Hari destroys Schilt at “It’s Showtime”

2008 K-1 World Grand Prix Runner-up Badr Hari made his comeback a successful one, destroying three time K-1 Champion Semmy Schilt in 45 seconds at the annual “It’s Showtime” event in Holland. Hari jumped on Schilt at the opening bell and pushed the K-1 Super Heavyweight champion across the ring with hard blows. A barrage culminating with a left hand dropped Schilt onto the ropes and although he was up at one he was on clearly wobbly legs. Hari then showed his superb finishing skills reigning in combinations knocking Schilt out with a right hand.

This fight had been built up for a number of years and was probably the best thing Hari could have done for his career. I’m not sure if he’s allowed in K-1′s Grand Prix this year, but if he is it’s going to be difficult for anyone to beat him. I’d love to see a rematch between him and Overeem at the Final 16 to prove the first win was not over the prime Hari but rather an out of conditioned fighter who had just fought three hard fights on one night only three weeks prior. As much as I (and a lot of fans) don’t like Hari, on his night he’d probably beat anyone in a kick boxing match in the world.

As for Schilt, his career has really slipped. The loss to Aerts in the Final 16 was unfortunate for him but this one was only the 2nd time he has been knocked out in his kickboxing career (the other was five years ago). Yes Aerts and Hari are among the very best in the world, but Schilt in my opinion seems to have been worked out. He looks the best in the world when he can stand his ground and deliver unanswered blows on his opponents but when someone big like Aerts or Hari takes the fight to him the technical flaws that his size allows him to get away with become more obvious and easier to take advantage of.

In a bit of an upset, unheralded Mourad Bouzidi scored a first round TKO over K-1 semi finalist Errol Zimmerman. The fight was stopped due to a cut caused by a clean Bouzidi knee landing flush to the face. Bouzidi seemed to be in control of the fight, mixing up good movement with his aggression to keep Zimmerman off balance. The loss is the third in a row for Zimmerman who needs to get a few fights with some decent veterans in before he fights the likes or Hari and Aerts again. Also victorious on the card was Andy Souwer, Gago Drago, Tyrone Spong and Melvin Manhoef who scored a KO win over Stefan Leko. I actually forgot this card was even on and probably would have made an effort to watch it as it was on Setanta had I known.

K-1 Yokohama: Bonjasky beats Overeem, Maeda wins 100kg belt

 

Remy Bonjasky took a three round unanimous decision with a third round knockdown to defeat MMA star Alistair Overeem in the main event super fight at the annual K-1 event in Yokohama last night. The Yokohama event usually sees the first action from the major Heavyweight stars since the previous years Grand Prix and this years event didn’t dissapoint with six of last years quarter finalists in action. Overeem seemed the busier fighter for the majority of the fight but was unable to clearly dominate Bonjasky to score a lead on the scorecards. Both judges scored the opening two rounds 10-10 (I gave Overeem the 2nd round) and he was in firm control of the first two minutes of the third round. With roughly 30 seconds remaining, Bonjasky landed a knee to Overeem’s chin followed by an overhand right that dropped the former PRIDE star to the canvas. Overeem beat the count but the 10-8 round was enough to give Bonjasky a unanimous decision win over three rounds.
A lot of MMA fans don’t get the K-1 scoring system. Basically, you have to win the round clearly to get a 10-9 round. K-1 scores a lot of 10-10 rounds for the reason that it’s a three round stand-up battle so in order for the fighter to get a win he needs to show dominance with either a knockdown or a sustained beating to win on points in that time which leads to more action. The extra rounds makes up for this and while some fights end up with dodgey decisions, a lot more fights are decided by the fighters rather then the judges. I thought Bonjasky fought like shit compared to his performance in the last Grand Prix. He didn’t look comfortable under fire leading me to believe he didn’t train as hard as he normally does and I thought without the knockdown that Overeem would have surely won a decision. However, the only real dominating part of the fight was the knockdown which was a clean knockdown in which Overeem was hurt so the right man got the decision (although I wouldn’t have minded seeing a 4th round).

The co feature of this event saw a four man tournament for the vacant K-1 Heavyweight belt which was stripped from Badr Hari after his disgraceful showing in the K-1 WGP Final last year. With Gokhan Saki, Tyrone Spong and Melvin Manhoef making up three of the four, it was last years runner-up at Fukuoka Keijiro Maeda who upset both Manhoef and Saki to win the title. Maeda shocked the heavily favoured Manhoef in the first fight with a short right hand that left Manhoef unable to beat the count in the very first round. The 22 year old who lost his chance at competing in the Grand Prix last year against Ewerton Teixera, frustrated Manhoef with movement and leg kicks before countering a wild attack with a right hand that ended Manhoefs night early.
In the other semi final, nothing could seperate Gokhan Saki and Tyrone Spong for the first three rounds of their fight as they traded evenly with neither getting even the slightest edge. The fight was scored 30-30 and an overtime round decided the fight. In what was another close round, Saki left no doubt as he polaxed Spong with a right hand. The knockout was sudden and completely unexpected. Saki and Maeda battled out another close battle in the final, but Maeda was simply too sharp for last years Grand Prix semi finalist and took the title after an extra round. Whether this means that Maeda gets Hari’s spot in the Final 16 or not I don’t know, but it seems to be the best way to sort that situation out.

