inside the distance.

K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 starts tonight

I decided to expand my interests. Basically for about ten years boxing was my life. I’d follow the sport very closely, watch any live fights I could see and come online for updates on a Sunday afternoon when I couldn’t see the fights. Then I saw MMA. Now boxing and MMA are basically my life. I’m a little older now so work is thrown into that as well as training but whenever I get spare time I watch boxing or MMA whether it be old or current. Instead of finding another interest outside of people bashing each others brains in, I’ve decided to start following kickboxing. The K-1 Grand Prix was advertised in my pay TV guide about a month ago so I’ve spent that time trying to watch as much as I can. Tomorrow night the 2008 K-1 World Grand Prix begins with the first round of elimination bouts. I’m no K-1 expert (I don’t claim to be an expert about MMA or boxing, I just know a fuckload more about it then the average moron) so if any K-1 enthusiasts read this and are cool enough to comment to put me straight then go for it. I’ve read and watched through as much as I can get my hands on (which is anything on youtube or articles I can find) and this is basically what I’ve noted with the fighters competing. One of my favourite boxers fights this weekend (Shane Mosley) and I really don’t give a crap compared to how much I’m looking forward to this.

The fighters
Here is the lineup for this years K-1 World Grand Prix (which will now be referred to as the ‘K-1 WGP’). For those of you who (up until a few weeks ago) didn’t really know how K-1 worked, they have four or five qualifying events throughout the year to deterime some of the spots in the final 16. Eight of those spots are made up of last years final eight, and the remaining spots are wild cards.

Last Years Finalists

Semmy Schilt
- 2005, 2006, 2007 K-1 WGP Champion
- The only man to win three K-1 WGP titles in a row
- The defending three time K-1 WGP champion
- Has never lost a fight in a K-1 WGP

Record against other competitors
Peter Aerts (2-1), Remy Bonjasky (2-0), Jerome Le Banner (3-0), Glaube Feitosa (3-0), Musashi (2-0), Paul Slowinski (1-0), Ray Sefo (2-0)
Hong Man Choi (0-1)

Schilt is a rare breed of fighter in that he started in MMA and was a top heavyweight there for a while and then transferred to kickboxing and started kicking arse there Usually you get the top kickboxers coming into MMA, but Schilt trained his grappling as well as his karate for years (and even won fights by submission) before he switched to K-1. Schilt basically retired from MMA after being TKO’d by Sergei Kharitonov in the PRIDE 2004 Open Weight Grand Prix Quarter Finals and then knocked out Remy Bonjasky at the 2005 K-1 WGP Semi Finals on his way to winning his first crown. The last two K-1 WGP’s, Schilt fought Peter Aerts in the final, winning a war in 2006 based on a 2nd round knockdown and then winning by 1st round stoppage last year after Aerts hurt his knee. Schilt is the heavy favourite to win again this year.

Remy Bonjasky
- 2003, 2004 K-1 WGP Champion
- 2006, 2007 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
- One of only four men to win back to back K-1 WGP titles

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-2), Jerome Le Banner (0-1), Peter Aerts (0-1), Musashi (2-0), Ray Sefo (1-0), Badr Hari (1-0), Glaube Feitosa (1-0), Hong Man Choi (1-0)

Bonjasky is a very dangerous fighter who is one of the favourites to win this years K-1 WGP. The last wo years injuries have made it hard for him to fight at his best in crucial bouts. In 2006 he had to drop out of the tournament due to groin strikes and last year he was lacklustre in his semi final matchup against Peter Aerts after a three round war with Badr Hari. If Bonjasky can make to the semi finals in better condition this year, he’ll likely spoil another fighters K-1 dream.

Jerome Le Banner
- 1995, 2002 K-1 WGP Finalist
- 1999, 2007 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
- Hailed as ‘the best fighter never to win a K-1 WGP title’

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-3), Remy Bonjasky (1-0), Peter Aerts (1-3), Hong Man Choi (2-0), Musashi (1-0), Ray Sefo (0-1), Junichi Sawayashiki (0-1)

Le Banner is K-1’s under achiever. He always seems to make a mess of his chance when he gets it. Le Banner hits fucking hard with 59 KOs from 73 career wins and is probably (again) the hardest puncher in this years event. Le Banner hasn’t won since last years K-1 WGP Finals event and I think most fans are hoping he won’t be ring rusty going into tonights event.

