The K-1 website is reporting that dates of the first K-1 Events for the New Year. On the 23rd February the Japan MAX Qualifying Tournament will take place at Yoyogi Stadium. Usually on the card is an eight man tournament with the winner of the tournament earning a spot in the K-1 MAX Final 16 in April. Also there will be a handful of super fights between top K-1 MAX fighters. Rumoured to be on the card so far is last years semi finalists Yoshihiro Sato, as well as quarter finalists Buakaw, Drago and Yasuhiro Kido. None of these guys will be in the tournament as they have a direct pass to the Final 16 for making the Final 8 last year, however a few candidates to compete in the tournament are also rumoured to be on the card. Andy Ologun, Andre Dida, TATSUJI, Kozo Takeda, Taishin Kohiruimaki, HAYATO and Yuya Yamamoto are 7 of the likely candidates mentioned on the K-1 site so far.
The other event featured on the website looks to be pretty good. There’s no implications as far as the Grand Prix goes, but the Yokohama event (which will be held March 28th) usually features a good number of quality super fights and with the rumoured fighters so far this year should be no different. The return of Semmy Schilt, Badr Hari (could likely be fighting Kimbo Slice if last years rumours are anything to go off), Jerome Le Banner, Hong Man Choi, Ruslan Karaev, Gokhan Saki, Junichi Sawayashiki and Ewerton Teixera are mentioned (without opponents so far) as the combatants for the March event. Out of those eight fighters, only four of them (Karaev, Saki, Teixera and Le Banner) have a guaranteed spot in the Final 16, so the other four could be getting some ring time in before competing on one of the Qualifying Events later in the year.
Here’s how the K-1 Final 16 is shaping up for 2009:
1- Remy Bonjasky
2- Gokhan Saki
3- Ewerton Teixera
4- Errol Zimmerman
5- Peter Aerts
6- Ruslan Karaev
7- Jerome Le Banner
8- (Not sure how this spot will be filled, Badr Hari would normally fill it but as part of his punishment for stomping Bonjasky he won’t this year. Either they’ll add in a 5th Qualifier or let the fans pick five spots).
9- Amsterdam Qualifying Event Winner (apparently will be held May 16th)
10- Qualifying Event Winner #2
11- Qualifying Event Winner #2
12- Qualifying Event Winner #3
13- Fan Pick #1
14- Fan Pick #2
15- Fan Pick #3
16- Fan Pick #4
I find it very unlikely that Schilt will get voted in so I think we’ll see him in Qualifying action this year as I doubt he’ll want to risk his spot in the Final 16 on his popularity. Badr Hari I’m unsure of. The fans might still love him but then again they might hate him a lot for the disrespect he showed the sport in December. I think he’ll likely fight in a Qualifier just in case as well. With Alistair Overeem’s win over Hari at the New Years Eve show (sorry for lack of coverage on that, time was a big issue in that and it’s a bit pointless me doing anything on it anymore), maybe he’ll want to try his luck in the K-1 WGP this year? Melvin Manhoef is another man who might also enter this year and one who has a good chance at getting voted in after highlight reel KO wins over Mark Hunt (MMA rules) and Paul Slowinski (K-1 Rules) in December. Hong Man Choi though I’m sure will get voted into the Final 16, as will Ray Sefo.
These are also late, but even more then boxing these had to be left until the new year so all the events could be done and everything taken into consideration. As it turns out, a few of the last few events of the year won some awards.
Fight of the Year- Eddie Alvarez TKO 1 (7:35) Tatsuya Kawajiri (DREAM.5)
This fight took place in the semi finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix and a cut suffered by Alvarez in winning this fight left him unable to continue in the tournament marking the way for alternate Joachim Hansen, the man Alvarez beat in the Quarter Finals, to fight in and win the Final against Shinya Aoki. Both fighters traded heavy shots on their feet throughout the fight and both fighters were knocked down. Alvarez dropped Kawajiri with a left hook-right cross about three minutes in but he used good survival skills to get himself out of trouble. After the doctors ruled Alvarez’s cut was okay to continue, Kawajiri dropped him heavily with a right hand and then passed his guard and mounted him. Alvarez escaped the mount and got back to his feet where both guys traded heavy shots and hurt each other more then once. Alvarez then pinned Kawajiri against the ropes and dropped him again, took his back and finished him with heavy strikes to the head. I picked this fight over some of the other ones on the list because it was fast paced for the full distance of the fight unlike some of the other candidates this year and because the whole way through the fight you had no idea who was going to win. If you haven’t seen the fight, here it is:
Honourable Mentions- Miguel Torres TKO3 Yoshiro Maeda (WEC 34), Forrest Griffin UD5 Rampage Jackson (UFC 86), Eddie Alvarez UD (15 mins) Joachim Hansen (DREAM.3).
