» Posts Tagged ‘K-1’

Strikeforce heavyweight champ “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (27-10) will fight a yet-to-be-named opponent at Glory 11 in Amsterdam 17 October, Fighters.com has confirmed.

Sources close to the Dutch kickboxer also revealed exclusively to Fighters.com that Overeem is considering a kickboxing matchup versus “Dutch Lumberjack” Peter Aerts (1-1) at FieLDS K-1 World GP Final 16 in Seoul 26 September. Since Fighters.com’s original post, K-1 has confirmed the Overeem versus Aerts matchup.

Overeem was thought to be nursing an persistently infected hand resulting from a bar brawl in Amsterdam last May that kept him from defending his Strikeforce title from “Vai Cavalo” Fabricio Werdum (12-4-1) in San Jose 15 August. The injury was described by Overeem’s manager, Bas Boon, as nearly costing Overeem his hand.

Read More About “Injured” Strikeforce Champ Alistair Overeem To Fight in Amsterdam in October, Seoul in September…

DREAM Middleweight Champion “Young Vagabond” Gegard Mousasi (7-0) and lightweight “Crusher” Tatsuya Kawajiri (23-5-2) are scheduled for K-1 kickboxing bouts at Dynamite!! 31 December in Saitama, Japan.

Mousasi will face four-time K-1 Japan GP champion Musashi, while Kawajiri will face former K-1 World MAX Japan finalist Kozo Takeda.

Mousasi won DREAM’s Middleweight GP in September, knocking out eighth-ranked middleweight “Jacare” Ronaldo Souza (8-2) with an upkick at 2:15 of round one of the final.

Kawajiri last fought Fighters.com’s third-ranked lightweight Eddie Alvarez (13-1) at DREAM.5 in July, losing via first-round TKO.

Despite reports that Croatian heavyweight “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) has confirmed a rematch versus Dutchman “Demoliton Man” Alistair Overeem (28-11) at Dyanamite!! in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 31 December…he hasn’t.

As Fighters.com reported 21 October, Filipovic expects the rematch on New Year’s Eve, but has yet to receive confirmation from FEG, the company who promotes the Dynamite!! event.

The MMA media has been referencing an interview “Cro Cop” gave to Croatian website Dnevnik, but has evidently mistranslated the article from Croatian.

The 28 October article clearly states “no potvrde za to još nema”, which translates from Croatian to English as Filipovic “doesn’t yet have confirmation.”

FEG is probably awaiting Overeem’s match-up versus “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge (23-18-1) at Glory 10 in Arnhem, east of Amsterdam, 9 November to make the rematch versus “Cro Cop” official or not for New Year’s Eve.

Fighters.com will cover the Overeem v Goodridge fight live.

“Neo-Samurai” Genki Sudo (15-5-1) is considering a return from retirement at Dynamite!! in Saitama, north of Tokyo, New Year’s Eve, according to a report in the latest editon of Japanese fight magazine Kamipro.

Sudo is a veteran of K-1, UFC, and Pancrase with notable victories over UFC middleweight title contender Nathan Marquardt (27-8-2), WEC featherweight title challenger Mike Thomas Brown (19-4), and 400-pound “Butterbean” Eric Esch (10-6-1).

Sudo surprised MMA by announcing his retirement after defeating “Angel of Death” Damacio Page (10-4) at Dynamite!! in Osaka on New Year’s Eve 2006.

Among the reasons Sudo gave were lingering injuries and a sign in front of a urinal that read “one step forward”.

The report in Kamipro is credited to an anonymous source; and, other rumors suggest Sudo could be returning to Dynamite!! only as a commentator.

DREAM heavyweight “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2) expects to rematch “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (28-11) at Dynamite!! in Saitama, north of Tokyo, 31 December, he told Croation website Javno.

“We will fight, we will have a rematch for New Year,” “Cro Cop” said, then added, “We have already agreed in principle about it, but it has not been confirmed 100 percent.”