Peter Aerts
- 1994, 1995, 1998 K-1 WGP Champion
- 2006, 2007 K-1 WGP Finalist
- 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
- Only man to compete in every K-1 WGP Finals Event
- First man to win three K-1 WGP titles
- First man to win back to back K-1 WGP titles

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (1-2), Remy Bonjasky (1-0), Jerome Le Banner (3-1), Ray Sefo (2-1), Musashi (2-1), Glaube Feitosa (2-0), Junichi Sawayashiki (1-0)

Aerts is the K-1 veteran. He’s appeared in every K-1 WGP Finals Event and has made five finals, winning three of them. Aerts made the semi finals of the original K-1 WGP after knocking out future UFC heavyweight Champion Maurice Smith and then came back the following year to win his first crown. Aerts is probably the sentimental favourite to win the tournament this year as he is nearing the end of his career and has come close in the last two years; dropping a close decision to Semmy Schilt in a war in 2006 before blowing his knee out in last years final against Schilt.

Badr Hari
- 2007/2008 (Current) K-1 100kg Champion

Record against other competitors
Remy Bonjasky (0-1), Glaube Feitosa (1-0), Paul Slowinski (1-0), Ruslan Karaev (1-1), Ray Sefo (1-0), Gokhan Saki (1-0)

Hari is one of the dark horses in this years K-1 WGP event. Despite being small compared to some of the other fighters in the tournament, Hari is one of the most explosive fighters in the World. His power is probably only bettered by Jerome Le Banner and even though his won titles at a lighter weight division, at 6′5 he’s got more then enough size to handle the bigger fighters. Hari is on a three fight winning streak since dropping a decision to Remy Bonjasky at last years Finals event including wins over Rey Sefo and Glaube Feitosa by first round knockout.

Glaube Feitosa
- 2005 K-1 WGP Finalist
- 2006 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-3), Remy Bonjasky (0-1), Peter Aerts (0-2), Badr Hari (0-1), Chalid Arrab (1-0), Musasi (2-0-1), Paul Slowinski (1-0), Ruslan Karaev (1-0)

Feitosa came in as an alternate in the 2005 K-1 WGP event and won with a dramatic flying knee knockout over Musashi to earn a spot in the finals with Schilt. Despite losing to Schilt in the first round, his flying knee knockout of Musashi puts him in the minds of K-1 fans forever. Feitosa has consistently fought the best fighters around through his entire career and his record of 16 wins-15 losses is very deceiving. He’ll make a fight with anyone out there into a dog fight.

Hong Man Choi
- World’s largest Professional Fighter (7′2, 350lb)

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (1-0), Remy Bonjasky (0-1), Jerome Le Banner (0-2)

Hong Man Choi is the largest fighter in the tournament and is the only one to have a winning record over defending champion Semmy Schilt. This is Choi’s third K-1 WGP event. He qualified for the 2005 event with a points win over Bob Sapp before being eliminated by Remy Bonjasky in the Quarter Finals. Last year he defeated Mighty Mo by decision in the elimination round before losing out to Le Banner in the quarter finals. Since then he fought PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko in an MMA match, losing by first round armbar.

Junichi Sawayashiki

Record against other competitors
Jerome Le Banner (1-0), Peter Aerts (0-1), Musashi (0-1)

The young Japanese hopeful last year, Sawayashiki shocked the World with a win over Jerome Le Banner in the round of 16. In the final event, Sawayashiki was shown up by veteran fighter Peter Aerts and was knocked out in the first round. Two KO losses since give his fans little hope of him going far this year, but if he can reproduce the form that saw him beat Le Banner last year who knows?

Wild Cards

Paul Slowinski

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-1), Badr Hari (0-1), Glaube Feitosa (0-1), Gokhan Saki (0-1)

Representing Australia, I hope Slowinski does well. Slowinski was eliminated in the first round by reigning champion Semmy Schilt last year, but defeated Mighty Mo in an alternate fight at the Finals event, which is likely what earned him his wild card into this years tournament.

Chalid Arrab

Record against other competitors
Musashi (1-0), Glaube Feitosa (0-1)

‘Die Faust’ returns this year after losing to Feitosa in the first round last year. Arrab is famous for his come from behind win over UFC and PRIDE veteran Gary Goodridge at the K-1 las Vegas event in 2006 where he got up from two knockdowns to win the title by 3rd round knockout. Two weeks before that event Arrab was involved in a serious car accident. Due to his power and determination, Arrab is a dangerous fight for anyone.