Also on the card, three time K-1 champion Peter Aerts made his comeback from his knockout loss to Badr Hari a successful one with a unanimous decision after an extra round against 2008 semi finalist Errol Zimmerman. Aerts successfully attacked the body throughout the fight, landing two and three punch combinations to the body as well as hard body kicks. Zimmerman was game though and answered with some heavy leg kicks and fast punching combinations that looked to have ‘the Dutch Lumberjack’ in trouble briefly in the 2nd round. After three rounds in which Aerts appeared to win comfortably, the judges scored a draw. Aerts again took control with his body attacks and grinded out a four round unanimous decision. Aerts looked much sharper in this fight then against Hari although the Hari that fought in December was a completely different animal to Zimmerman.

In other action, Ewerton Teixera upset Jerome Le Banner with a five round split decision victory. Le Banner fought in spurts and it hurt him on the judges cards in the end. After a slow first two rounds in which Teixera was doing all the work (although not landing with much), Le Banner seemed to outwork him in the 3rd round and then in the first extra round (one judge scored the extra round to Le Banner). In the fifth, Le Banner again fought in spurts and it was enough for Teixera to edge him out. Le Banner seems to think that if the other guy can’t hurt him, then he shouldn’t beat him and often fights to his opponents level. Had he turned the heat on Teixera from the start he would have won that fight easily. Also both Semmy Schilt and Glaube Feitosa scored easy wins over Hesdy Gerges and Junichi Sawayashiki respectively. Schilt controlled ever second of his fight, but despite a 2nd round knockdown couldn’t finish his game opponent. Feitosa repeatedly bounced Sawayashiki off the canvas before the referee intervened in the 2nd round.

First K-1 Events scheduled for 2009

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.

DREAM/K-1 Dynamite looking good

I recently read an article about the upcoming DREAM/K-1 New Years Show which will feature a mixture of K-1 rules and DREAM MMA rules matches. I was pleasantly surprised at how well this fight card is looking. The things I was worried about were 1) a lack of Fedor who was meant to headline and b) a lack of Cro Cop-Alastair Overeem rematch which I’m still not sure why it was scrapped (help someone?). Still, a few of the K-1 WGP competitors have backed up and a few of the lightweights have stepped up to make this a very interesting card and one I will definately cover. I’m not sure what the main event will be and I don’t care because this is a stacked card for the hardcore MMA fans. In no particular order, here are the fights of interest:

Semmy Schilt vs Mighty Mo (MMA)
Whether this was K-1 or DREAM rules, Schilt is going to tear him a new one. Still, it’ll be good to see where Schilt’s confidence level is after losing to Aerts in the Final 16 as well as how he looks in MMA after a few years of not really competing in the sport on a full time basis.

Mirko Cro Cop vs Hong Man Choi
Not sure what rules this fight is under (again help somebody?) but this will be interesting either way. Fedor had trouble getting Choi on his back so this will be a stand-up war whether forced or by force of habbit between a former K-1 runner up in Cro Cop and a man mountain who troubles everyone in Hong Man. With 4oz gloves on it’ll be interesting to see how Cro Cops chin holds up to someone like Hong Man.

Mark Hunt vs Jerome Le Banner (MMA Rules)
So I hear anyway. Both guys are very similar standing up but due to Hunt’s MMA experience he’ll have a huge advantage if he gets Le Banner on his back, especially with the weight advantage. If this is indeed MMA rules I expect Hunt to win by ground and pound.

Eddie Alvarez vs Shinya Aoki
MMA rules of course here for what should have been the DREAM lightweight grand prix final. This will be an interesting scrap with Alvarez having the huge edge in strength and standing up and Aoki having a huge advantage on the ground. The winner will likely get a shot at the winner of the JZ vs Joachim Hansen fight on the same card for the title should DREAM not go bankrupt next year.

Joachin Hansen vs Gesias ‘JZ’ Calvacante
Another great fight here. I expect this to be fight of the night with both guys liking to bang on their feet. I’m leaning towards JZ by close decision but it could go either way.

Kazuhsi Sakuraba vs Kiyoshi Tamura
A battle between Japanese MMA pioneers/legends. As long as one guy doesn’t get injured walking into the ring it should be an excellent fight. I think Tamura might go to work on Sakuraba’s dodgey knees with his leg kicks and may score a stoppage in this fight.