Fighter of the Year- Gegard Mousasi This might come as a strange pick to some people, but the big factor in this pick was that he went 6-0 this year (plus his victory under K-1 rules against MUSASHI) and four of those wins were against decent opposition in winning the DREAM Middleweight Tournament. After winning two fights early in the year (one over PRIDE veteran Evangelista Cyborg), Mousasi entered the Grand Prix as one of the dark horses. Matched up against PRIDE 2006 Welterweight Grand Prix Runner-up Denis Kang in the first round of the tournament, Mousasi’s triangle choke victory came as a big upset to most people. A workman-like decision win over Dong Sik Yoon in the Quarter Finals earned him his spot in the Final Event where he had to face Melvin Manhoef in the Semi Finals, and then fight again on the same night to win the title. Most were expecting a Manhoef-Ronaldo Jacare final, but Mousasi had other ideas, scoring a victory again via triangle choke in 88 seconds over the feared striker. Facing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu expert Jacare in the Final, Mousasi ended up on his back early, but at the 2:15 mark of the first round a dramatic upkick followed up by punches with Jacare in his guard left his Brazilian opponent unconscious and made Gegard Mousasi the new DREAM Middleweight Champion. Some of the other fighters (particularily in the UFC) scored bigger wins this year, but all of them fought only twice this year and you can question the level of some of their wins. While some of Mousasi’s opponents certainly wouldn’t make it in the UFC, going 6-0 against that sort of competition is very impressive stuff. I definately don’t think he’d beat Anderson Silva or anything like that so save your time from writing some idiotic comment saying Silva would crush him or whatever because that’s not what this is about. It’s about which fighter accomplished the most in the calendar year and it was in my opinion Gegard Mousasi. Honourable Mentions- Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Georges St Pierre.
Knockout of the Year- Rampage Jackson KO1 (left hook) Wanderlei Silva (UFC 92) This knockout just edged out Rashad Evans knocking out Chuck Liddell. I almost made it a tie, but then I measured my closet and realised I wasn’t big enough to fit into it so I could come out of it after making it a tie and acted like a man and made the pick. I think the deciding factor was the importance of the knockout for Rampage in this fight after avenging two brutal KO losses to Silva from their PRIDE days with an equally if not more devastating KO win himself. I would put a clip of the KO up, but ZUFFA are pricks about this sort of thing and don’t allow any of their fights to be on youtube so I’ll have to describe it. Wanderlei attacked Rampage while he was near the fence and threw a left hook-right hook combo. Rampage countered the left hook with a tighter one of his own and caught Wanderlei square on the jaw with his own hook putting him out cold right away while he was in the middle of throwing his own shot. Rampage then followed it up with two or three shots while Wanderlei was out. Both Rampage and Rashad will likely fight for the belt later this year and hopefully we’ll see another KO of the year candidate (and hopefully it’s Rashad who is on the receiving end). Honourable Mentions- Rashad Evans KO2 (overhand right) Chuck Liddell (UFC 88), Wanderlei Silva KO1 (rape choke + right hands from mount) Keith Jardine (UFC 84), Anthony Johnson KO3 (left high kick) Kevin Burns (TUF8 Finale).
Submission of the Year- Shinya Aoki Sub1 (5:12)(Aokiplata/Gogoplata from mount) Katsuhiko Nagata (DREAM.4) I watched this about 50 times in a row after I saw it. It was so cool it has to be given it’s own name and I will from now on refer to this as the Aokiplata no matter how much my friend who has done Jiu Jitsu longer then me tells me that the gogoplata was originally done from the mount before the guard and that the one he did on Hansen should therefore be the Aokiplata because I think he’s wrong. Anyway, unlike KO of the year, I have a clip, so I’ll shut up and you can enjoy:
Honourable Mentions- Dustin Hazelett Sub2 (Flying Armbar from Whizzer) Josh Burkman (TUF7 Finale), Dustin Hazelett Sub1 (Cutting Armbar against his own leg) Tamdan McCrory, Demian Maia Sub2 (Triangle Choke from Mount + Punches) Ed Herman (UFC 83).
Event of the Year- UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 (December 27th)
The UFC stacked their last show and it proved to be the best event of the year. On the card we had two title fights between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir for the UFC interim Heavyweight title and Rashad Evans challenging Forrest Griffin for the UFC Light Heavyweight title in the main event. Also on the card was a fight featuring one of the best grudges in MMA between Rampage Jackson and Wanderlei Silva; one that has been around for more then five years since before their first bout at PRIDE Final Conflict 2003. Thw two other fights that filled up the main card saw an excellent knockout by Cheick Kongo over Mustafa Al Turk as well as a great Middleweight battle between CB Dollaway and Mike Massenzio. The UFC put six of it’s top starts against each other in fights that had plenty of impact on their respective divisions as well as plenty of impact in future fights that can be made. This card had great matchups that turned into great fights, upsets plus some great finishes and you really can’t ask for anything more (other then the odd submission). Honourable Mentions- Affliction: Banned, UFC 81: Breaking Point, UFC 84: Ill Will.