Ray Sefo
- 2000 K-1 WGP Finalist
- 2002 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-2), Remy Bonjasky (0-1), Jerome Le Banner (1-0), Peter Aerts (1-2), Badr Hari (0-1), Musashi (1-2), Ruslan Karaev (2-0)

Sefo returns to the K-1 WGP again this year, making it his eigth appearance in the event. Sefo is unlikely to get far in this years event and seems to be at the end of a solid career having lost six of his last seven fights. Peter Aerts was his nemesis last year, forcing Sefo to remian on his stool after taking a beating in the first round.

Musashi
- 2003, 2004 K-1 WGP Finalist
- 1996, 2005 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
- Made the K-1 Japan event finals five times in a row (winning four of them)
- One of only two Japanese fighters to make the K-1 WGP Final

Record against other competitors
Semmy Schilt (0-2), Remy Bonjasky (0-2), Jerome Le Banner (0-1), Peter Aerts (1-2), Ray Sefo (2-1), Glaube Feitosa (0-2-1), Ruslan Karaev (1-0), Junichi Sawayashiki (1-0)

Musashi is a fan favourite in Japan and returns for his eighth K-1 WGP event. Best remembered for his fights with Remy Bonjasky in the 2003 and 2004 K-1 WGP Finals, Musashi is the typical Japanese warrior who makes a fight with anyone he fights but is often beaten badly because of his courage. Musashi hasn’t competed at a K-1 WGP event since being knocked out by Peter Aerts in the alternate match of the 2006 K-1 WGP.

Qualifiers

Errol Zimmerman
- K-1 2008 Qualifying Event (Amsterdam) Winner

Zimmerman is a dark horse to win this tournament despite being only 22 years old. The form he showed in the Amsterdam event shows that he could go far in this years event. Don’t be surprised if this unheralded fighter wins the lot!

Ewerton Teixera
- K-1 2008 Qualifying Event (Fukuoka) Winner

Not much is known of Teixera. From what I can find out, he’s only had a few fights and is by far the least experienced fighter in this event. As an underdog he won the Qualifying Event in Fukuoka, beating Keijiro Maeda (who had beaten Musashi earlier that night) in the final.

Ruslan Karaev
- K-1 2008 Qualifying Event (Taipei) Winner

Record against other competitors
Badr Hari (1-1), Ray Sefo (0-2), Glaube Feitosa (0-1), Musashi (0-1)

Karaev enters his first K-1 WGP tournament on the back of his qualifying wins in Taipei where he defeated three opponents by knockout in one night to qualify. Karaev has fought other competitors, including defeating current 100kg champion Badr Hari in 2006. Its hard to imagine Karaev going a long way in the tournament due to his size (6′2, 210lb) but it wouldn’t be the first time a smaller fighter has done well in K-1.

Gokhan Saki
- K-1 2008 Qualifying Event (Hawaii) Winner

Record against other competitors
Badr Hari (0-1), Paul Slowinski (1-0)

Saki won the Hawaii qualifying event in August with ease, winning his three fights in a total of 6:30. Most were expecting Mighty Mo to go through in this event, but he had to drop out after a tough first round fight. Saki is a young but experienced fighter who is riding a 10+ fight win streak including a knockout win over Paul Slowinski. Saki is another dark horse in this tournament and, like Zimmerman, could go far.

K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 in Seoul Final 16 Matchups and Predictions

Ruslan Karaev vs Chalid ‘Die Faust’ Arrab
Prediction- Arrab by knockout
I think Die Faust will find his chin at some point in this fight and that will be all. From what I’ve seen of Karaev he is the better technician, but looks a little uncomfortable when pressured heavily. I think Die Faust will take the fight to him and crack him at some stage to win the fight by knockout.

Jerome Le Banner vs Junichi Sawayashiki
Prediction- Le Banner by knockout
Le Banners time is running out and I really don’t think they could have picked a better guy for him to fight in the first round to get him motivated. Hopefully he’s made the most of his year off, but if he comes in rusty he could suffer another embarrassing defeat to Sawayashiki. However, I think Le Banner will come in with a lot of intent and tear Junichi to shreds.