Overeem too has publicly expressed interest in a New Year’s Eve rematch, saying, “I want to finish ‘Cro Cop’ and put his name on my list, especially now because he has been arrogant and big-mouthed.”

The MMA stars in Japan fought to a No Contest at DREAM 6 in Saitama 23 September.

The fight was stopped after Overeem slammed three separate knee strikes into “Cro Cop’s” groin.

Read More About Cro Cop: Overeem Rematch at Dynamite!!…

Dynamite!!, Fighting and Entertainment Group’s annual year-end event, will take place 31 December at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

FEG President Sadaharu Tanikawa and DREAM president Keiiti Sasahara made the official announcement Saturday.

No matches were announced, but the Dynamite!! card will feature ten to fifteen fights, most of which will be DREAM MMA matches with the remainder being K-1 matches.

At the press conference but not confirmed to fight were Fighters.com’s fourth-ranked lightweight and DREAM Champion “Hellboy” Joachim Hansen (19-7-1), ninth-ranked lightweight “Tobikan Judan” Shinya Aoki (17-3), and “Gracie Hunter” Kazushi Sakuraba (24-11-1).

“Techno Goliath” Hong Man Choi (1-1) reported for 26 months of compulsory military duty in the South Korean Army Tuesday.

The 7′2″ fighter is best known as a K-1 kickboxing champion, but challenged Fighters.com’s fifth-ranked heavyweight “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) on New Year’s Eve in Tokyo under MMA rules.  Choi was submitted in an armbar at 1:54 of round one.

Private Choi embarks on four weeks of boot camp before being assigned to non-combat duty due to his “grade-4″ physical status.

Ironically, the world-class athlete isn’t up to military standards.  Though many South Korean celebrities are granted a “grade-4″ to avoid combat duty, Choi was denied a license to fight Brock Lesnar (1-1) in California in 2007 on medical grounds.  Rumors of a benign tumor of the “Goliath’s” pituitary gland have followed him when he’s sought to fight State-side.

Choi won’t enter the ring during the term of his service, but The Korea Times reports his contract with FEG Korea, which owns K-1, “will automatically extend for the amount of time he misses action in K-1 events,” according to FEG Korea head Jeong Yeon-soo.

In an interview with Rogue Magazine, Kiwi kickboxer Mark Hunt (5-3) revealed details of his return to combat after 15-months off.

The article reports that Hunt will return to K-1 kickboxing versus “Hightower” Semmy Schilt at K-1’s Europe Grand Prix Final in Amsterdam 26 April; however, K-1’s website posts the bout as the main event at the World Grand Prix 2008 in Yokohama 13 April.

“It was part of the contract I was offered,” Hunt said of the Schilt fight.  “I did not want to fight K-1 since I have won the title already, but always up for a challenge; and, when the window of opportunity opens for me, I try to always take it ’cause it does not always open, you know?”

It’ll be Hunt’s last kickboxing bout.

“Well, it is only one K-1 fight to start with; the rest of my contract is all MMA,” Hunt promised.

The hard-headed Hunt fought MMA exclusively in PRIDE, until that promotion’s demise.  He scored back-to-back split decision victories over “The Axe Murderer” Wanderlei Silva (31-8-1) and “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic (22-6-2), followed by consecutive Kimura submission losses to “The Babyface Assasin” Josh Barnett (21-5) and Fedor Emelianenko (27-1).

“K-1 and DREAM are partners so the rest of my MMA fights are with DREAM,” Hunt explained, and designated 8 May for his return to mixed martial arts.

“[A rematch with Emelianenko] is another fight that will happen in the near future,” Hunt said.  ”I can’t say anymore!”

MMA math is trash, but MMA geometry?

Hunt’s MMA contract is in DREAM.  Emelianenko is reportedly divorcing M-1 Global to seek fights in other promotions.  Hunt promises a second dance with Emelianenko.

Assuming Hunt’s promise isn’t just a DREAM on his part….  Well, you see the same dots I do.  See if you can’t connect them.