Performance of the Year- Fedor Emelianenko Sub1 (36 seconds) Tim Sylvia (Affliction: Banned) There was a lot of hype around Fedor’s return to US soil and him fighting his (apparent) first ‘real’ opponent in former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Plenty of people thought that Fedor was all hype and no skill and the new promotion he represented, Affliction, depended on him to prove them wrong in order to succeed. That he did. After a brief feeling out process off about 10 seconds, Fedor dropped Sylvia with a series of big punches, battered him on the ground with even heavier punches, took his back and made him tap with a rear naked choke. It was easily the most you could dominate someone in just 36 seconds. Anyone who wasn’t impressed by Fedor in this fight is an idiot and I really don’t care what anyone has to say about it. Fact of the matter is he’s the best Heavyweight in the World until someone beats him. Guess what, I found a clip of it as well:
Honourable Mentions- Anderson Silva Sub2 Dan Henderson (UFC 81), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92), Georges St Pierre TKO2 Matt Serra (UFC 83).
Upset of the Year- Mike Brown TKO1 Urijah Faber (WEC 36) Faber was easily the top Featherweight in the World and was considered miles ahead of anyone else. He was a top pound for pound fighter as well and no one expected him to lose anytime soon. Mike Brown was a former UFC competitor (he had one fight and got tapped out by Genki Sudo) who had only lost to top fighters and usually fought at Lightweight. While a respectable fighter no one really thought he standed much of a chance with Faber. Two minutes 23 seconds later he had caught Faber with a big right hand as Faber attempted a spinning elbow and rained down punches until the referee pulled him off. I didn’t even bother watching this fight until I saw the result (plus I would have had a hard time finding it online because they broadcast fuckall down under in terms of MMA) because I thought this would be business as usual for Faber. None of the other upsets this year come close to that one.
Honourable Mentions- Junior dos Santos KO1 Fabricio Werdum (UFC 90), Rashad Evans KO2 (UFC 88), Frank Mir TKO2 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC 92).
Before I get onto some of the lesser more comical awards, I’m going to explain my lack of a round of the year award. I prefer the Japanese 1 10 min/1-2 5 min rounds because I think MMA is a sport that doesn’t need rounds. It’s a proper fight and while I don’t care about having rounds as much as I care about say stand-ups and while I understand that they allow more fights to get sanctioned and make some fights more exciting, I still prefer the fighters to go for as long as they can for a round or two then a couple of shorter rounds at the end so I will not include a round of the year. If I did have one I’d give it to Alvarez-Kawajiri because it ended in the first round even though that round was 10 minutes long.
Now, seeing how MMA isn’t as old as boxing, these are all going to be completely new and made up awards named after whoever wins them as I go remembering some of the funnier moments of the year.
Shonie Carter Award for Best Referee Stoppage/- Shonie Carter (Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker)
Bryan/Parker Award for Double KO of the Year- Tyler Bryan vs Shaun Parker And here it is:
Just a prior warning, the next few awards go to EliteXC for their ‘Heat’ show, so make sure you have a bucket handy.
Shamrock/Kimbo Award for Most Entertaining Weigh-in of the Year- EliteXC: Heat This weigh-in had two big feuds that almost flared up as well as some nudity from someone not quite as ugly as Kimbo Slice. Undercard attraction and probably the most well known female MMA fighter Gina Carano failed to make weight for like the 4th time in her MMA career but instead of letting it go like what has happened in the past, EliteXC officials made her strip all the way to see if the limited clothing she was wearing accounted for extra weight that she was over. Somehow it did. About four towels covered Carano (and from what I read on a few message boards the wet dreams of many fight fans) that were being held up by her handlers and a very embarrassed Carano made the contracted weight for her fight with Kelly Kobald. After the Arlovski-Nelson weigh in went off without any problems, EliteEX Welterweight Championship competitors Paul Daley and Jake Shields had to be seperated after Shields blew Daley a kiss during the staredown. The main event for this fight was between UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock and Youtube star Kimbo Slice (well at that stage it was) and going with his usual style, Shamrock decided to start some shit before the fight. While posing for the media in attention, Shamrock for absolutely no logical reason (Shamrock thinking he’s been disrespected isn’t a logical reason) pushed Slice in the back and caused the second near brawl of the weigh-in. This one took a lot longer to calm down though as both fighters had bigger entourages then Daley and Shields. Unfortunately, the actual card was no where near as entertaining as the weigh-in.