Gokhan Saki vs Ray Sefo
Prediction- Saki on points
Like Musashi, Sefo appears to be past his best and the young up and comer Saki should prove more youthful in this fight. Sefo is a dangerous man though and, like Musashi, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go through to the final eight but  I’m not picking him to win this fight. Saki to frustrate Sefo and maybe even stop him.

Glaube Feitosa vs Errol Zimmerman
Prediction- Zimmerman by knockout
From what I’ve seen of Zimmerman I think he’ll go far in this tournament. I think Feitosa, while extremely dangerous, is just one of the guys in his way. Like all of these fights with the new blood against the veterans I think Feitosa stands a great chance but I think Zimmerman will pepper him early and then finish big stopping him in the third round.

Remy Bonjasky vs Paul Slowinski
Prediction- Bonjasky by knockout
Slowinski has had another tough draw, this time drawing the second favourite to win the lot. I can’t see him beating Bonjasky who will be a real threat to Schilt or Aerts should he get through his first two fights unscathed. Bonjasky will go through Slowinski like a warm knife through butter. I can see this one ending with a first round knockout.

Musashi vs Ewerton Teixera
Prediction- Teixera by knockout
Even with just six fights I think Musashi is done as a top level fighter. I’d like to see him win his way through to the final eight, but I don’t think he will. Teixera is a gamble because of his inexperience and it could well be Aerts vs Sawayashiki all over again, but I don’t like Musashi’s chances in this fight.

Badr Hari vs Hong Man Choi
Prediction- Hari on points
Well if Hari’s size is going to be an issue in him under performing, we’re going to find out tonight. he’s facing the biggest fucker on the Earth with any real sort of ability to fight. Along with whoever wins out of Aerts-Schilt and Bonjasky I think Hari is the other guy with a real shot to win the whole thing (although I think Zimmerman is the real dark horse of this event). Hari should be able to get inside of Hari safely and outwork him on the inside to take a decision. It might go into extra rounds, but I think Hari will win nonetheless. Hari by close decision.

Peter Aerts vs Semmy Schilt
Prediction- Aerts on points
Yeah I’m crazy I know, but I think Aerts can win this. It sucks they gave him Schilt in the first round, but I think it’ll suck more for Schilt. Some records are meant to be broken, but some guys are just freaks who continue to defy the rules and I think Aerts falls into that category and will again qualify for the Final event. Aerts put up a good showing in their final fight in 2006 and I think without the previous fights of the night behind him, he could very well cause an upset and keep Schilt on the backfoot all fight. Either way, this should be fight of the night.

DREAM.6 post fight thoughts

DREAM.6 took place on Tuesday and I think everyone agrees that it didn’t live up to expectations. The tournament went down without a hitch though, but the rest of the fights left a sour taste in the mouths of most fans. Then to add to all of this, the ratings were something like half of what the DREAM people expected them to be, meaning this could be the end of high quality Japanese MMA. In my opinion anyway, MMA won’t be the same without the crazy Japanese woman screaming the fighters names out as they enter the ring on the giant ramp. It won’t be the same without the 10 minute first round (which I think all MMA should have) or the PRIDE/DREAM scoring system which I think works better in MMA then the 10 point must system ever will. Anyway enough mourning; onto the fights:

Mousasi wins the Grand Prix
Gegard Mousasi won a tournament that lasted less then five minutes total with a triangle choke over Melvin Manhoef and an upkick knockout over Ronaldo Jacare. Earlier in the night Jacare eliminated Galesic with an armbar in a little over a minute but in the final he shows he’s still got a bit of work to do. I’m sure he’ll be back better, but he seems to have a very suspect chin and could struggle against guys he can’t take down who can strike.
I had a bitch after the last DREAM event that the best fighter doesn’t usually win the tournaments, well that can’t be said about this one. Mousasi beat Denis Kang who was probably the favourite before it started in the first round, Yoon Dong-sik in the quarter finals, then the two guys who a lot of people picked to be in the final in Melvin Manhoef and Jacare in just over one and two minutes respectively. Mousasi is definately a top ten middleweight after this. He’s had a good run since he was eliminated by Akhiro Gono in the second PRIDE Bushido Welterweight (Middleweight) Grand Prix and with these four impressive wins in under a year he has definately proved he’s one of the better guys in the World. I’m not saying he’s going to challenge Anderson Silva or anything, but I’d definately like to see him fight someone like Trigg or Misaki if he were to fight in the USA and if the UFC signs him after DREAM goes under I’d be all for that as well. Oh yeah before I forget, who did I pick to win the tournament again?

