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Bob Sapp against the ex-Sumo banned from TV (but not PPV)
By Zach Arnold | December 29, 2010
There are many strange things to see on the upcoming Dynamite card by K-1 on Tokyo Broadcasting System. One fight on the card that will be a ‘no TV’ bout, however, is Bob Sapp vs. Wakakirin (the disgraced ex-Sumo fighter who got busted for marijuana). Wakakirin is Antonio Inoki’s new pet project since Naoya Ogawa has basically gone into exile.
The match between Sapp and Wakakirin was originally going to be an IGF rules pro-wrestling match. However, Wakakirin has such a reputation after his match with Mark Coleman that the bout here for Dynamite now has weird grappling rules and is a watered down grappling/MMA bout. Think about the premise of a ‘real fight’ being better conditions for Bob Sapp than a pro-wrestling bout. That should tell you everything you need to know about Wakakirin as a pro-wrestler. The terms ‘cement’ and ‘crowbar’ come to mind.
Here’s Bob talking to the media about his fights in 2010 and what he has in store for 2011. (He hints that the 2011 campaign will be his last one as an active fighter.)
What is your condition right now? “For this fight, my condition is good enough to fight. Of course I would love to have more time, but sometimes as a fighter you have to be ready at the last minute and you must stay in relatively good shape for upcoming matches even if it’s kind of what we would say fill-in or last-minute which happened to be for me at this current time. So, hey, I’m ready to go.”
You’re back at Dynamite. How do you feel about that? “Now, that, I’m definitely excited about. Ever since I participated in K-1 or DREAM or PRIDE and when the first Dynamite was, you know, it’s always been something that I always look forward to in fighting at the end of the year. So, for me, it’s a tradition, history, and coming down a it’s very, very wonderful surprise.”
Please talk about what you have been up to lately in 2010. “The year 2010… I was still doing some fights and I did another movie called Conan the Barbarian that premieres in August and as well I shot some commercials in (South) Korea and did some video games. And for the up-and-coming year I still have some fights on the contract to do. These are mainly now going throughout Europe and parts of Asia and I have a television contract that I will do some television in the United States.”
What’s your training environment like and where is it? “Yes, my training environment now consists of when I was filming the movie Conan the Barbarian I filmed it in Bulgaria, so all of my trainers now are coming from Bulgaria.”
How much knowledge do you have about your opponent (Wakakirin)? Do you have any impressions of him? “Yes. Well, he’s a tough, young guy. I know Suzukawa. I know of him because we fight in the same pro-wrestling promotion of IGF. So, it’s very interesting to actually go against him and to do underneath new rules. These rules being what we’d say fight rules or shoot rules. This is exciting. So, this will be no pro-wrestling match, so I’m really looking forward to this challenge.”
So, this is a special IGF rules match and this is somewhat irregular MMA rules. Do you have any concerns? “Well, one of my concerns is just because it happens to be open-handed and of course my strength is within the punch, I’ve just need to be very aware so I don’t break my fingers doing the open-hand and other than that, that’s about it.”
Over the last several years, you are not as much of a beast as you before. Do you think we will see the comeback of the Beast at Dynamite in 2010? “Definitely. Yes, I’ve had some downs during my career, so without question this is of course correct that I believe everyone’s kind of suffering around as we look back and see where MMA & K-1 once was and where we are now. So, we all kind of suffered some blows and for the year 2011, we look forward to getting a wonderful comeback and for me and my career I would love to have this career kind of conclude on a high note, so I’m still fighting and I will still be fighting so let’s make sure that I’m fighting for some victories.”
Topics: Japan, K-1, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 6 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
When I first saw it was going to be pro-wrestling I thought ‘trainwreck’ as Sapp is terrible and I couldnt imagine the sumo guy knowing what his doing.
I still hope to see uner this ‘new rules’ to just to see how bad it is.
Is it banned from TV because of the marijuana scandal?
maybe its banned due to the yakuza potty mouth element
After seein the coleman suzikawa debacle, i’m looking forward to a “incidental” sapp hammer fist to the back of “smokin” suzikawas head!
Sorry to change the story, but what was the whole situation with Coleman and the prowrestling match. I’ve tried to find information online about it, but it doesn’t show up anywhere. What happened?
Nevermind…. foundt it.
For those who are not as skilled as interwebs detective as edub, Coleman had a ‘worked’ match with Suzukawa at an IGF show when Suzukawa went all Rikidozan on his ass instead of going with the planned finish and started stiffing the hell out of him with palm strikes and knees. Coleman was obviously caught off guard and gassed out as HELL after about 3 minutes, and waved off the fight in frustration (don’t blame him). Phil Baroni was quite enraged as well…
http://nightmareofbattle.com/?p=4862
Haaaaahahaa
Thanks Gaij