Schilt looked very good, although O don't know much about his opponent in the first round. Any background on the Romanian? For a long time Schilt couldn't get rid of the reputation that he was just a huge guy with below average skills, partly because it was somewhat true and partly because people just didn't like a 6'11" guy winning; I definatley took a while to come around. Now though, it's pretty undeniable that he has legit skills; as the announcer said "he has a jab stiffer than a box of Viagra"
Schilt definitely got pigeonholed with all the other fighters who only do well because there huge. I've always thought he was decent, no circus sideshow that some prtotrayed him as anyway.
K1/kickboxing is the only well known organization/fighting sport where the best fight the best AND on a regular basis. Ghita is one of the most talented fighters in k1 I think. I saw him fight in Amsterdam the night Hari knocked out Schilt. Ghita did school his opponent and shows great agility when he fights a man his own size. He did not show that same agile against Schilt altough he showed a lot of heart.
TBH I pretty much see it as you do. Although I think Teixiera is a tough guy and won't be knocked out so easily against Overeem. Also I'm not so sure about the final (well what could be the final). I think Overeem has the tools to beat Schilt. Not to mention I kinda hope that Schilt is beaten. I find him quite boring as a fighter.
He did land a solid headkick on a 6'11" monster; I was pretty impressed with that. I'll have to look into him a little more. Here's a HL for others in the dark about him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qltsIKTllDg
I have only seen Ghita fight a few times (the showtime fight which MrPook mentied and the Japan GP he won to qualify for the final 16) but the guy look talented. The Tokyo GP didn't have many recognised (Manhoef pulled out due to injury after his 1st fight) kickboxers on there, but he did finish all his fights pretty quickly. He had a tough draw in the World GP, but im sure the expereince would have done him good.
I wonder what will happen when Hari and Schilt meet in the Final, might make for a whole other fight since they have both fought twice that evening already. I think those circumstances will favor Schilt. Like Schilt beat Aerts everey time they meet in the Final altough Schilt has lost twice to Aerts in single fights.
Although you do bring up some some good and true points ( good guys aging, talent pool,... ) - it's pretty simple really. Guys that train on the ground and standing will spend less time striking and that why they will be less good at it compared to guys who only spend their trainings on striking. Quite simple not? Overeem is NOT just a random average mma fighter representing MMA. He happens to be a Dutch fighter and in The Netherlands they have a large tradition in kickboxing. He also happens to train at Golden Glory, home of 4 of the participants of the finals these years. Home of Stefan Leko, Chalid Die Faust, Schilt, Zimmerman, Saki ... He is trained by one of the best kickboxing trainers and has the ability to do sparring with all these top K-1 fighters. Last but not least they also can use the experience of these fighters to draw a gameplan. That's why Overeem manages to perform like this. Technically he looked great vs Aerts. But make no mistake; he won't win the GP. I expect him to start blowing heavily in the second round because fo all his muscles. He lacks the stamina to go three fights on 1 evening. The expected final would be Schilt vs Hari, with Scilt having the edge because of his stamina of a horse.
What? Bonjasky intentionally picked Zimmerman only to avoid Hari at least till the final and hope he losses till then.
He called him out yes but do you honestly think he wanted to accept the challenge more than avoid Hari? It's obvious they don't lke eachother. Personally I think Hari is peaking and is unstoppable at this time and Remy is slowing down.In fact I didn't really think he deserved to get hte decision with Manhoef. Bonjasky wants none of Hari.Even if Zimmerman didn't call him out Remy would have picked the other empty slots for the part of the show away from Hari. I'm jsut sad my boy Ghita couldn't spark that robot Schilt out. Now he's gonna go and destroy whatevr remains of JLB's right knee:-( Just hope Ignashov somehow injures Semmy next month in Holland but the chances are slim to none.
No I really don't think Bonjasky wants to fights Hari. And if he has to it would be all for the better if it gets settled in the Final. Now Ghita... He is a guy I am paying close attention to :thumbsup Last time Schilt and Ighnashov fought Ighnashov made short work of Schilt. That was 2004 though. To me Ighnashov really is the biggest waste of talent I have ever seen. He did get screwed bu K1 the year Mark Hunt became champion. If that not had happened I am sure Ighnashov would have become champ.
Ignashov's out of the ring life destroyed his career.The dude can't stop driniking.He's been losing lately. I doubt he will trouble Semmy. Ghita altough my countryman is very doubted by me and many of us.Dude just hasn't fought no one of note til lthie year. Sure he beat guys like Kemayo,Bregy,Wallis who are good but they aren't elite. He got cocky,didn't train nad Tony Gregory spaked his ass out a few years ago. He was majorly overraetd this year after winning the Tokio tournament with first round KOs but in reality he faced 2 bums nad Lomaschenko who is basicallly tailor made ofr him and not really good at all. Raul Catinas is one to follow.21 years old and sparked Stefan Leko.
I didn't mean to insult K1; just show that finally MMA is having some real progress in producing world class strikers; which hopefully also shows the decent strikers are getting better, the bad ones are getting less bad, etc. Overeem certainly is a special case in a lot of ways, but one point that is important is that he improved his striking level (his technique was not nearly as crisp, and his striking was just generally not as good early in his career) while also being an MMA fighter. I don't think he will win the GP either. I don't even know if I actually want him to, on the one hand he is an MMA fighter and it would be fun to see one win, but on the other hand I'm not as big of a fan of him as some of the other fighters.