Overeem “Golota’s” Cro Cop
The reference might be lost on some of you hardcore MMA fans but in the mid 90s there were two fights between former Undisputed Heavyweight Champion Riddick Bowe and up and comer Andrew Golota. In both fights Golota beat the dog shit out of Bowe, and then both times got himself disqualified for low blows when Bowe was basically ready to go. The same thing happened here.
Overeem is a fucking monster at 240lbs and he monstered Cro Cop. He beat him standing up and he battered him on the ground. The referee was disgraceful as he repeatedly stood the fighters up and gave Mirko a chance to win. The fight shouldn’t have been stood up at all. Mirko was cut over both eyes and taking a beating so Overeem starts kneeing him in the balls. He only got called for two of them, but there was at least one other clear nut shot and half a dozen border line at best shots that I saw. In my opinion Overeem should have been disqualified because he was warned and then went right back to doing it again. The fight was ruled a no contest and I (as well as probably everyone) was left thinking ‘well that sucked.’ It always sucks when the matchup of the night ends like that. I’d like to see them fight again but I’d also like to see Cro Cop retire because he hasn’t got it anymore.

Kharitonov vs some guy after Mighty Mo pulled out
The other match I was looking forward to was Sergei Kharitonov vs K-1 veteran Mighty Mo. Mighty Mo apparently got injured in training and pulled out at the last minute which was totally lame. Sergei then faced some guy I hadn’t heard of and beat him up.

Japanese fights
Probably the best non tournament fight of the night was Hayato Sakurai and Kuniyoshi Hironaka. Sakurai worked him over and won a unanimous decision. Sakurai looked good, but he really should be fighting lightweights. There was a noticeable size difference between the two of them and against someone who knows how to throw a punch he could be in trouble again. With KJ Noons out of EliteXC’s lightweight title picture, a fight between these two could be very interesting.
Funaki submitted The Punk with a heel hook a lot quicker then I expected but I got it right nonetheless. The Punk was stupid enough to wear shoes against a leg lock master and got punished for it.
Shinya Aoki won by rear naked neck crank.

All in all, the card didnt live up to expectations and I hope DREAM doesn’t go under before they put on another show. Maybe a show with Fedor on it for New Years Eve will be the thing they need to bring themselves out of trouble. Fedor was there and said he will be fighting in Japan on New Years Eve. Hopefully after this freakshow match (and I doubt it’ll be anything less and DILLIGAF) he’ll fight Arlovski (who’s been added to the EliteEX show next weekend against Roy Nelson) or Barnett.

DREAM.6 this week

The long awaited conclusion to the DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix takes place this week (on Tuesday or Wednesday, whenever the 23rd is) and they’ve got some big names on the card. The return of PRIDE 2004 GP Semi Finalist Sergei Kharitonov who takes on K-1 star Mighty Mo as well as a highly anticipated matchup between Mirko Cro Cop and Alistair Overeem; not to mention the tournament semi finals and final! Then throw in fights with Japanese stars Hayato Sakurai, Shinya Aoki and a good matchup between PRIDE Bushido star Ikuhisa ‘The Punk’ Minowa, fresh off a win over UFC legend Don Frye, and Pancrase Legend Masakatsu Funaki and this is a very solid card. Let’s hope this isn’t DREAM’s last hurrah as the death of quality Japanese MMA would make things a little boring.

The Tournament
The four finalists in this tournament are Ronaldo Jacare, Gegard Mousasi, Melvin Manhoef and Zelg Galesic. A lot of people think Jacare is a shoe-in to take this title, not me. Pure submission guys tend to struggle in one night tournaments against quality opposition. My pick for this tournament is Mousasi because he’s the most well-rounded of all of the finalists.
I think he’ll submit Manhoef and then out point a weary Jacare in the final. Should Jacare have an easy nights work with Galesic (which I don’t think he will) then he should win this tournament. Galesic is a dangerous guy and I think he’ll take a lot out of the submission wrestling legend and Mousasi will be too fresh for him. There is a possibility that Mousasi is stupid enough to trade with Manhoef and get knocked out, in which case Jacare will rape him in the final no matter what condition he’s in.
Jacare is the best fighter out of these four and he would probably win the whole thing if he faced Manhoef in the first round and let Galesic and Mousasi kick the shit out of each other, but the draw favours Mousasi should he fight smart against Manhoef and put him on his back. So I think Jacare will win a gruelling battle on points against Galesic, Mousasi will submit Manhoef early and then out point Jacare in the final. There is also the possibility that the winner of the alternate bout between Yoon Dong-sik and Andrews Nakahara (Dong-sik should win this one) could win this tournament should someone get injured like last time.

