K-1 2010 Finals - December 11

This content is protected

1993 is the year when it all started. Branko Cikatic was crowned as the first ever K-1 Champion after defeating Ernesto Hoost by devastating knockout. In that same tournament one of the competitors was a guy named Peter Aerts. He ended up losing to Hoost in the quarter final that night; but now 17 years later, that same guy is still around and fighting in an attempt to capture the crown one more time. On Saturday December 11 he will have to get past the Samoan dynamite Siala-Mou Siliga, nicknamed Mighty Mo, first if he wants to keep that dream alive. Mo earned his nickname back in the day when he was still a constructor worker. One day he was working in a building that collapsed and he walked out of it with hardly any damage. He was nicknamed “Mighty Mo” from that day on. Mo rejuvenated his career recently by dropping a lot of weight and returning to his orginal team Shark Tank gym. It paid off as he looked really good at the Last 16 where he defeated the Romanian pitbull Raul Catinas. He looked visibly very excited at the drawing of the Finals to be in the tournament again and chose without any hesitation to face Aerts for the second time in his career. Until this day Mo is the only guy that ever knocked out the 2.18 m Korean giant Hong Man Choi. Will Aerts capture the crown for a fourth time or will the recharged version of Mo end the career of the nearly 40 year old K-1 legend?

This content is protected

In the same bracket defending champion Semmy Schilt will try to break Hoost his record of 4 K-1 titles, a record that stands since 2002 and that he equalled last year. If he wins again, it would be his fifth K-1 belt after established wins in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009. Winning again would make him the most decorated champion in K-1 history. In the quarter final he faces the new Japanese hope and K-1 heavyweight belt holder Kyotaro in a David vs Goliath type of match. Despite the fact that many people have been very sceptic about Kyotaro in the beginning, he has proven them wrong time and time again. After knocking out cold highly regarded fighters as Peter Aerts and Melvin Manhoef, he also holds wins over Gohkan Saki and more recently he even went trading bombs with the ferocious Frenchman Jerome Le Banner and emerged victorious, which earned him a spot at the Finals this year. It will be interesting how this fight will play out as Kyotaro does hold a significant speed advantage over the towering Schilt. David vs Goliath … who will turn out to be the winner?

This content is protected

The fighters that looked most impressive in the Last 16 event this September were without a doubt Turkish fighter Gohkan “The rebel” Saki and Romanian Daniel ”Monolit” Ghita. Both fighters annihilated their opponents in very impressive fashion. Ghita delivered Zimmerman the worst knockout of his career with some wicked, laser guided punches while Saki annihilated French fighter Kemayo with some lighting fast combinations. Both are very dedicated , technical and overall very complete fighters. Ghita has the advantage of being the bigger guy while Saki has the advantage of having that amazing speed on his side. There’s also a personal touch in the fight as Zimmerman happens to be Saki his best buddy and Saki is poised to avenge the heavy loss of his stable mate. Definitely an action packed fight to look forward to.

This content is protected

One of the guys that has been making big waves in the fight scene in recent years is Alistair Overeem. “Ubereem” even made it to poster boy for the Finals this year.
Since the beginning of his career he has bulked up a lot of mass and in fact he looks like a complete different fighter now compared to early in his career. Competing at top level in both K-1 and mma with that much success is something that not many fighters could do. With decisive wins over Badr Hari and Peter Aerts and having lost a close decision to Remy Bonjasky surely makes him a legit contender for the crown in K-1 this year, especially since he has only improved since those fights took place. He already holds the Strikeforce belt in mma and if he would be able to capture the K-1 belt as well, he would write history as being the only man to hold championship belts both in mma and K-1 at the same time. He has also made it very clear that unifying these two belts will be his ultimate goal on December 11. In that quest the first man that stands in his way will be Tyrone Spong, trained by the master himself Ernesto Hoost. The fighter from Suriname has also bulked up to heavyweight after winning pretty much everything he could win at the lower weight classes. He currently holds a record of 101 fights with 97 wins – which is very impressive record to say the least. Even though Overeem has demolished everything that he has been put in front of him in recent times, Tyrone might be another story. The interesting part is that these two fighters used to be training partners some time ago and Tyrone used to drop Overeem during sparring. Will Overeem his power be the key to victory in this fight or will Spong his speed be too much to overcome for “The Reem”?

This content is protected

Also on the card are 2 reserve fights as well as some opening - and superfights. These include fighters as Brazilian Karateka Ewerton Teixeira, Errol Zimmerman, Sergey Kharitov, Singh Jaideep, Hesdy Gerges among others.

This content is protected

This edition of the K-1 Finals is billed as “who can remain standing in front of Overeem” – translated from the K-1 poster. Most experts seem to expect a Schilt – Overeem final and the obvious question is if “The demolition man” can end the streak of dominance of the tall Dutchman by knocking him out. After all Overeem is in the shape of his life and he has been looking very impressive lately. Of course it’s a tournament, so anything can happen and lady luck can also play a big role.

We’re definitely set for an exciting night of fights and all the question will be answered on December 11.
The K-1 Final will be televised live on Hdnet Saturday December 11 at 2:00 AM ET. Don’t miss it!

http://www.hdnetfights.com/hdnetmmaschedule.php

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/event/2010/1211_wgp/index.html#details

 

He actually could have picked Semmy at the drawing of the final, but went to Tyrone instead.

If you're interested, you can watch the drawing here;

[ame]http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/9991941[/ame]

 

Previews;

Overeem vs Spong:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e26aKiUN2os&feature=player_embedded[/ame]


Ghita vs Saki:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1HfsH3MsmA&feature=player_embedded[/ame]


Schilt vs Kyotaro :

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmdH18s2Sl4&feature=player_embedded[/ame]



Prefight interviews;

Schilt and Ghita:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2010/1209_wgp_04.html


Alistair, Saki and Spong:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2010/1209_wgp_03.html


Gerges, Fujimoto, Kharitonov and Zimmerman:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2010/1209_wgp_02.html


Teixeira, Jaideep and Takahagi:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2010/1209_wgp_01.html

 

This content is protected

Press conference:

http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/news/2010/1210_wgp_01.html


Check out for more backstage and press conference pictures of all the fighters;

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50183&id=145112918848220

This content is protected

The action can kick off now!