Jared Shaw Award for Worst Matchmaking of the Year- Kimbo Slice vs Seth Petruzelli (EliteXC: Heat)
Kimbo Slice Award for Most Pathetic Knockout of the Year- Seth Petruzelli KO1 (14 seconds) Kimbo Slice (EliteXC: Heat) Ken Shamrock somehow got himself cut warming-up for the fight and EliteXC needed someone to step in and fight Kimbo Slice in their main event. After an offer from commentator Frank Shamrock was turned down because Shamrock, despite being 50lbs lighter then Kimbo, has some serious skills and would likely have beaten Kimbo anywhere the fight went and EliteXC couldn’t risk their main drawcard getting beaten by a Middleweight. Instead Jared Shaw came up with former TUF2 competitor Seth Petruzelli who was fighting in a Light Heavyweight bout on the preliminary card. Petruzelli was an unorthodox but fairly handy striker who also had some wrestling ability and Shaw tried to make sure it was his striking skills that he would be using against their apparent ‘top 10 Heavyweight boxer in the World’ by asking that Petruzelli stand with Kimbo. What Shaw didn’t know is that there is a difference in levels of striking between your good street fighters and your trained fighters. It took only 14 seconds for him to be wishing that he picked Frank Shamrock. Kimbo rushed across the cage in his usual fashion and backed Petruzelli against the fence. Petruzelli flicked out a jab while off balance and to his and everyone else’s surprised it dropped Kimbo onto all fours. Petruzelli pounced and landed several shots while on Kimbos back, then rolled him over and landed a barrage from, side control that forced the referee to stop the fight at just 0:14 of the first round.
Bob Sapp Award for Biggest Mismatch of the Year- Jan Nortje vs Bob Sapp (Strikeforce: At the Dome) Some people might be surprised that I picked this fight over the Kinniku Mantaro fight against Sapp at the end of the year. Well the answer is obvious, that fight was competitive, this fight wasn’t. Jan Nortje was receiving a lot of hype for his 1-5 record that earned him a spot in the Strikeforce main event. They brought in monster of a man Bob Sapp to fight him because that wanted to see what happens when Nortje picks on someone his own size. The fight ended quickly after Nortje landed several hard blows that forced Sapp to run away, then chased him down and finished the job 55 seconds into the first round. It truly was a mismatch and the matchmakers at Strikeforce deserve an enquiry much more then EliteXC officials for bringing in someone as poor as Bob Sapp to fight a stud like Jan Nortje.
YAMMA Award for Worst MMA Show of the Year (maybe ever)- YAMMA Pit Fighting Seriously this was just horrendous. The creators of the UFC tried to bring back eight man-one night tournaments and make MMA ‘more exciting.’ The tournaments were impossible to do like they used to be done, so they had to compromise. Because fighters could only fight five rounds a night, the first and second rounds of the tournament would be one round of fighting each with the Final fight being three rounds. YAMMA also had a ‘revolutionary’ new fighting surface in which the area of the mat around the edge of the fence would go up on an angle so that the wrestlers couldn’t just pin you up against the cage and drop elbows on your head. Basically YAMMA wanted their organisation to be striker friendly. Instead, the wrestlers backed their opponents onto the ‘ramp’ then took them down with ease because they were off balance and because the fights were only one five minute round, the fight was over right there and then. The tournament consisted of every match being won by lay and prey (including the three round final). The only slightly entertaining part of this event was the super fights between Butterbean and Patrick Smith (mainly because Butterbean got royally fucked up) and Oleg Taktarov vs the man who ate Mark Kerr (Taktarov won by kneebar about one minute in). The event was bad from the fights to the Ring Announcer, who was so bad I’ve named an Award after him.
Scott Ferrall Award for Worst Ring Announcer of the Year- Scott Ferrall (YAMMA Pit Fighting) Scott Ferrall was funny but I wasn’t laughing with him. The guy was way too weird to be allowed to have his thoughts expressed on a microphone. He first announced referee Dan Miragliotta as “Big Dan Miragliotta STOMP YOU OUT!” and then “Big Dan the Man, How can I be the man if you’re the man, Dan Miragliotta (to which Dan shook his head in disgust). Pulled off a terribly lame call in “Travis ‘The Diesel’ Gimme a room with a Wiuff.” One fighter he said “hadn’t eaten in a week because he’s going to the electric chair.” Referred to the YAMMA Championship belt as ‘the strap-on’ and probably the weirdest call he made was “Kevin Mulhall will be the referee for this beautiful matchup of warriors and freaks ready to pound and dance…”
Gone but not Forgotten It’s sad that I have to do one of these for MMA. Boxing has been around for over 100 years and past champions are going to pass away each year and I feel it’s important to remember them. MMA on the other hand has been around for just 15 years and this year my favourite fighter, Evan Tanner, passed away way earlier then he should have.