Mirko Cro Cop vs Alistair Overeem
The saying goes ‘be careful what you wish for’ and that fits this scenario 100%. Overeem has been calling out Cro Cop for a long time. Cro Cop has fighting porrly for a good 18 months. The way Overeem has constantly called him out makes me think that Cro Cop will be taking this very seriously. I really think Cro Cop is going to brutalise Overeem and knock him out sometime during the first 10 minute period. Cro Cop is the bigger and stronger man and while Overeem may be the better technical striker, I think Cro Cop will simply overpower him. I’m really looking forward to this fight.

Sergei Kharitonov vs Mighty Mo
Kharitonov is an excellent boxer with great ground skills and wicked ground and pound. Mighty Mo is (was?) a world class kick boxer with little MMA experience. While Mighty Mo definately has the edge standing up, Kharitonov will dismantle him with ease when this fight hits the ground. We’ve seen Kharitonov in this situation before at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 when he faced future three time K-1 Grand Prix winner Semmy Schilt. Kharitonov took him down and beat him up until the fight was stopped. In Mighty Mo, Kharitonov faces a lesser kick boxer with a lot less MMA experience. This should be a cake walk for Kharitonov and I think he’ll win by either ground and pound or via submission within five minutes.

Ikuhisa Minowa vs Masakatsu Funaki
Its hard to figure out what Funaki has left. The two guys he’s fought in his comeback have both been better then Minowa (those two being Kiyoshi Tamura and Kazushi Sakuraba), but he’s been beaten up in both of those fights. Both guys are very good at submitting weaker foes, especially Minowa who really seems to be a gatekeeper in modern MMA. If you don’t know how to defend a submission, in particular a leglock, ‘The Punk’ will likely catch you in one. I’m picking Funaki in this fight because I think his recent outings have been more due to his opposition and I think he’s got enough left in the tank to make ‘The Punk’ tap out. This ending could be nasty as neither guy likes to submit, and I couldn’t imagine either wanting to tap out to the other guy. Expect a broken arm, leg or someone to go out as the way this fight ends.

Kuniyoshi Hironaka vs Hayato Salurai
 Recent UFC fighter Hironaka takes on Japanese legend Hayato Sakurai in another interesting all-Japanese battle. Hironaka has God awful stand-up and I think thats where Sakurai will win this fight. Sakurai is very well rounded for the type of fighter that he is and as long as he doesn’t have one of his extremely off nights that he’s famous for I think he’ll knock Kuniyoshi out. I mean if Jonathon Goulet is beating you on the feet then you know your stand-up is below par.

Shinya Aoki returns
Apparently Aoki is on the card as well against some no name American. I can’t imagine he’d be given a hard fight in his return.

UFC Fight Night: Diaz vs Neer Predictions

I haven’t got time to do a big breakdown of all of these fights, basically I think Diaz’s ground game will be too much for Neer to handle, Alexander will get tapped out as soon as the fight hits the ground, Guida will be too well-rounded for Danzig and is too much for him at this stage and Lauzon will tear Bradley a new one.

Main Card
Nate Diaz vs Josh Neer
Prediction- Diaz submission 2nd round

Houston Alexander vs Eric Schafer
Prediction- Schafer submission 1st round

Mac Danzig vs Clay Guida
Prediction- Guida on points

Kyle Bradley vs Joe Lauzon
Prediction- Lauzon knockout 2nd round

Alan Belcher vs Ed Herman
Prediction- Belcher on points

Wilson Gouveia vs Ryan Jensen
Prediction- Gouveia submission 2nd round

Preliminary Card
Mike Massenzio vs Drew McFedries
Prediction- McFedries knockout 1st round

Alessio Sakara vs Joe Vedepo
Prediction- Sakara knockout 1st round

Rob Kimmons vs Dan Miller
Prediction- Miller on points

Jason Britz vs Brad Morris
Prediction- Britz on points

This week in Boxing (13th September)