Artur Kyshenko vs Yoshihiro Sato (K-1 Rules)
I really don’t know much about either guy other then they’re both K-1 MAX super stars. If MAX is all it’s cracked up to be then this could be a war!

Gegard Mousasi vs MUSASHI (K-1 Rules)
Strange fight this one. MUSASHI is a bigger guy but he’s been in shit form lately and why they’re getting Mousasi to go up in weight and fight a Heavyweight K-1 fighter in K-1 rules is a mystery to anyone. Even their name’s are the same which will make things confusing.

Oh, a quick word on the site. Next year looks like a go for boxing rankings and maybe MMA rankings for the five main divisions. Also I will be writing a feature article at the start of each month based on whatever anyone wants me to write it on. January’s will be the end of year awards. I’m looking to do things in there like ’10 greatest fights of the 80s’ or ‘Best MMA fighters of the 90s’ etc where basically I’m given a topic and I’ll go and research it for a month by watching fight films etc and then do an article on it for all you guys to flame me over. If anyone has anything in particular for February’s edition then post it in this thread. First decent idea in will get their choice. Expect a UFC 92 Predictions article and recap, a K-1 predictions article and recap plus the end of year awards and Rankings up over the next two-three weeks.

K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final Preview: Favourites

An eight man tournament is a hard thing to try and put predictions on. I’m no bitch so I’ll definately be having a go at predicting how I think the K-1 World Grand Prix (again will be referred to as the K-1 WGP from now on) 2008 Final will go, but when eight fighters have to fight each other all on the one night there are certain unforseen circumstances that will play a factor in who wins the title. I’ll be putting my predictions on the Final up probably on Friday, but right now this article will discuss in some detail some of the things that may affect who becomes champion for 2008.

The following is in order of who I think is most likely to win the crown this year:

1- Remy Bonjasky
Opponent: Jerome Le Banner
Record vs Opponent: 0-1 (lost on points in 2006)
Best Previous K-1 Result: Champion (2003, 2004)
Last Years Result: Semi Finals
I’m making Bonjasky the favourite because he has whats needed to win three fights in one night where I don’t think some of the others do. Bonjasky has excellent stamina as shown when he fought 12 rounds in one night to win the 2004 K-1 WGP Final. His ‘virgin defence’ as Mike Schiavello refers to it, will mean he’ll accumulate less damage throughout the evening. He’s young and isn’t as injury prone as some of the older members of this years Final 8. The draw suits him; should he get by Le Banner he’ll be facing one of the newcomers in Gokhan Saki or Ruslan Karaev who are likely to go to war which could hinder the winner in later fights. These things all give Remy an advantage over the older fighters, but apart from all of these things, Bonjasky has a big experience factor over the younger members of the field which really gives him the total package. Bonjasky’s biggest threat comes in his quarter final matchup with Le Banner. These two have fought before with Bonjasky originally winning a points decision which was later overturned by K-1. Should Bonjasky get by Le Banner without too much trouble I don’t see anyone having the experience or the stamina to upset him in the last two fights. I have my doubts over whether Peter Aerts can win three fights in one night after such a long career in K-1 and Hari, Zimmerman and Teixera I think all need a bit more experience in a stacked eight man tournament before one of them is crowned the champion. The smart money for this year in my opinion is on Remy Bonjasky.

2- Badr Hari
Opponent: Peter Aerts
Record vs Opponent: None
Best Previous K-1 Result: Quarter Finals (2007)
Last Years Result: Quarter Finals
This might come across as a strange choice for the man I think has the second best chance. Even though I made the choice I still find it strange. I actually make Aerts the favourite to beat Hari in their quarter final matchup. The thing is, I’m not at all convinced that Aerts has it in him to win three fights on Saturday night. On the other hand, should Hari defeat Aerts in the quarter finals (and there’s a strong chance he’ll do that) then I believe he has what it takes to beat either Zimmerman or Teixera and then win in the Final. In fact, Hari has already beaten two of the men on the other side of the bracket (Karaev and Saki) and went to a close decision with one of the other two (Bonjasky) so should he come into the Final the fresher fighter he’ll likely win his first K-1 WGP. Hari, like Bonjasky, will likely find his biggest challenge in his opening fight; the fight with Aerts should be a classic. If he had of fought Zimmerman or Teixera in the first fight I think he’d make the semi finals, but whether he can beat either of those two after going to war with Peter Aerts remains to be seen, thats if he gets past Aerts at all.
 