Evan Tanner- Former UFC Middleweight Champion. Challenged Tito Ortiz for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title at UFC 30 but lost. Defeated Dave Terrell for the UFC Middleweight title at UFC 51 and won with strikes in the first round. Lost the title to Rich Franklin on a doctors stoppage in his first defence at UFC 53. None of this was why I liked Evan Tanner. He kept a blog on his website which I read for over a year about everything that went on in his life, including all his adventures and even his battle with alcohol which he beat in order to return to the UFC this year. I admired not so much the way the man led his life but the way he was completely honest with himself about who he was and who he wasn’t. He died in September of this year from heat exposure after his motorbike broke down in the desert and he ran out of water. He was 37.
We’re just 24 hours away from the K-1 World Grand Prix (K-1 WGP) Final and I have to say I’ve been counting down the days leading up to this event. Even though I’ve only been following K-1 for about four months, with Schilt out this year it makes the tournament seem very wide open which will only make the event the more exciting. With the big names all facing each other in the quarter finals (Aerts vs Hari and Bonjasky vs Le Banner) the chances for one of the up and comers to take their first crown increases as these four will likely use up a lot of energy to make sure they’re in the semi finals. It also increases the chance of one of the alternates getting a crack at becoming this years K-1 WGP champion. With this event being an eight man tournament, predicting it is a little tricky. I’m going to do detailed predictions of the quarter final bouts, then speculate on how I think the semis and final will go and then after I’ve played Nostradamus I’ll go over how I think the other possible outcomes will go in brief detail.
Quarter Finals
Peter Aerts vs Badr Hari
Prediction- Aerts on points (one extra round) This is going to be a hard fight that will likely take a lot out of either man. Out of all the quarter final matchups this is the most evenly matched one. Both guys have the power to take the other man out and while Hari has an edge in speed, Aerts experience will make it difficult for Hari to tee off on him like he’ll want to and if he tries he’ll likely eat some hard shots from Aerts. The big edge Aerts has is his weight; he’s about 30lb heavier then Hari and that combined with his experience I think he’ll hurt Hari sometime in the 2nd round after a hardfought first round and then the fight will be his although I think he might have to go four rounds to get it. Expect fireworks early in this fight as Hari will want to make an early impression on his older opponent and he’ll likely do some damage to ‘the Lumberjack’ early in the fight. Aerts has seen his share of young challengers though and I don’t think Hari has anything he hasn’t seen before and I think he makes the semi finals again this year.
Ewerton Teixera vs Errol Zimmerman Prediction- Zimmerman by 2nd round knockout Teixera has the ability to make this fight interesting but I don’t think he’ll have an answer to the explosiveness that Zimmerman will bring early in the fight. This fight could very well end in the first round, but I think Teixera will show that he’s tough albeit outmatched in this fight. Zimmerman will start fast and hurt Teixera early, maybe even knocking him down once or twice before finishing him off in the 2nd round.
Ruslan Karaev vs Gokhan Saki Prediction- Saki on points (one extra round) This should also be a good fight. I think Karaev will explode early and hurt Saki in the first round, maybe even knock him down but Saki will stay in there with him and once he finds his range with his leg kicks he’ll keep Karaev very honest. The longer this fight goes the more likely Saki is to win it I feel and I’m not sure Karaev will be able to get him out of there early like he’ll want to. The fight will probably go three rounds and I think it’ll be a close affair and will go an extra round, where Saki should have the edge due to his superior conditioning and Karaevs badly damaged legs. Saki will pick Karaev apart in the extra round and take the round with ease eliminating Karaev from the Grand Prix.
Remy Bonjasky vs Jerome Le Banner Prediction- Bonjasky on points Le Banner will be dangerous early on but like with the previous fight I think the longer this fight goes on the better chance Bonjasky has. Remy is hard to hit and hard to hurt when he does get hit so I don’t think Le Banner will have much of an impact on him when he gets the fight where he wants it. Look for Bonjasky to throw right roundhouse kicks to the midsection as well as targeting Le Banner’s bad right knee which should slow the Frenchman up. Bonjasky should simply outbox Le Banner over the three rounds and take a comfortable decision leaving Le Banner still the best fighter never to win a K-1 WGP.