Juan Diaz outfights Katsidis
Juan Diaz won a 12 round split decision over Michael Katsidis for the vacant IBO title last weekend. Katsidis fought a good fight but the difference between the two fighters was that Diaz is a lot more technically sound and doesn’t rely solely on his power. However despite his 2nd consecutive loss, Katsidis was impressive particularily in his attitude after the fight. When asked if he thinks he should take a softer touch in his next fight, he responded with something to the tune of (I can’t find the exact quote ’its a 17 hour flight to the USA from Australia so I don’t want to come all this way for a soft touch.’
On the undercard Rocky Juarez stopped Jorge Barrios in round 11 of a junior featherweight contest. I haven’t seen this fight because we didn’t get it on the coverage down here.

Khan KTFO, Cook wins title
Amir Khan got exactly what he deserved for thinking that his fights are pay per view material and got KTFO (KTFO is ‘knocked the fuck out’for any NOOBs out there) in the first minute of his fight by unknown Argentinian and 9-1 underdog Breidis Prescott. I only wish that this would happen to certain Australian fighters who think their mismatches are worthy of $50 PPV prices. Now I did like Khan from the Olympics and I’d hoped he did well as a pro, but you’ve got to earn PPV slots, not just put yourself on one because you think you’re that good. Khan needs to go back to fighting on undercards against guys who will make him work and make him learn and then earn his spot. On the undercard Nicky Cook won a 12 round decision over Alex Arthur to take his WBO 130lb title.

Week of lightweights sort of ruined
Joan Guzman has failed to make weight for his fight with Nate Campbell. The fight is still on, but it won’t be for any titles and it has the potential to throw a massive spanner in the works of the best division in boxing if Guzman manages to win. With Marquez fighting Casamayor for his linear title this weekend as well, it had the potential to set-up a major fight between the winners of those two fights. Now we have to hope Campbell wins his fight for anyone to be that interested in seeing the Casamayor-Marquez winner take him on. I think Guzman will still be too classy and frustrate the very inconsistant Campbell en route to winning a decision. In the other fight I’m picking Marquez to outwork Casamayor, but its a very tight fight to call.

Other fights this weekend
And theres a lot of them. First, Sergio Mora rematches with Vernon Forrest for the WBC 154lb title. I think Forrest will come out with something to prove in this fight and he needs to because a loss will probably be the end of the line for him. I’m picking Forrest to win inside the distance in this fight. Forrest KO10.
Andreas Kotelnik also makes his first defence of his WBA 140lb title, taking on Norio Kimura. With a name like Kimura I’m surprised he didn’t get into Judo instead of boxing. I’ve not heard of Kimura or know anything about him, so I assume Kotelnik beats him, probably over the 12 rounds.
Even though theres like 10 ‘world titles’ up for grabs this weekend, I’m only going to comment on the Timothy Bradley fight as well. He takes on dangerous but limited lightweight Edner Cherry in the first defence of his WBC world junior welterweight title. Despite only a 50% KO ratio, Cherry can punch. He could take the title if Bradley makes a mistake. I think Bradley will handle him pretty easily as he is a class above him. Bradley via 12 round unanimous decision.

Props to fightlinker.com for Tanner coverage

This maybe didn’t deserve a full new post, but I wanted to say props to fightlinker for the respect they showed Evan Tanner in devoting an entire day of posts to his death. I am a big fan of their site even though I don’t post or comment much (or at all, can’t remember if I’ve ever actually commented over there) but they went and reposted every article written about the former UFC Middleweight Champion and it was awesome to be able to read through all of those and remember the times I enjoyed reading his blog. If anyone out there who has had Evan on their minds a bit like I have go to www.fightlinker.com and look through their ‘older shit’ back a few pages and read over some of their stuff. Trust me it’s well worth it. Thanks guys.

Did the Hopoate fight suck or is it just me?

I’m always very firm in my stance on issues in boxing. There are times when people will make me see the other way and I’m always the first to admit when I’m wrong. On Wednesday night I was roped into watching the Australian heavyweight title fight between ex-Rugby League player John Hopoate and Australian veteran ‘Big’ Bob Mirovic at my local pub by my mates. This fight had a bit of a hype behind it and for some reason was shown on pay per view (thats another issue for another day). What I saw was easily the worst main event I’ve ever seen on a pay per view broadcast, which when I’ve checked the various message boards I lurk around in from time to time is in complete contrast to everyone elses opinion. This has really left me wondering where people set their standards or if it’s just me who thought this fight made Holyfield-Ruiz look like Castillo-Corrales?

