Wheelie
11-12-2010, 17:26
K-1 WGP 2010: A Monster Crowned
Met dank aan Stuart Tonkin en FEG voor het verslag en de foto's
December 11, 2010 ? Tokyo, Japan ? Finally, the date to which we have been counting down like children before Christmas has arrived. The FieLDS 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix surpassed all expectations! A sellout crowd of 11,835 screaming fans crammed into Ariake Colosseum to witness the spectacle.
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3234/ph15b.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/ph15b.jpg/)
It seems like all of the participants lifted their game to a new level. The new generation fighters really proved they belong firmly in the ranks, and the veterans participating gave them everything they could handle.
To open the WGP, the reserve bout was held between Ewerton Teixeira and Errol Zimmermann. Ewerton wasted little time in using his improved boxing to corner Zimmermann and unload on him. The Golden Glory fighter managed to use his knees to get him out of trouble and back into center ring, though it didn't help him a whole lot as he could barely open his guard to throw strikes. He did sneak in a few solid mid kicks, but it wasn't enough to stop Ewerton from earning a rare unanimous 10/9 first round. The second round saw much of the same, but while Ewerton was looking crisp with his shots Zimmermann looked more like he didn't have the energy to put any power behind his own. Between rounds something his corner said to him must have fired him up, as the man that fought in the third round was the Zimmermann we know from pervious fights. He pushed the pace as much as he could, and started throwing his strikes with a bit more of an intent to cause serious damage. Ewerton was far from a motionless target though, and he moved and countered well to ultimately earn a clear unanimous decision. This victory set him up as the reserve fighter for the tournament.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/581/ph06b.jpg (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/ph06b.jpg/)
The first of the WGP matches was a revenge match. Mighty Mo lost his first shot at the belt back in 2004 by knockout to the tiny Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. The following year he tried to qualify, but was stopped again by Peter Aerts; his opponent tonight. He chose the 3-time champion as his opponent as he said they have a score to settle. The 17 time WGP participant accepted the challenge with a smile, and turned up in outstanding condition. When the gong rang, Mo immediately attacked with….a tackle. Once the referee separated them, Peter tried to avoid the Mo-verhand right while landing some counters, but it turned into a messy bout excessive clinching. During one break in the hugging, Aerts casually lifted his left leg and introduced his foot to Mo's jaw. The big Samoan went sprawling down to the mat, but succeeded in beating the count. Being a tournament quarter-final, he has just one more chance to make it out of the round or the bout would be stopped. He took it to Aerts, but experience paid off and The Lumberjack bid his time until Mo's back was to the ropes before unloading. The combination ended with another of Aerts' tradition high kicks, and Mo hit the canvas for the second and final time within the opening round. This advanced a fresh Aerts to face the victor of the next bout.
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/4286/ph07b.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/ph07b.jpg/)
Reining and 4-time champion Semmy Schilt followed, and he was facing a complete newcomer to the Best 8, Japanese hopeful Kyotaro. The fighter formerly known as Keijiro Maeda is known for getting on his bike early in fights, and he did just that this time. Semmy managed to corner him a few times, and slightly bent the rules with one or two knees. In the second round Kyotaro set the crowd alight when he actually landed two solid punches, but for the bulk of the round it looked like an abusive father overzealously disciplining his delinquent son. In the final round (yes, Kyotaro lasted longer than Jerome LeBanner, Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari combined in the 2009 WGP) Kyotaro was cautioned for excessive holding, but threw caution to the wind and went for broke. Unfortunately for him the size difference meant leather was mainly flying through the air, and even when they clinched Semmy could still punch him with power. Seemy did more than enough to earn the decision, while Kyotaro finally earned himself some respect. This set up a semi-final match up we have seen 4 times in the past. Peter Aerts and Semmy Schilt are 2-2.