3- Errol Zimmerman
Opponent: Ewerton Teixera
Record vs Opponent: None
Best Previous K-1 Result: Debut
Last Years Result: None
Zimmerman is my dark horse to win the lot this year and the fact that he’s the one who gets to face Ewerton Teixera gives him a big advantage over the other six men in the tournament. Teixera in my opinion is this years Junichi Sawayashiki in that he’s a good fighter but not ready for the likes of the other seven men in the Final 8. If Zimmerman blows Teixera away like he should and Aerts and Hari go to war, then ‘the Bonecrusher’ will have a big advantage over the winner of that fight in the semi finals. I actually would have made Zimmerman higher on the list then Hari if I was a bit more convinced on his stamina. Zimmerman gassed in the third round of his Final 16 bout with Glaube Feitosa and that could be a problem if Teixera puts up more of a fight then we anticipate he will. If people can find odds on who will finish where anywhere I think a really good bet would be on Zimmerman to make the final, whether he can win the lot though is a different story all together. With a bit of luck (ie Aerts and Hari, and Bonjasky and Le Banner beat the horseshit out of each other and don’t have much left to fight Zimmerman) then Zimmerman has a good chance to break Aerts’ record of becoming the youngest ever K-1 champion.

4- Peter Aerts 
Opponent: Badr Hari
Record vs Opponent: None
Best Previous K-1 Result: Champion (1994, 1995, 1998)
Last Years Result: Finalist
Despite being the man who finally defeated three time consecutive K-1 WGP champion Semmy Schilt, I’m not making Aerts favourite or even top three to win this years event. The facts are that Aerts is now 38 years old, he’s had a number of injuries over the last few years and he hasn’t won the K-1 WGP for 10 years. This is an eight man tournament and I’m not sold that Aerts can get through three fights in one night. If he were to fight any of the other seven men on a single night without having to worry about fighting again later in the night then I’d pick him over every single on of them. His age and wear and tear is just too much of a factor when its an eight man tournament. His first hurdle is Badr Hari, who is a hard fight for anyone out there. Aerts is going to have a tough fight there which could leave him a little wary when facing Zimmerman of Teixera. The one thing Aerts has going for him is that he’s first fight of the night so he’ll get maximum recovery time assuming we don’t have a repeat of the Bonjasky-Leko fight from 2006. If he has an easier then expected time with Hari and Zimmerman gets extended a few rounds and ends up in a harder fight then we all anticipate with Teixera then he could very well blow the inexperienced Zimmerman away and be fresh come finals time. Aerts’ chances in my opinion rely on the Teixera-Zimmerman fight because Aerts will be in for a rough time with the Bonecrusher if Errol breezes past Teixera and Aerts has a life or death struggle with Hari.

5- Jerome Le Banner
Opponent: Remy Bonjasky
Record vs Opponent: 1-0 (won on points 2006)
Best Previous K-1 Result: Finalist (1995, 2002)
Last Years Result: Semi Finals
Fact is, Le Banner has a history of losing in the Final 8 at the K-1 WGP Final. One could argue that he is due to win but I think his best days are behind him. He is older and carrying a knee injury that will likely hamper him if he gets past Bonjasky and he showed suspect conditioning against Sawayashiki in his Final 16 bout. His biggest problem though I think is his draw; he’s got Bonjasky first which will be a hard fight and also in his bracket is leg kicking machine Gokhan aki who is a dangerous fight for a man with a bad knee. Bonjasky is a bad style matchup for him and Le Banner in my opinion needs to win both of his quarter and semi final fights and come out unscathed if he is to win this years K-1 WGP. Despite the fact that Le Banner has a win over Bonjasky I feel that Bonjasky was underdone in that fight and is a better fighter now then he was that night while Le Banner has slipped. I’m not ruling him out of that fight by any means as I think he has as much of a chance as either Aerts or Hari do against each other, but out of him and Bonjasky, if the winner of that fight was to go all the way you’d have to pick Bonjasky to be the one. Le Banner needs to let his trademark power out and destroy Bonjasky without taking too much damage to his right knee and then blow away either Saki or Karaev and hope whoever his opponent in the finals is is beat up a bit if he wants to win his first crown. If there was a fighter I wouldn’t bet on I’d pick Ewerton Teixera and then Jerome Le Banner. Some guys just aren’t meant to win certain titles and I think Le Banner is that guy when it comes to the K-1 WGP.

