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K-1 12/6 Yokohama Arena card
By Zach Arnold | December 8, 2008
- World GP Reserve fight: Choi Hong-Man vs. Ray Sefo
- World GP Reserve fight: Paul Slowinski vs. Melvin Manhoef
- World GP Tournament: Peter Aerts vs. Badr Hari
- World GP Tournament: Errol Zimmerman vs. Ewerton Teixeira
- World GP Tournament Semi-Finals: Winner of Aerts/Hari vs. Winner of Zimmerman/Teixeira
- World GP Tournament: Gokhan Saki vs. Ruslam Karaev
- World GP Tournament: Remy Bonjasky vs. Jerome Le Banner
- World GP Tournament Semi-Finals: Winner of Saki/Karaev vs. Winner of Bonjasky/Le Banner
- World GP Tournament finals
Update: Result spoilers here. Fightlinker has some comments on the show. Recap and event PBP can be read here.
K-1 claimed 17,823 for the Yokohama Arena show. Strangely, I noticed that most Japanese outlets did not float an attendance number when covering the show…
MMA Analyst has videos of the fights.
Update: According to a report on Sports Navigator (Yahoo Japan), the K-1 World GP event drew a 16.1% overall rating with a peak rating of 19.6%. Those are good numbers. This is a positive news development.
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 48 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
this is actually one i’m really looking forward to. But what would be better for Dream? A bad rating or a good rating?
Would a bad rating mean they push Dream more?
Or would a good rating mean more chance of FEG working with the TV network next year?
Any ideas?
I just want to see Jerome LeBanner win. At this point, I think he’s due.
Great to see Manhoef back already.
WAR JLB!!!
I wouldn’t complain if Badr won this year though.
why’s manhoef there? he’s way too small!
this is setting up to be one of the best K-1 GPs in a very long time, very excited about this!
What a horrible oversight by the K1 promoters. Semmy Schilt isn’t in the Grand Prix reserve match? Oh the disappointment!
Is K-1 high or just incredibly stupid? Leaving Schilt out???? No effing japanese in a reserve match? Do they intend to comp all the tickets???
What exactly is the justification for putting someone in the reserve match who didnt earn it (Melvin) instead of someone who more than earned it (Semmy)?
Please tell me he’s injured.
Utterly ridiculous that Ruslan Karaev even got a shot in the elimination round.
That guys chin is weaker than a cheap glass vase.
Semmy doesn’t get a fight in the reserve because there is no way that FEG wants him anywhere near this tournament. They want people to watch it, after all.
And why did Karaev get a shot? Probably because he won the Asia GP, and all regional GP winners get a shot.
I was being very very sarcastic about Schilt. I don’t want him in K1 period.
If you read the Gryphon Japanese MMA blog on site you can see Semmy is pissed off about this and is either pursuing a fight with Fedor or probably just wanting to get back at K1 for not allowing him the slightest of winning another GP this year.
Karaev should have been cut from K1 years ago.
They want him to win so bad, its just pathetic.
I dont care what all of you say, Schilt has won each year completely legitimately and it makes K1 look like pro-wrestling to just cut him out.
If they want to cut him out because he’s too big, then make a superheavy division. Otherwise, its just not fair.
They do have a superheavy weight division, dumbass. Schilt is the belt holder.
Schilt vs HMC til eternity đ
So did Manhoef just retire from MMA?
[…] â K-1’s World GP on 12/6 in Yokohama will feature Badr Hari, Melvin Manhoef, Hong Man Choi, Peter Aerts, and Ray Sefo. â Sengoku 7 […]
I’m so fired up that HDnet is showing this!!
He retired from everything, then decides his tendencies to KTFO people was just too strong of a pull for him.
Honestly, after a lackluster WEC 37, K-1 is exactly what the doctor ordered. This card looks awesome!
setting up to be one of the best tournaments in years!
As I remember Melvin only retired from MMA because he was disappointed because he’d been working very hard on his ground game and he still got tooled. And as far as cutting out Schilt – they didn’t cut him out. Aerts dominated him. Had he won he would still be there.
Why on earth is Kimbo doing the commentary for this event on HDNet? Were they so excited to get an interview with him that they thought, “To heck with booking him in a long interview segment on Inside MMA, let’s instead put him on commentary for the biggest event of the year in a sport that he has never competed in!”