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9500/ph08b.jpg (http://img219.imageshack.us/i/ph08b.jpg/)
Turkish star Gokhan Saki was next in the ring, and he was facing the Romanian Daniel Ghita. This was every technical fighter fans' wet dream, as there are very few heavyweight fighters on their level. They were both the stand out fighters of the F16 event, and both said they were determined to stop the other. And did this fight ever live up the hype! Saki came out with his combinations, working every strike-able target. Ghita laid back into some mid kicks the likes of which have never been seen in K-1. Two minutes into the fight, both were red raw, and they continued to beat the stuffing out of each other with some of the crispest punches and kicks witnessed in K-1 in close to a decade. The fight miraculously went the distance, with both fighters taking tremendous damage. One of the judges gave it to Ghita, however I was selfishly relieved when they announced the other two judges had it as a draw. I just wanted to see as many more rounds of this fight as I could. Unfortunately though, it looked as though Ghita had put everything he had in him into the regulation time, and his tank was empty. I suspect Saki was running on mere fumes too, but he was the more active of the two throughout the round, and he was awarded a very hard-fought victory by the judges. Ghita quashed the possible rumors that the injury he sustained a few weeks ago played a part in the fight. He also said he was pleased to have put on such a fight for the crowd, but that he felt he had the fight won inside of three rounds. He said he would happily go into the semi-finals now as he is feeling great.
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/5646/ph09b.jpg (http://img704.imageshack.us/i/ph09b.jpg/)
The final fight in the WGP openers was finally here. Alistair "The Reem" Overeem was set to take on a fighter now trained by a who's who of trainers and his own ex-stable-mate, Tyrone Spong. Overeem flew out at the start looking to land his knee. Spong was light on his feet, and avoided being hit while landing some very solid counters. One of them rocked Overeem hard, but the big man weathered the storm and came back in the second round a lot calmer, and returned the favor to Spong. In the final round Spong didn't quite look himself. He was still bouncing and moving, but not with the same balance as earlier in the fight. After taking a few shots he slowed even more, and it didn't take Overeem much to get him against the ropes and unload until the referee broke in to call a standing 8. Spong valiantly hung in until the final bell, but it at least looked as though a lot of the round he spent astral travelling. With a down under his belt, the judges all agreed that Overeem was the one to advance, and in turn face his training partner, Gokhan Saki in the next round.,
http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/9524/ph10b.jpg (http://img574.imageshack.us/i/ph10b.jpg/)
Met dank aan Stuart Tonkin en FEG voor het verslag en de foto's
December 11, 2010 ? Tokyo, Japan ? Finally, the date to which we have been counting down like children before Christmas has arrived. The FieLDS 2010 K-1 World Grand Prix surpassed all expectations! A sellout crowd of 11,835 screaming fans crammed into Ariake Colosseum to witness the spectacle.
http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/3234/ph15b.jpg (http://img69.imageshack.us/i/ph15b.jpg/)
It seems like all of the participants lifted their game to a new level. The new generation fighters really proved they belong firmly in the ranks, and the veterans participating gave them everything they could handle.
To open the WGP, the reserve bout was held between Ewerton Teixeira and Errol Zimmermann. Ewerton wasted little time in using his improved boxing to corner Zimmermann and unload on him. The Golden Glory fighter managed to use his knees to get him out of trouble and back into center ring, though it didn't help him a whole lot as he could barely open his guard to throw strikes. He did sneak in a few solid mid kicks, but it wasn't enough to stop Ewerton from earning a rare unanimous 10/9 first round. The second round saw much of the same, but while Ewerton was looking crisp with his shots Zimmermann looked more like he didn't have the energy to put any power behind his own. Between rounds something his corner said to him must have fired him up, as the man that fought in the third round was the Zimmermann we know from pervious fights. He pushed the pace as much as he could, and started throwing his strikes with a bit more of an intent to cause serious damage. Ewerton was far from a motionless target though, and he moved and countered well to ultimately earn a clear unanimous decision. This victory set him up as the reserve fighter for the tournament.
