Gago Drago showed up in form on Tuesday night and advanced to the Final 8 in place of one of the heavy favourites in last years semi finalist Yoshihiro Sato via unanimous decision after an extra round. Drago has been eliminated by the champion before the final in the last three years; losing to Buakaw in the 2006 semi finals, Andy Souwer in the 2007 quarter finals and Masato in the 2008 Final 8. The fight was won by determination and conditioning as both fighters traded evenly over the first three rounds before a three minute assault by the Armenian in the extra round sent him through to the quarter finals in July.
Sato set the pace early, tattooing Drago with kicks to the legs and body as well as timing Drago’s rushes with knee strkes to the midsection. Drago had several good moments of his own in the first round, landing several stiff overhand rights as well as a hard uppercut in the second half of the fight that kept the round even. The pace increased in the 2nd round although the pattern of the fight remained the same. Sato continued to outbox Drago early in the round before Drago landed several heavy shots to keep things even. In the 2nd, Drago scored frequently with his high kick as well as two vicious leg kicks designed to slow the two time K-1 MAX Japan champion down. Nothing could seperate the two warriors in the third round however as Drago raised his hands in victory, Sato looked gassed after three rounds.
As expected the fight was sent to an extra round after all three judges scored every round even (you’d have to have serious bias to score it to one fighter or the other). If you watched the extra round and then the other three, you wouldn’t have believed it was from the same fight. Drago immediately pounced on the fatigued Sato and punished him for three minutes. Sato was struggling to keep his hands up and could only push his punches out as Drago repeatedly hammered him with heavy right hands. Sato was game to the end, but couldn’t find the energy to deal with the rampaging Drago and all three judges awarded the extra round to Drago and his spot in the Final 8.
Nieky ‘The Natural” Holtzken advanced in the co main event with a three round majority decision win over K-1 Rookie Chahid. Very little seperated the fighters in the first round with Holzken using hi superior reach and speed to score with clean combinations while the compact Chahid bulled his way inside where he worked both sides of Holtzkens legs as well as scoring with punching combinations to the head. Holtzken pulled ahead after the 2nd round, stunning Chahid briefly with a left hook and scoring with the cleaner and harder shots. The third round was very even again, as both guys let their strikes go but neither could score a clear advantage. One judge scored the bout a draw with the other two scoring it for Holtzken in a fight that realistically should have gone a 4th.
Three of K-1′s former champions also advanced to the Final 8 in July. Andy Souwer, the 2005 and 2007 champion, was given a good fight by Leroy Kaetsner but two first round knockdowns was too much for the Peter Aerts trained Kaestner to overcome. The fight was close throughout much of it, but Souwer’s experience and ability to capitilise on the openings given to him was the difference and he took a three round unanimous decision. 2004 and 2006 champion Buakaw Por. Pramuk’s night wasn’t nearly as easy against Andre Dida. Dida shocked everyone scoring a knockdown via a left hook in the opening minute of the fight. For the rest of the round he pursued Buakaw but despite landing some solid right hands, couldn’t put the former champion away. The rest of the fight was a different story as Buakaw punished Dida with knees to the body as well as his deadly kicks to the legs and midsection. After three rounds the judges scored the fight a draw meaning the fatigued Dida had to endure another three minutes of Buakaw’s fury. He held on, but the extra round was all Buakaw and a point deduction against Dida for holding made the decision easy for the judges and Buakaw procedes to the Final 8 for the sixth year in a row. The original K-1 MAX champion Albert Kraus made light work of Yuichiro Nagashima (who had the most bizarre walk in I’ve ever seen). Known more for his flamboyant personality rather then fight skill, Yuichiro was dropped by Kraus less then a minute into the fight before finishing him with a deadly assault of punches on the ropes at the 69 second mark. After falling short against Buakaw last year in the Final 16, it’s good to have ‘The Hurricane’ in the Final 8 this year and with his now seven fight winning streak, he has a serious shot at the crown.
In a fight that will likely provide cannon fodder for one of the other Final 8 members, 2009 K-1 MAX Japan runner-up Yuya Yamamoto outpointed K-1 MAX Korea champion Chi Bin Lim over three rounds. Lim took the early lead over Yamamoto, who was a late substitute for the injured Taishin Kohiruimaki, scoring with sharp combinations on the inside. Lim seemed to be leading in the 2nd round as well until he was dropped by a spinning back fist which gave Yamamoto an advantage after two rounds. The third round saw very little seperate the two combatants and was ruled a draw, giving the decision to Yamamoto. I’ll be very surprised if Yamamoto makes the Final.
Last years Finalist Artur Kyshenko advanced earlier on the card with a devastating first round knockout victory against overmatched Alviar Lima. Lima opened the fight fast, but soon tasted the Ukranian’s power and was down in the first minute. Kyshenko picked his shots from there on scoring a standing eight count late in the round before a further barrage finished Lima off. The card was opened up by Giorgio Petrosyans stoppage win over dangerous Dzhabor Askervov. Petrosyan controlled the first round from the outside, using a variety of boxing combinations as well as a well timed body kick and leaping rear knee to pepper Askerov all while skillfully avoiding his return fire. After an accidental groin kick by Askerov at the start of the 2nd, Petrosyan fought him on the inside and continued to get the better of just about every exchange. Scoring with uppercuts, body rips and knees to the head, the young Italian was too slick for the semi finalist of ‘The Contender.’ Early in the third, Petrosyan went to sweep Askerov’s legs and after knocking him off balance, he ended the night with a perfect knee to the liver that Askerov was unable to recover from.
(I’m fully aware that the card took place nearly a week ago but US viewers didn’t get it until Friday so that’s why this was put off for a week).