The fight basically consisted of Mirovic doing nothing but tying up Hopoate and letting him fight the fight he had to in order to win the fight. Mirovic is usually very good at controlling the center of the ring, yet he was contempt to go to the ropes in this fight and let Hopoate wail away at him with his right hand (note that’s not an exaggeration or anything, Hopoate threw basically nothing but overhand rights until he strung a few punches together at the end and knocked Bob out with a left hook). The few times that Mirovic did back Hopoate up, he made him look very ordinary. I really don’t see where the quality in this fight lay? The action was sporadic at best with Hopoate winging wild right hand after wild right hand and Mirovic doing nothing but holding and throwing shots in the clinch. Yet both commentators labelled the fight as ‘the best heavyweight fight in the last 10 years.’ Yet you only have to go back to the Nathan Briggs vs Colin Wilson bout last Friday to find a better heavyweight scrap.

My theory on the whole thing is that Australian boxing promoters are trying to attract more fans from Rugby League. Thats why John Hopoate and Solomon Haumono have headlined pay per view events. Thats why that moron Andy Raymond who’s a Rugby League commentator with as much boxing knowledge as my left toe always commentates Australian Boxing outside of the Mundine shows. Thats why these so called experts are always talking up the Rugby League players and not rating them purely on their ability (or lack thereof) and their fights. Thats why we have people who don’t deserve to be on top flight professional cards like Lance Thompson end up as co main events on pay per view cards.

It seems boxing can’t survive as a proper sport in this country without having to resort to attracting the average moron from Rugby League as a fan. I find it completely insulting that hardworking top flight Australian boxers are looked over in favour of rugby league fans. If boxing in Australia is going to survive it needs to be because of the sport itself. There are plenty of good fighters out there, there just isn’t enough exposure to them. Boxing needs free to air coverage for domestic cards like there is in other countries and it needs it’s journalists to grow some balls and say it how it is. They need to bag Mundine when he fights a bum and they need to say Hopoate’s fight was shit when it was shit.

Nazi Josef Goebbels said ‘the bigger the lie the mroe people will believe it.’ That line fits this situation well here. The pay per view in Australian domestic boxing has to stop. When Mundine fights you get idiots like Barry Michael talking up this average Argentinian who got gifted a shot at the World title as a legitimate contender and the public soaks it up. When Hopoate and Mirovic wrestle for 9 and a half rounds and do a bit of boxing on the side you get Paul Upham and Fuck Face Andy Raymond saying it was the greatest heavyweight fight in recent memory. If people are going to to take boxing seriously they need to sell boxing for the boxing and not for the sideshow. They need to get some proper experts who aren’t going to suck the promoters cock like Andy Raymond as commentators and they need to put boxing back on free to air. And most importantly, they need to stop showing garbage like Mirovic vs Hopoate on pay per view and then try and convince the public it was a great fight!

RIP Evan Tanner

For those of you who didn’t know, Evan Tanner died of exposure in the desert sometime in the last few days. He was out camping in the desert with the bare essentials and his motorbike broke down, he tried to walk back to civilisation but never made it. Tanner was probably my favourite MMA fighter. When I watched him fight I always wanted him to win more then any other fighter I like to watch, so I guess that makes him my favourite. There are other guys who I really enjoy watching fight, but if any of them fought Tanner I’d be going for Tanner.
I read Tanners blog for about 18 months. When he started the ‘Team Tanner’ idea, I bought some merchandise off him mainly because I needed the clothing and Tanner wanted the fans to support him so I thought I’d help out. Evan Tanner personally signed a card for me and sent me a thank you E-mail for buying ‘Team Tanner’ clothing off of his website and I talked to him over a few E-mails after he did this. Evan Tanner was an amazing and inspirational guy. The way he quit his alcohol addiction is amazing. I consider Tanner a role model, not because he lived a clean life or was a perfect man, but because he was who he was and he wasn’t afraid to admit it. I will definately miss reading his blog each week, all of his posts were interesting and entertaining and I’ve been addicted to it over the last year or so.
I feel for anyone who personally knew Evan because as sad as I am now, it could only be worse for people who actually knew the man personally.

BELIEVE in the POWER of ONE
RIP Evan Tanner