Alternate Bouts
Hong Man Choi vs Ray Sefo Prediction- Choi on points Sefo simply doesn’t have the speed to get inside the big mans reach. Badr Hari who is one of the quickest heavyweights in K-1 had trouble getting inside the big man without getting tagged and I don’t see Sefo having any success with it at all. If he can get the man monster on the ropes he’ll be able to unleash solid shots to his arms and misection but Hong Man can take a punch and I don’t think he’ll be bothered too much. I wouldn’t be surprised if Choi wins by stoppage but I think after his loss to Hari he’ll be tentative to let his hands go too much but will control the action to win a comfortable decision.
Melvin Manhoef vs Paul Slowinski Prediction- Slowinski on points This could be an interesting fight but I think size will play a big factor. Manhoef recently competed in the DREAM 185lb Grand Prix where he made the semi finals and the fact that he made that weight shows that he’s giving up a fair bit in weight to a guy like Slowinski who weighs around 230-240lbs. The weight will definately come into play I feel especially if Slowinski finds range with his thunderous leg kicks which will wear Manhoef down. Melvin is as tough as they come though even though he’s a smaller fighter and I think he’ll last the distance but will be beaten comfortably.
Semi Finals
Peter Aerts vs Errol Zimmerman Prediction- Zimmerman on points (extra round) If these two fought in the quarter finals I’d pick Aerts for sure, however Aerts will have a tough time with Hari and I think Zimmerman should get through Teixera with some ease which will leave him a lot fresher for Aerts. Zimmerman will be a hard man to deal with if you’re tired and with Aerts’ age I feel he’ll struggle in the 2nd and 3rd fights if he doesn’t take Hari out early. If the first two fights go as I think they will then I think Zimmerman will outwork Aerts in the third round after a close first two rounds before dominating the extra round and making the Final in his first appearance.
Gokhan Saki vs Remy Bonjasky Prediction- Bonjasky by 2nd round knockout I think this is Remy’s fight even if he goes has a life and death struggle with Le Banner and Saki wins easy. However, I doubt Saki will get through Karaev easily and won’t be in great shape come semi finals time. Bonjasky on the other hand is a cardio machine and will be dangerous all night (as long as no one kicks him in the junk) and will prove too strong for Saki especially when both guys have already fought once that night. Saki gives up too much ground when he fights and I think he’ll allow Bonjasky to unleash his flying knees and if Bonjasky is to knock someone out with one of his trademarks tomorrow night I think this is the fight he’ll do it in.
The Final
Errol Zimmerman vs Remy Bonjasky Prediction- Bonjasky by 2nd round knockout If this is the way the final turns out I don’t see ‘the Bonecrusher’ being able to handle Bonjasky. Bonjasky has been there and done it and while I think Zimmerman has plenty of promise and has the ability to beat anyone out there in this tournament, I don’t think he’ll handle Bonjasky after having to go through Hari or Aerts already that night. Bonjasky’s ‘virgin defence’ will prove too tight for Zimmerman to land his thunderous right hand or right kick and Bonjasky will counter effectively, chopping Zimmerman down before the third round.
Other Possibilities
a) Aerts beats Hari easily- I think he’ll win the lot if he takes Badr out early, there’s no one out there who I think will beat him in a straight fight and he should prove too experienced for Zimmerman in the semis. Bonjasky might pip him in the final but I don’t think anything but age will stop ‘Mr K-1′ this year.
b) Hari beats Aerts easily- Same as above, both guys rely on this fight going smoothly if they want to win the Grand Prix this year.
c) Teixera makes life difficult for Zimmerman or beats him- Then whoever wins between Aerts and Hari will make the Final.
d) Le Banner beats Bonjasky- He should make the Final, but with his bad knee and leg kick specialist Gokhan Saki likely waiting for him in the semis he might not. Either way (unless Teixera makes the Final) I don’t think Le Banner will be crowned champion. I’ll pick all of Aerts, Hari and Zimmerman to topple him if they fight him in both fighters’ third fight of the evening.
e) Karaev or Saki wins easy and Le Banner and Bonjasky go to war- Le Banner or Bonjasky should still go through, unless like I said Saki goes to work on Le Banner’s legs. Even then, Le Banner should prove too aggressive and experienced for Saki.
f) An alternate comes in- I don’t think Slowinski or Sefo have much of a chance at winning against one of the Final 8 unless it’s Teixera. Hong Man Choi on the other hand as a chance at making the Final should he face one of the newcomers in the semis (a reasonable chance of that happening with the top four guys facing each other) but I think he’ll likely be chopped down in the Final.
One Final Note For some reason backyard brawler Kimbo Slice is commentating tomorrow night. Not sure what he has to put into the commentary other then to hype up the rumoured matchup with Badr Hari next year which considering what Petruzelli did to him at the last EliteXC, will be one of the biggest mismatches ever.