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/581/ph06b.jpg (http://img227.imageshack.us/i/ph06b.jpg/)
The first of the WGP matches was a revenge match. Mighty Mo lost his first shot at the belt back in 2004 by knockout to the tiny Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. The following year he tried to qualify, but was stopped again by Peter Aerts; his opponent tonight. He chose the 3-time champion as his opponent as he said they have a score to settle. The 17 time WGP participant accepted the challenge with a smile, and turned up in outstanding condition. When the gong rang, Mo immediately attacked with….a tackle. Once the referee separated them, Peter tried to avoid the Mo-verhand right while landing some counters, but it turned into a messy bout excessive clinching. During one break in the hugging, Aerts casually lifted his left leg and introduced his foot to Mo's jaw. The big Samoan went sprawling down to the mat, but succeeded in beating the count. Being a tournament quarter-final, he has just one more chance to make it out of the round or the bout would be stopped. He took it to Aerts, but experience paid off and The Lumberjack bid his time until Mo's back was to the ropes before unloading. The combination ended with another of Aerts' tradition high kicks, and Mo hit the canvas for the second and final time within the opening round. This advanced a fresh Aerts to face the victor of the next bout.
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/4286/ph07b.jpg (http://img63.imageshack.us/i/ph07b.jpg/)
Reining and 4-time champion Semmy Schilt followed, and he was facing a complete newcomer to the Best 8, Japanese hopeful Kyotaro. The fighter formerly known as Keijiro Maeda is known for getting on his bike early in fights, and he did just that this time. Semmy managed to corner him a few times, and slightly bent the rules with one or two knees. In the second round Kyotaro set the crowd alight when he actually landed two solid punches, but for the bulk of the round it looked like an abusive father overzealously disciplining his delinquent son. In the final round (yes, Kyotaro lasted longer than Jerome LeBanner, Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari combined in the 2009 WGP) Kyotaro was cautioned for excessive holding, but threw caution to the wind and went for broke. Unfortunately for him the size difference meant leather was mainly flying through the air, and even when they clinched Semmy could still punch him with power. Seemy did more than enough to earn the decision, while Kyotaro finally earned himself some respect. This set up a semi-final match up we have seen 4 times in the past. Peter Aerts and Semmy Schilt are 2-2.
http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9500/ph08b.jpg (http://img219.imageshack.us/i/ph08b.jpg/)
Turkish star Gokhan Saki was next in the ring, and he was facing the Romanian Daniel Ghita. This was every technical fighter fans' wet dream, as there are very few heavyweight fighters on their level. They were both the stand out fighters of the F16 event, and both said they were determined to stop the other. And did this fight ever live up the hype! Saki came out with his combinations, working every strike-able target. Ghita laid back into some mid kicks the likes of which have never been seen in K-1. Two minutes into the fight, both were red raw, and they continued to beat the stuffing out of each other with some of the crispest punches and kicks witnessed in K-1 in close to a decade. The fight miraculously went the distance, with both fighters taking tremendous damage. One of the judges gave it to Ghita, however I was selfishly relieved when they announced the other two judges had it as a draw. I just wanted to see as many more rounds of this fight as I could. Unfortunately though, it looked as though Ghita had put everything he had in him into the regulation time, and his tank was empty. I suspect Saki was running on mere fumes too, but he was the more active of the two throughout the round, and he was awarded a very hard-fought victory by the judges. Ghita quashed the possible rumors that the injury he sustained a few weeks ago played a part in the fight. He also said he was pleased to have put on such a fight for the crowd, but that he felt he had the fight won inside of three rounds. He said he would happily go into the semi-finals now as he is feeling great.
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/5646/ph09b.jpg (http://img704.imageshack.us/i/ph09b.jpg/)
The final fight in the WGP openers was finally here. Alistair "The Reem" Overeem was set to take on a fighter now trained by a who's who of trainers and his own ex-stable-mate, Tyrone Spong. Overeem flew out at the start looking to land his knee. Spong was light on his feet, and avoided being hit while landing some very solid counters. One of them rocked Overeem hard, but the big man weathered the storm and came back in the second round a lot calmer, and returned the favor to Spong. In the final round Spong didn't quite look himself. He was still bouncing and moving, but not with the same balance as earlier in the fight. After taking a few shots he slowed even more, and it didn't take Overeem much to get him against the ropes and unload until the referee broke in to call a standing 8. Spong valiantly hung in until the final bell, but it at least looked as though a lot of the round he spent astral travelling. With a down under his belt, the judges all agreed that Overeem was the one to advance, and in turn face his training partner, Gokhan Saki in the next round.,
http://img574.imageshack.us/img574/9524/ph10b.jpg (http://img574.imageshack.us/i/ph10b.jpg/)