Ultimate Guide for K-1 2010 World Grand-Prix Final

Are you tired of lay and pray MMA? Had enough of arm punchers that swing wildly for the fences or fighters that couldn’t check kicks with a checking account? You just can’t take anymore of “all this hugging and s***”? Luckily for you, Dr. RCV has the cure for your MMA woes. What you need is K-1, real stand up fighting and real knock outs! This year’s K-1 World Grand Prix is lacking the likes of Badr Hari and Remy Bonjasky, but that doesn’t mean this year’s final eight is not going to be epic. In fact, this year’s WGP Finals is going to be quite the display of elite stand-up fighting at its finest. We have a Giant from the Netherlands (Schilt), a horse killer (Overeem), a Romanian Samurai (Ghita), a Rebel with a murderous rage (Saki), a Samoan Machine (Might Mo), a lumberjack (Aerts), a king (Spong), and a Japanese guy who looks like Tong Po from the movie “Kickboxer” (Kyotaro).  Yes sir this is K-1 at its finest, a diverse crew of elite kickboxing contenders putting everything on the line this weekend from the Ariake Colisium from Tokyo, Japan! With all the troubles and rumors surrounding the Fighting Entertainment Group (FEG), this possibly could be the last K-1 WGP. If this really is going to be the last K-1 event, you know for sure this storied promotion will go out with a BANG!

Aside from the wonderful Final Eight card, we have a very solid reserve bout for the evening featuring Brazilian Kyokushin Black Belt, Ewerton Teixeira and Golden Glory product Errol Zimmerman. Both men coming off losses from the Final Sixteen, I expect them to be very hungry. Logically speaking, I expect Zimmerman to KO Teixeira in a devastating fashion similar to his gym mate Alistair Overeem but you never can be 100% sure.

Just when you thought this event card couldn’t get any better, we are treated with two very entertaining Super Fights featuring It’s Showtime 95+ KG Champion Hesdy Gerges and Yusuke Fujimoto. Also a treat for PRIDE and JMMA fans, Sergei “The Russian Mercenary” Kharitonov is in action taking on Singh “Heart” Jaideep.

Without boring you with a wall of text, I have found a very unique way to determine who could be the winner of their respective Final Eight fight. Let’s weigh out the positives and negatives of each fighter.

Fight Number One – Mighty Mo Vs. Peter Aerts:

Mighty Mo’s Pluses:

-          Very powerful and feared right hand

-          Explosive and exciting fighter

-          A win against K-1 legend, Remy Bonjasky

Mighty Mo’s Minuses:

-          Slow

-          Has almost as many losses as he has wins

-          Isn’t very proficient at checking leg kicks

Peter Aert’s Pluses:

-          100 wins, 76 via KO with only 27 losses

-          Devastating kicking power

-          Patient fighter with pin point precision timing

Peter Aert’s Minuses:

-          Age (although him and Mighty Mo are the same age)

-          Has trouble against aggressive fighters (as seen against Badr Hari)

-          Relies too much on counter fighting, sometimes is too patient

Advantage: Peter Aerts, even though “The Dutch Lumberjack” is past his prime he is still a much more well-rounded fighter compared to the one-dimensional style of Mighty Mo. I expect Aerts to leg kick his way to victory!

Fight Number Two - Semmy Schilt Vs. Kyotaro

Semmy Schilt’s Pluses:

-          4 straight K-1 World Grand Prix Championships

-          A very big and tall fighter, knows how to use his reach to his advantage

-          Very long and powerful kicks

Semmy Schilt’s Minuses:

-          Has trouble fighting while moving backwards

-          Difficulties against forward moving, aggressive, and busy fighters

Kyotaro Pluses:

-          Very powerful right hand

-          High profile wins against Melvin Manhoef, Gokhan Saki, and Peter Aerts

-          Good defense, has a lot of heart

Kyotaro Minuses:

-          He’s not a short guy, but anyone compared to Semmy Schilt is a midget

Advantage: Semmy Schilt, the story of this fight will be his size and reach advantage. We’ve seen Kyotaro stand toe to toe with some of the most powerful strikers, but he has never experienced any fighter as big as Schilt. Unless Kyotaro can somehow get inside and fight Semmy close range, I can’t see him winning this fight. However, let’s not count out Kyotaro. That right hand, combined with that confidence and heart, we could see one of the biggest upsets in combat sports history. I mean we saw what Badr Hari did to Schilt in their first fight. Kyotaro has got to stay busy, get close, get aggressive, and the chance is there. Let Semmy control the distance and the fight is over.

Fight Number Three – Gokhan Saki Vs. Daniel Ghita:

Gokhan Saki Pluses:

-          Six fight winning streak

-          Lighting quick speed

-          Powerful strikes

Gokhan Saki Minuses:

-          Very undersized against Daniel Ghita’s

-          The smallest fighter in the tournament (5’11, 210lbs)

Daniel Ghita Pluses:

-          Size, 6’5, 250lbs

-          Powerful strikes

-          Relentless

Daniel Ghita Minuses:

-          With only five career losses and reviewing footage, I couldn’t really find any that could relate to this fight.

Advantage: I’m a huge Gokhan Saki fan, but up against Ghita the cards are stacked against him. Ghita is just a bigger fighter and I think he’ll be able to handle Saki’s relentless pace. Like the Schilt and Kyotaro fight, if Ghita can control distance this fight is his. But if Saki gets inside and unleashes his fury, Ghita will go to sleep.

Fight Number Four – Alistair Overeem Vs. Tyrone Spong:

Alistair Overeem Pluses:

-          Size

-          Raw Power

-          He has “matured” into a true elite striker

Alistair Overeem Minues:

-          Questionable chin

-          Not as experienced in stand up fighting like Spong

Tyrone Spong Pluses:

-          Speed

-          Experience

-          Near “perfect” technique (if you train under Ernesto Hoost your technique should be close to perfect)

Tyrone Spong Minuses:

-          Way undersized against Overeem

Advantage: Alistair Overeem has a huge (pun intended) size advantage over Tyrone Spong. Spong has made a name for himself worldwide as a very respectable stand up fighting having fought not only K-1 and It’s Showtime Kickboxing matches, but Muay Thai and Shoot Boxing matches against the best. He has so much experience and technique in his young career, but I don’t think it’s going to be enough against the man known as “The Demolition Man”. The Bo Jackson of Combat Sports, Alistair Overeem is at his prime. Not only he is an accomplished MMA fighter, he has matured into his own as an elite Kickboxer. Unless Spong can use his world-class speed and technique to the best of his abilities, if he gets hit clean by his former training partner Alistair Overeem, we’ll see Tyrone take a nap on the canvas.

We already know Schilt is the heavy favorite in this tournament, but you can NEVER count out any of these guys in the Final Eight. I feel like this year, someone will be able to figure out a way to beat the Dutch Goliath. As combat sports fans, we are spoiled this weekend. We have the opportunity to enjoy an elite Kickboxing double header from K-1 and It’s Showtime. In the world of MMA, you guys already know about UFC 124. It wasn’t too long ago, before I even had internet in my home, I had to search far and wide for great fights. If this really is going to be K-1’s last World Grand Prix, take some time to soak this in, and enjoy every minute. For more K-1 previews, I recommend you visit Rabbit-Punch.net and read Johan Yusef’s preview, also check out Michael Schiavello’s arm chair guide at mmafighting.com.

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