Before the fights started it was announced that Ken Shamrock got cut warming up and couldn’t take place in his fight against Kimbo Slice. Seth Petruzelli instead fought Kimbo in the main event.
Seth Petruzelli KO 1st round (0 minutes and 14 seconds) Kimbo Slice
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Sorry, that wasn’t very professional. Still, it was fucking hilarious. Slice got dropped by a light punch and was completely helpless and against a TUF reject. Dana White must have pissed his pants laughing when he heard about it (I’m assuming he didn’t actually watch it). I do like Kimbo, but I don’t like his fans. Kimbo seems like a decent guy who has made a living doing something that he’s good at, but he’s by no means the best in the World. His idiot fans who would go on youtube threads and talk about how he’d beat Fedor and Liddell and Wladimir Klitschko when infact he (was) a big guy who lifted weights and knew how to box a bit fighting stiffs in his backyard. I like it that Kimbo trains properly and wants to make a career out of this, but the fact that he was the face of MMA to the general public is a concern and it was good that he got annhilated by a journeyman on the main event of a nationally televised card in USA. I really think this could be the end of EliteXC, but then again they just announced the Eddie Alvarez-Nick Diaz fight which will be awesome.
Andrei Arlovski KO 2nd round Roy Nelson
The refereeing in this fight was horrendous. What the fuck posseses a referee to stand the fighters up when someone has side control and is looking for a kimura? I don’t think Nelson would have finished the fight from there because Arlovski seemed comfortable but the fact remains; Nelson took Arlovski down, he passed his guard and he was looking to finish but because EliteXC’s target audience has an IQ of -10 and they don’t understand how MMA works they bring it back to their feet because apparently ground fighting isn’t really fighting. As far as I’m concerned, if you don’t like ground fighting you aren’t a true MMA fan. Yeah sometimes it can be boring and stand-ups are required for the lesser shows where they don’t have as much finishing ability but in a fight between two world class heavyweights let the fighters sort it out for themselves. If you get dumped on your back and have your guard passed you’re at a level where you should have to work out of it yourself. It makes me sick watching referees get involved like that.
As for the rest of the fight, Arlovski didn’t look great but then he did take the fight on short notice. I think Barnett has the tools to beat him if he can get the fight to the ground and I think Fedor would ruin him if they fought. The finish though was typical Arlovski with good clean punching and a rarely seen variety of punches in MMA. Roy Nelson fought well and I think with a bit more cardio (I’m not sure if he is just normally out of shape or if the short notice made him more out of shape then normal) then he’d make a good opponent for a lot of decent heavyweights.
Jake Shields submission (armbar) 2nd round Paul Daley This was a good fight. Much of it was spent with Shields mounting Daley but Daley had his moments as well. Shields was way too anxious to finish the fight and rushed that armbar in the first round which would have proved to be bad if there was more time left because Daley landed some sickening elbows. Shields also seemed to gas rather quickly (that could be because he’s been finishing everyone quickly) which could bring his downfall against better welterweights then Paul Daley. After the fight Shields talked of fighting Robbie Lawler for the EliteXC Middleweight title; with Kimbo’s loss this is the sort of thing EliteXC needs to put on to get more people watching. I’d pick Lawler in that fight, but the winner would be very marketable.
Gina Carano UD3 Kelly Kobald I only saw the end of this fight. From what I saw, Carano has excellent takedown defence now and throws some vicious strikes. Kobald made a good fight of it though and was in it in the round that I watched. From what I’ve read of the first two rounds it was a good fight and could only help improve the legitimacy of womens MMA. The commentators repeatedly asking the fighters why they fight MMA won’t though.
Benji Radach KO 2nd round Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua
Radach throws some big punches. Ninja seemed old and just couldn’t deal with his stand-up. He had his moments with the attempted leglocks and probably won three and a half minutes of the first round but got beaten up in the other 90 seconds. Radach has the skills to test Robbie Lawler, especially if he can score with his right hand.
Another good non-UFC MMA card takes place this weekend with EliteXC: Heat on CBS for all those American fans. In the main event UFC Hall of Famer and the one time so called World’s Most Dangerous Man Ken Shamrock faces so called Undisputed Youtube Bareknuckle Heavyweight Champion Kimbo Slice. Shamrock has lost 8 f his last 9 fights and Slice is relatively untested, however I think this fight will be interesting (more on that later). The rest of the card features EliteXC Welterweight Champion (and about the only non-UFC Welterweight who I think could give the UFC Welterweight division some trouble) Jake Shields defending his title against Paul Daley. Also in a co-promoted fight with Affliction, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski returns to face recently bankrupted IFL’s reigning Heavyweight champion Roy Nelson. Gina Carano is also on the card against Kelly Kobald and even though I’m usually not that comfortable watching women fight (that isn’t intended to be sexist, I just don’t usually like it), I do like watching Carano because her fights are usually entertaining.