Good night of fights so far. Bummer to see the old guard of Aerts/Lebanner already out. Manhoef just had a highlight reel KO right now.
Big time WTF moment in the finals lol.
just watched the fights on Youtube/Dailymotion.
Someone explain Hari to me. Please.
Hari is a 10-year old child. Explained.
No doubt what Hari did was enough to get DQ\\\’d, but Remy put on an oscar worthy performance in bailing out of the match. I mean, c\\\’mon. ALL the replays showed that Badr\\\’s fould didn\\\’t land cleanly nor did they do any real damage.
I think Remy got buzzed but good along the ropes before the takedown & the fouls & decided to take the easy way out rather than risk getting belted out of there had he continued. I put this one right up there with Renzo Gracie\\\’s cheap win over Frank Shamrock.
Hari\\\’s definitely got to learn to control himself more & tighten his defense up a bit, but he\\\’s a bad ass.
Yeah, Badr Hari blatantly fouled Remy in a way that probably deserved a DQ, but none of the fouls really landed cleanly enough to do the kind of damage that Remy was portraying to the ringside officials. He definitely put on a performance in order to get out of the fight & get the win.
I believe he got buzzed but good along the ropes before the takedown & decided to not risk facing more of Hari’s power & risk getting KO’d when he could win the tourney on his stool.
Smart perhaps, but VERY unsatisfying & unwarrior-like. Right along the lines of Renzo Gracie’s win over Shamrock last year.
And, while Hari’s a bit of a head case, he’s also a bad ass.
He’s got mad skills & power & if he can learn to control himself more & tighten his defense up a wee bit, he’ll be at the top of the K-1 food chain for quite a while.
A real shame that it ended this way given that the tournament had so much hope in creating a new star and had been quite exciting. Both semifinals and the Slowinski/Manhoef fights were highlight reel stuff.
maybe they can rematch in a Heavyweight Title fight, that should draw some ratings.
I saw that Hari documentary and he definitely has anger issues since a child but hey, he’s got talent no doubt. I am glad Remy did not let Hari get another shot at him after the foul, because that drove the nail deeper into Hari’s dementia.
GREAT card, I loved the whole event even though I had to sleep half way through.
Bard Hari’s intentional foul was reminiscent of Zinidine Zidaine’s ludicrous headbutt in the finals of the 2006 World Cup. Absolute lunacy.
HOWEVER – it was *clear* that Remy Bonjanski was pulling a Gracie. Which makes the situation even worse.
The thing that Remy and Renzo weren’t able to accurately portray was the actual effect of a mild concussion; it’s difficult to mimic pupils being unequal in size, and a vacant glossed-over look in your eyes. You don’t need to be a brain surgeon to see someone’s faking.
But oddly, Remy didn’t even try to act…he just said “Uh…double vision. Give me the GP title and my check”.
He could have at least gone for Renzo’s eye-crossing performance where he acted like the Coyote after the Road Runner dropped an anvil on his head.
Jim, Remy had no other choice but to not continue. If Remy continued, Hari might have been able to pull off a tainted win. What Hari did warranted a straight DQ. If they let the match continued and Hari pulled out a victory, it would be tainted and the K-1 GP would lose all credibility. If you are going to point the finger at anybody for ruining the night, point it at Hari first and FEG second. If FEG had any integrity, they wouldn’t even have given Remy time to recover. They would have DQed Hari right away.
Remy doesn’t need to justify his actions, he’s not the one who decided to intentionally foul an opponent out of frustration. It was absurd that they even offered him the chance to continue and didn’t instantly DQ Hari.
The entire K-1 event was unbelievable in many ways, but the ending definitely left a sour taste in my mouth.
Badr Hari is the future. Yeah, he has anger issues, but it’s only go to build some type of rivalry.
Hari was fantastic. The spinning heel kick was unreal against Aerts, and his comeback win against Zimmerman was epic. It’s too bad his anger got the best of him and caused the foul. I still believe Bonjasky milked it, but hey, he milked it for 400k.
Manhoef’s KO was awesome! Slowinski was way overpowered in that bout.
K-1 is going to lose their TV deal! MMA/K-1 is dead! Oh, wait.
“Jim, Remy had no other choice but to not continue. If Remy continued, Hari might have been able to pull off a tainted win.”