 6 (tie)- Gokhan Saki
Opponent: Ruslan Karaev
Record vs Opponent: None
Best Previous K-1 Result: Debut
Last Years Result: None

  

 

 

6 (tie)- Ruslan Karaev
Opponent:Gokhan Saki
Record vs Opponent: None
Best Previous K-1 Result: Quarter Finals (2006)
Last Years Result: None
Saki and Karaev are on a tie because I really don’t know who will win that fight. Whoever wins has the daunting task of facing either Remy Bonjasky or Jerome Le Banner in the quarter finals so they’d better hope they win quickly otherwise they could be in for a hard second match. The theme of the night really is about how the more experienced and highly touted members of the tournament deal with each other and then whether they can deal with the younger members of the tournament in their second fight. If one of these guys was to go all the way I’d say its Saki because he has the better chin and likely the better stamina. Karaev is one of those knockout or be knocked out type of fighters that are great to watch but usually don’t have long stays at the top. If he can catch Saki early before he starts landing those sickening leg kicks he could be in a good position if Le Banner and Bonjsky have a hard fight. If Saki lands a few leg kicks and then gets caught, then I can’t see Karaev backing up and beating one of the two big names in the same bracket. Saki really has to box smart and pick his shots in this fight and if he can find the right shots he could have an easy nights work with Karaev and be in a good position in the next round. If he draws Le Banner in the semis though, unless he can damage Jerome’s bad right knee with a leg kick I think Le Banner will bully him around the ring much in the same fashion that Ray Sefo did in their Final 16 bout in September. I don’t really give either man much of a chance to win the whole thing, but they could play a crucial role in who does.

8- Ewerton Teixera
Opponent: Errol Zimmerman
Record vs Opponent: None
Result: Debut
Last Years Result: None
Teixera in my opinion is just making up the numbers and will do well to last two rounds against Zimmermans handspeed and power. It coul be that Musashi made him look a lot worse then he is, but I don’t think it is. Teixera’s hands are rigid and I doubt he has the experience in a proper fight that the others have from his full contact karate matches. Teixera could cause the upset and get into the semi finals, but then he has to face Aerts or Hari and then likely Bonjasky or Le Banner so the odds are stacked against Teixera. Still, even though I don’t think he has much of a chance like the other seven members of the Final 8 he still plays an important role in the tournament. He could make Zimmermans like difficult in the other two fights if he makes his quarter final a tough bout or he could give Zimmerman a huge advantage if he gets blown away like expected.

The Alternates
Considering that the top four guys (Aerts, Bonjasky, Hari and Le Banner) are all facing each other in the quarter finals, it’s likely we’ll see an alternate. In the alternate fights we have Hong Man Choi facing Ray Sefo and Paul Slowinski facing Melvin Manhoef. The likely replacement will be Hong Man because he should defeat Ray Sefo. If one of the big four gets forced out with an injury, Hong Man has a good chance against the less experienced members of the Final 8 and could end up in the final! I doubt the alternates will become a factor, but when you’ve got older guys in an eight man tournament it’s definately something to consider.

My predictions for the event will be up before Friday. There’s also some Mexican wannabe fighting a Philipino this weekend in some place called Las Vegas that someone tells me I should look into so expect an article on that as well.

K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final Preview: The Finalists

 

Next weekendwe have one of the bigger weekends for fight fans. With the De la Hoya vs Pacquiaofight that everyone (bar me) is really looking forward to taking place on the Sunday, the real focus of the weekendshould be on the night before when the K-1 crowns it’s annual Grand Prix champion. So instead of doing what everyone else is andfocusing on what is apparently the best boxing match of the year, I’m going to focus on the K-1 World Grand Prix (which will now be abbreviated to K-1 WGP). I won’t completely ignore the De la Hoya-Pacquiao fight, I’ll definately put my predictions for the fight up the day before it takes place anddo a re-cap the day after, but as far as I’m concerned the biggest event of the weekend takes place the day before anddeserves the credit. This will be the first of three preview articles on the K-1 World Grand Prix Final.

For those of you who don’t know how K-1 works, here’s it in a nutshell. K-1 holds four Qualifying events throughout the year where eight fighters compete in a one night tournament. The four winners of these tournaments join the eight men who made the Quarter Finals the year before in the Final 16. The final four spots are decided by the fans witha vote on the K-1 website. After the Final 16 is announced, they are paired up to fight on the same night withthe eight winners advancing to the Final Event. The eight fighters then each put their names up onto an empty slot in the bracket to decide the make-up of the Final Event (there are eight slots, with fighter 1 fighting fighter 2, fighter 3 fighting fighter 4, 5 v 6 and7 v 8 withthe winners of 1 v 2 to face 3 v 4 in the semis etc), with the easiest winners (ie the ones who won by the quickest knockout) getting to go first down to the guy who just squeaked by in his fight.