Ken Shamrock vs Kimbo Slice Prediction- Shamrock by 1st round leglock submission I’ve mentioned this in another post, I think Slice will be put on his back and exposed. Shamrock might suck these days but he has the wrestling ability to put Kimbo with his non existant takedown defence on his back, open his legs and submit him with a heel hook. Shamrock’s submissions are old school, Kimbo’s grappling is probably mostly new school so I think he’ll be surprised by some of the ways Shamrock will attack him. If Slice has improved his takedown defence I think he’ll batter Shamrock and knock him out quickly. Either way this fight won’t go past a few minutes.
Paul Daley vs Jake Shields
(EliteXC Welterweight title)
Prediction- Shields by 2nd round submission
As I said, Shields is the best non-UFC Welterweight out there. Daley is a good fighter but I think he’s outclassed here. Shields is coming off three first round wins over three quality opponents and I think that his experience against good fighters will play a big factor in this fight. Daley probably has the better stand-up but I think Shields will be able to get the fight where he wants it and finish him, I’m going to say with a rear naked choke after busting him up with some punches in the first round.
Andrei Arlovski vs Roy Nelson
Prediction- Arlovski by 1st round knockout Nelson is a big guy, but Arlovski’s speed should prove too much for him in this fight. Arlovski will break him down with leg kicks and right hands until he can’t take anymore. There will be a big advantage to the Pitbull in terms of reach and he has by far the better stand-up. Also I’m not sure what Nelson has been up to lately while Arlovski has been training for a fight with Josh Barnett that was meant to happen in a few weeks. Nelson has heavy hands so I’ll be nervous watching this fight.
Other Fights I can’t see Carano losing just yet, it’d be bad for business for them to match her with someone who will beat her. Kobald is meant to be good but I think Carano will win inside the distance.
Murilo Ninja fights Benji Radach (I’d be more then happy to watch him pound two shades of shit out of the World’s Biggest Douchebag Tony Bonello again but thats probably just me and everyone who’s heard him open his mouth before) as well and should win that fight, probably by strikes sometime in the first two rounds. The rest I don’t care that much about to be perfectly honest. It should be an entertaining(although pointless in terms of watching the best fight the best) card anyway.
Kimbo Slice will headline EliteXC’s third CBS card taking on UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock on October 3rd. Shamrock has won one out of his last ten fights so on paper he looks to be a stepping stone for Kimbo who has won all of his victories inside the distance including a first round knockout win over David ‘Tank’ Abbott and a 3rd round stoppage over James Thompson.
This fight is a step down from Thompson no doubt, but I really think this is a good fight for EliteXC and for Kimbo Slice. Thompson may be better then Shamrock now, but he has no where near the credibility that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has (Shamrock was the first to hold the Superfight title so in my books that makes him the first heavyweight champion). If Kimbo knocks Shamrock out, it will attract a larger audience because people know of Shamrock because of the Ultimate Fighter and because of his years in Professional Wrestling. Despite the difference in name value, the thing that Shamrock has that no one else Kimbo has fought had is good submission skills.
Not only does Shamrock know how to put a submission on, he’s old school with his grappling and has a wide variety of unorthodox submissions; in particular his leglocks. Shamrock will catch any man alive in a leg lock if they don’t know how to defend one. Thompson could wrestle and put Kimbo on his back, but he doesn’t have the devastating ground and pound of a Fedor Emelianenko or an Igor Vovchanchyn which means he was going to struggle to finish Kimbo. If Shamrock puts Kimbo on his back and passes to half guard, I can really envision him spinning around into a kneebar and tapping Kimbo. I can also see Shamrock dropping back and tapping Kimbo with a heel hook given the oppurtunity. This is a dangerous fight for Kimbo if it hits the ground. The question that needs to be answered is whether or not Shamrock can put Kimbo there. Going off Kimbo’s last fight I think that there’s a good chance of it happening.
In my opinion this is a good fight. It’s certainly not a fight I would pay to watch, but for a card on free to air television I’d definately tune in if they showed it in Australia. This is a good step in the right direction for Kimbo and will answer a few questions of him. Basically the way I see this fight is that if Kimbo wins it in fashion, he will prove that he is better then a mid-level fighter from 2000-2001 because thats basically what Shamrock is right now. Shamrock really looked bad against Robert Berry, his wrestling looked weak and his stand-up was poor. I’m hoping he can turn back the clock a bit and make a fight out of it because I’d love to see him go out with a win. Despite the shit he talks I like watching Shamrock fight.