Dave2, that’s exactly why Remy *should* have continued – he was in a no-lose situation.
He continues and wins, he’s the infallible fan-favorite for overcoming the odds, getting fouled but coming back to beat Hari.
He continues and loses, Remy can say that next time he’ll beat Hari in a Superfight for the title, because he was fouled and deserves a fair shot.
He looks like a hero for continuing injured either way, and can come out of the deal with an even bigger fight in the future.
With Remy’s poor acting job, how many poeple are excited about a Bonjanski/Hari rematch?
It’s hard to get excited about a main event when you think one guy is could take a dive faster than a player on an Italian soccer team.
If he lost the match, he loses the money. Money pays the rent, not cheers from fans.
Also, in terms of a rematch, Remy beat Hari before and was on his way to do it again. The whole scene was reminiscent of Tyson/Holyfield II where the same thing occurred.
Seriously, if you don’t watch or really get into kickboxing don’t talk about it. I’m just tossing that out as a disclaimer.
People who are upset over Remy not continuing are upset because he has milked low blows before and K1 has been pissed with him.
Remy shouldn’t have continued because the ref should have stopped the fight already, but didn’t because of what it was (WGP Finals) and because K1 frowns upon stoppages for stuff like this, period.
Remy got a win because he was A) winning anyway, B) the fight should have been stopped regardless. Remy beat Badr last year and was going to beat him again this year.
I’m not sure I understand the assumptions that Bonjasky was simply “going to win anyways”. That’s a ridiculous supporting statement to why he should or should not have continued.
Zimmerman was on his way to winning too after two rounds, then he got his skull caved in by Hari.
Bonjasky obviously isn’t as easily hurt as he’s a proven fighter with great durability. I just think giving Hari zero chance of pulling out a win is ignorant. Hari does have the power to knockout anyone in that ring.
Regardless of that input, I think this may setup an interesting rematch as opposed to a “who gives a shit” rematch. Last year’s bout was fairly good, and this year, we have a tainted bout due to the illegal blow and Bonjasky’s shit acting job. Hari will be out for blood, and it could spark some spectacular bouts down the line.
Hari was apparently frustrated enough of losing to a guy that he has lost to before that he decided to intentionally foul him repeatedly until he was DQ’ed. Like Tyson biting the ear, its a legit DQ loss. Go blame Hari for being an idiot rather than Bonjasky for taking an easy out to a 3rd grand prix title.
Great news for K-1….I really hope DREAM can pull in something big as well.
“Iâm not sure I understand the assumptions that Bonjasky was simply âgoing to win anywaysâ.”
He was going to be up by 20-17 or 20-16 going into the third. With the kind of defense Remy can put up, especially when he’s ahead by that much, Hari really had a tiny chance of winning. Difference between this fight and the one with Zimmerman is that Hari was getting past Zim’s guard and landing shots the whole fight. In five total rounds fought against Remy, he still hasn’t landed anything of substance against him.
The most important thing to remember here is that Hari himself apparently thought so little of his chances to win that he resorted to punching after the bell and stomping his opponent. Whatever you may think of his ability to win, apparently it wasn’t shared by the guy who’s opinion mattered.
glad to see it get good ratings, been looking forward to the K-1 WGP since the last one.
what do japanese people take of poor sportsmanship?
This whole point about Remy acting or faking it is moot.
Badr Hari fucked himself over and lost because of it. End of story.
He should have been DQ’d immediately. If you really think about it, he committed three successive flagrant fouls in rapid succession. He tried to punch him twice while he was on the ground and then stomped him. Thats three flagrant, intentional fouls.
3 Yellow cards = Definite RED Card.
I like Hari as a fighter but I lost alot of respect for him, especially because he basically ruined what was turning out to be a great GP.
“Iâm not sure I understand the assumptions that Bonjasky was simply âgoing to win anywaysâ. Thatâs a ridiculous supporting statement to why he should or should not have continued.”
I think D.Cap explained it well enough, but the law of probability and all of that, Remy was heading to be up two rounds and is a good enough fighter to know how to stalemate and drag out a round.
Badr is a great, great fighter, but hasn’t found the formula for Bonjasky yet.
Those numbers are likely legit.
The arena was completely packed, couldnt see a single empty seat.
I don’t think anyone is excising Hari’s insane foul – but Remy robbed the fans. Plain and simple.
They both did.