After the Final 16 Event in September, we were left with the following eight fighters:

Ruslan Karaev
K-1 Record:11-6-0 (6 KOs)
K-1 History:2006 K-1 WGP Quarter Finalist
2008 K-1 Taipei GP Champion, 2005 K-1 Las Vegas Champion
Record against other Finalists:Badr Hari (1-1)
Final 16 Result: KO2 vs Chalid Die Faust
The first of the four Qualifiers who won his way into the Final event this year, Karaev looks to make his 2nd appearance in the final event a better one then his last effort. After knocking out Badr Hari in the 2006 Qualifying event in under a minute, Karaev lasted only 71 seconds against Glaube Feitosa; being caught by his famous ‘Brazilian Kick.’ Karaev then dropped a rematch via 2nd round KO to Badr Hari in March of last year before being destroyed in 31 seconds by Melvin Manhoef later in the year.
However, Karaevbounced back with a win early this year before knocking out three opponents in one night to take win the Taipei Qualifying event and earn his spot in the Final 16. Facing dangerous puncher Chalid Die Faust, Karaev was caught early and dropped, but bounced back to floor the German three times in the 2nd round and book a place in the Final event. Because he scored the only knockout of the night, Karaev got to be the first man to put his name on the bracket and he chose the 6th fighter slot, or to be in the third fight of the night.

Remy Bonjasky
K-1 Record:33-8 (15 KOs)
K-1 History:2003, 2004 K-1 WGP Champion
2005, 2006, 2007 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
Record against other Finalists: Badr Hari (1-0), Peter Aerts (0-1), Jerome Le Banner (0-1)
Final 16 Result:MD3 vs Paul Slowinski
The ‘Flying Gentleman’ appears in his sixth consecutive K-1 WGP Final Event, after winning his first two and making the semi finals of the last three. Bonjasky was one of four newcomers to qualify for the 2003 Final 16 event and once there he made it to the Final 8 after his opponent Bob Sapp was disqualified for hitting him while he was down. Bonjaskythen knocked out both Peter Graham and Cyril Abidiin the first round before winning a unanimous decision over Musashi to win his first crown. Bonkasky continued his winning ways in K-1 the following year defeating four time champion Ernesto Hoostafter one extra round in the Quatrter Finals, former World Heavyweight Boxing champion Francois Botha by unanimous decision in the semi finals and then again defeating Musashi in the final, this time by decision after two extra rounds making Bonjasky the only man to go 12 rounds in one night to win a K-1 WGP event.
In 2005 Bonjasky looked to become the first fighter to win three K-1 WGP’s in a row, but after defeating Hong Man Choi in the Quarter Finals he was knocked out by eventual winner Semmy Schilt in the first round of their semi final meeting. After some poor form early in 2006, Bonjasky defeated Mighty Mo and Gary Goodridgeto qualify for the Final 8 again. In his quarter final match with Stefan Leko, Bonjasky was twice kicked in the groin and was unable to continue. However, K-1 officials postponed the match until later in the evening to allow Bonjasky to recover. Bonjasky defeated Leko by unanimous decision but was unable to continue in the tournament. Bonkasky and Leko again met in 2007, this time in the Final 16 andafter a wild first round, Bonjasky knocked Lekoout with a flying knee with 10 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. Up and comer Badr Hari was his quarter finals opponent andafter a three round war with both guys delivering punishment to each others legs, Bonjasky took a close decision. The fight with Hari took a lot out of Bonjasky, and despite going the distance with Peter Aerts in the semi final, he didn’t have much to offer the three time former champion, losing a unanimous decision.
With his spot in the Final 16 already secure after a rule change allowed last years Final 8 a guaranteed spot in the Final 16, Bonjasky needed not defeat anyone to qualify this year. Still, Bonjaskystayed busy competing in super fights with Melvin Manhoef and Volk Atajev at the Amsterdam andTaipei Qualifying events, winning both fights by 3rd round knockout. In the Final 16, Bonjasky faced Paul Slowinski anddespite looking a little sluggish, he won the fight with a majority decision after three rounds. Bonjasky was the second fighter to put his name on the board and chose the 7th fighter slot meaning he would compete in the fourth fight against an opponent to be named.

Errol Zimmerman
K-1 Record: 5-0 (3 KOs)
K-1 History: 2008 K-1 Amsterdam GP Champion
Record against other Finalists: None
Final 16 Result: UD3 vs Glaube Feitosa
One of three fighters who have just emerged on the K-1 scene this year in the Final 8, should the 22 year old Zimmerman win he’ll break Peter Aerts’ record and become the youngest man to win the K-1 WGP. ‘The Bonecrusher’ was an underdog going into the Amsterdam qualifying event this year, but scored stoppage wins over Attila Karacs and 6’7 Swiss monster Bjorn Bregy before scoring a close majority decision over Zambit Samedov to earn his spot in the Final 16. Facing feared Brazilian Glaube Feitosa, a man who had come second in the 2005 K-1 WGP, Zimmerman came out firing, dropping Feitosa in both the first and second rounds andearning a wide unanimous decision. With the options of facing either Bonjasky or Karaev or taking his chances with one of the other fighters, Zimmerman chose to fill in fighter slot 3 and wait for an opponent.

Gokhan Saki
K-1 Record:7-1 (4 KOs)
K-1 History: 2008 K-1 Hawaii GP Champion
Record against other Finalists: Badr Hari (0-1)
Final 16 Result: UD4 vs Ray Sefo
Another youngster in the K-1 WGP Final this year, Gokhan Saki went to the Hawaii Qualifying event as an alternate. However the day before the event, Saki was promoted to the main card when Chalid Die Faust couldn’t get a Visa. With other well known fighters like Mighty Mo Salinga and sideshows like the fight between Butterbean and former UFC fighter Cabbage Correira in the event, Saki was very low profile going into the event. Three fights and under 10 minutes later Saki was one of the dark horses in the K-1 WGP Final 16. After destroying his first opponent with brutal leg kicks in the first fight of the night, Saki knocked out Rich Cheek and Randy Kim to earn his spot in the Final 16. There, Saki faced veteran fan favourite Ray Sefo andafter a close three rounds the fight was declared a draw. In the extra round Saki proved the fresher fighter andoutworked his opponent to take the judges decision. With fourth choice in the Final 8 fight selections, Saki with the choice of one of three opponents or the option of letting one of the other four choose him, he chose to face Ruslan Karaev in the Quarter Finals.

Ewerton Teixera
K-1 Record: 5-0 (2 KOs)
K-1 History: 2008 K-1 Japan GP Champion
Record against other Finalists: None
Final 16 Result: UD3 vs Musashi
The third of the young guns making their first appearance in the Final event this year. Little was known of the Brazilian karateka before this year and still not much is known of him now. The Fukuoka qualifying event was basically set up for Musashito earn his spot into the Final 16 but with the focus on the Schilt-Le Banner and Hari-Feitosa fights no one really cared. However, Musashi was defeated by 22 year old novice Keijiro Maeda in the quarter finals. Teixera in the other bracket won his first two fights with ease and then also defeated Maeda comfortably to qualify for the Final 16. In the Final 16, Teixera faced Musashi who had been voted into the Final 16 by the fans. In what was an extremely lacklustre affair, Musashi didn’t appear willing to fight and was uneventfully outpointed by the young Brazilian. Teixera had the next choice on the Finals board, and with the options of Bonjasky, Zimmerman or one of Le Banner, Aerts or Hari, he chose Zimmerman, effectively leaving the four big names in the tournament to battle each other for a semi finals spot.

Peter Aerts
K-1 Record: 62-21 (28 KOs)
K-1 History: 1994, 1995, 1998 K-1 WGP Champion
2006, 2007 K-1 WGP Runner-up
1997, 2000, 2003, 2005 Semi Finalist
1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004 Quarter Finalist
Record against other Finalists:Remy Bonjasky (1-0), Jerome Le Banner (3-1)
Final 16 Result:MD3 vs Semmy Schilt
If I was to go through the former three time champions past history in K-1 this article would double in size. Aerts has been there from the beginning and won titles in 1994, 1995 and 1998. In 2006 he took Remy Bonjasky’s spot in the semi finals after competing as an alternate and stopped Glaube Feitosa in the 2nd round to earn a spot in the final with reigning champion Semmy Schilt. Aerts had defeated Schilt earlier in the year by majority decision in a superfight at an Auckland qualifying event. In what was a classic battle, a 2nd round knockdown against Aerts was the difference in a hard fought fight and Schilt won his 2nd consecutive K-1 WGP.
After destroying Bob Sapp and Nicholas Pettas in super fights early in 2007, Aerts chopped down Ray Sefoin the Final 16 with vicious leg kicks, stopping him when Sefo’s corner threw in the towel between the first and second rounds. Aerts then destroyed Japanese up and comer Junichi Sawayashiki at 1:29 of the first round in the quarter finals and outworked a battle-worn Remy Bonjasky in the semi finals to set up a second consecutive final with Semmy Schilt. History was to be made whoever the winner would be with Aerts looking to tie Ernesto Hoost’s record of four K-1 WGP titles and Schilt looking to become the first man to win three K-1 WGP’s in a row. In a disappointing final, halfway through the first round Aerts was caught by a jab from Schilt while in an awkward position injuring his knee and leaving him unable to beat the count. This made Schilt the first man to win three K-1 WGP Finals in a row.
At the Amsterdam qualifying event this year, Aerts called out Semmy Schilt to a fight in the Final 16 qualifying event. Aerts was willing to put his record of appearing in every K-1 WGP Finals event on the line in order to eliminate Schilt from winning four consecutive titles. Aerts claimed that Schilt was bad for the sport because he lacked personality and won due to his size (roughly 7’0, 300lbs) rather then his skills. Schilt accepted and the last two year’s finalists were to fight for a spot in the Final 8. Aerts bulled Schilt around the ring, landing numerous right hands and constantly keeping Schilt on the backpedal, earning him a three round majority decision and eliminating the three time defending champion Schiltfrom the Final. With the option of facing Remy Bonjasky or competing in the first fight of the night against either Jerome Le Banner or Badr Hari, Aerts decided to choose to fight first to allow himself as much recovery time as possible should he win.

Jerome Le Banner
K-1 Record: 43-16-2 (28 KOs)
K-1 History: 1995, 2002 K-1 WGP Runner-up
1999, 2007 K-1 WGP Semi Finalist
1997, 2005, 2006 K-1 WGP Quarter Finalist
2000 K-1 Nagoya GP Champion
Record against other Finalists: Peter Aerts (1-3), Remy Bonjasky (1-0)
Final 16 Result: UD3 vs Junichi Sawayashiki
Considered the greatest K-1 fighter to never win the WGP, Le Banner is one of the most inconsistent professional fighters around. Despite winning only five of his last 10 fights in K-1, Le Banner is still considered one of the most dangerous fighters on the circuit. After losing in two consecutive quarter finals at the K-1 WGP Finals in 2005 and 2006 to Aerts and Schilt respectively, Le Banner retired from tournament fighting. He then lost in a major upset to unheralded Junichi Sawayashiki early in 2007 in a fight where he badly injured his knee. Despite retiring from tournaments, Le Banner recovered in time for the 2007 Final 16 event and won his way into the Final event with a 54 second knockout over Yoon Soo Park. Le Banner was forced to face the World’s largest professional fighter in Hong Man Choi in the quarter finals andwon a unanimous decision. In the semi’s after Le Banner had a solid first round against reigning two time champion Semmy Schilt, Schilt injured Le Banners bad right knee with a low kick which forced his corner to stop the fight.
Le Banner and Schilt squared off again early in 2008 for the K-1 Super Heavyweight title at the Fukuoka qualifying event. Despite giving Schilt one of his toughest fights in years, Le Banner fell short on the judges cards anddropped a unanimous decision. With an offer to fight Tim Sylvia in MMA, Le Banner turned down the fight and elected to fight in this years Grand Prix. His Final 16 opponent was Junichi Sawayashiki, the man who had defeated him 18 months prior. Le Banner bulled the young Japanese fighter around the ring for the full three rounds, never allowing him in the fight and scoring a wide unanimous decision. With the choice of Aerts or Bonjasky in the quarter finals, Le Banner chose Bonjasky, a man he had defeated in a controversial 2006 fight over his long time nemesis Aerts who he was 1-3 against over a period of 12 years.

Badr Hari
K-1 Record:11-3 (10 KOs)
K-1 History: 2007, 2008 K-1 Heavyweight Champion
2007 K-1 WGP Quarter Finalist
Record against other Finalists: Remy Bonjasky (0-1), Gokhan Saki (1-0), Ruslan Karaev (1-1)
Final 16 Result: TKO4 vs Hong Man Choi
The reigning K-1 100kg champion this year makes his 2nd run for a K-1 WGP title. After losing two of his first three appearances in K-1 to Peter Graham and Ruslan Karaev, Hari fought as an alternate in the 2006 K-1 WGP, defeating Paul Slowinski. He avenged the loss to Karaev in 2007 via knockout before later that year he became the first fighter to win the newly created K-1 100kg title by knocking out Yusuke Fujimoto in less then a minute. Hari then avenged his loss to Peter Graham by unanimous decision before knocking out another Australian Doug Viney to qualify for the K-1 WGP 2007 Final. His opponent in the quarter finals was former two time champion Remy Bonjasky. Both men exchanged vicious low kicks throughout their fight and the fight was very close going to the scorecards. One judge scored the bout a draw and the other two scored it for Bonjasky and Hari was eliminated.
Hari made short work of Ray Sefo in his first appearance this year and then defended his 100kg title against Glaube Feitosa at Fukuoka. Hari battered Feitosa, knocking him out at 2:26 of the first round to retain his title and establish himself as one of the favourites for the 2008 K-1 WGP. ‘The Golden Boy’ was matched with man mountain Hong Man Choi in the Final 16, giving away over 100lbs in weight to the Korean. Hari was in complete control of the fight apart from a dubious knockdown in the 2nd round against him which cost him the decision victory with the judges scoring the bout a draw. However, due to the punishment Hong Man had taken throughout the fight, he couldn’t continue in the fight and Hari earned a TKO victory and a spot in the Final 8. With the other three matchups already decided, Hari will face former three time champion Peter Aerts in the first quarter final.

This leaves the Final 8 Bracket looking like this:

Predictions and other stuff to come later in the week.

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?

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.