Tech's Random Ramblings Vol. 1: K-1 USA Grand Prix, 5/2/2003

[Technosphile]

Last night was K-1's sole live event on U.S. PPV for the year, and it may very well have been the last time K-1 tries American shores. I watched with keen interest as the debacle unfolded live from the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas...

The show started off with all the tournament fighters standing on a stage as fireworks went off, accompanied by the classic K-1 theme. There were three huge screens behind the stage showing clips of real stars like Le Banner and Hoost. It dawned on me that most of the drunken gamblers in the audience had no idea who these men were or why they were important; more on this later.

Following the intro, we were introduced to our broadcast team of two nobodys and Duke Roufus, brother of Rick, a "LEGEND IN THE K-1 SPORT" (snicker). I came to find out today that there is some kind of family fued between the two of them and that Rick is not fond of his brother at all. I wasn't either after hearing Duke speak for about 30 seconds.

The first fight was Carter Williams against Michael McDonald. McDonald was hyped big-time, but he only had enough gas for about two minutes of the first round. Williams is strong with some good stuff, and the decision was given to him.

Next up was Dewey Cooper and Yusuke Fujimoto. Cooper sports dreadlocks, which are fine, but for fights he spikes them up into this ridiculous topknot that adds at least a foot to his height. Every fighter had come out to a blaring gangsta rap-type theme up to this point, but then in typical Japanese fashion Yusuke Fujimoto trotted out to "Its a beautiful life" by Ace of Base. Fujimoto very much resembles Alexander Otsuka. This proved to be one of the better matches of the evening, each fighter landed solid punches and Fujimoto threw a couple dozen solid right kicks. A decision for Fujimoto, which was deemed a "major upset"...whatever.

Rick Roufus came out next to fight some Brazillian nobody. Roufus was busted recently for steroid use, and he of course claims it was some legit supplement. All I know is that Roufus looked MUCH leaner than I had ever seen him before. Regardless, Rick is a good fighter and he dispatched the Brazillian kid in no time. Very one-sided bout.

At or around this time, Bob Sapp appeared with the broadcast team to discuss why the PPV was called "Enter the Beast" and said Beast did not enter. Sapp was wearing a tux and a black eye from where Mirko blasted him last month. He was solidly supporting Maurice Smith and making noise about fighting in August, who that will be against he didn't say.

Speaking of Maurice Smith, he was in the next fight against Giuseppe Denatale. In my opinion, Smith is a better trainer than a fighter. He has never been a legitimate threat in K-1 and his UFC title win was over Mark Coleman...who cares? Anyway, Denatale really sucks and Smith is old man who was once decent, so this was a very boring match that ended in a decision for Smith.

A fight that was being called "San Shou" came next, but I've always known as shootboxing: basically kickboxing with takedowns and slams. I don't know much about this sport but I do know that Cung Le is tough and beat the crap out of his opponent.

The first semifinal between Williams and Fujimoto came on. Fujimoto was obviously tired from his first fight and Williams just dismantled him. At one point Williams did a double spinning back kick that connected HARD across Yusuke's nose. This one was stopped in the second round as Williams moved on to the final.

In the second semifinal, Rick Roufus made Maurice Smith look like a clown, especially when "The Jet" hit with a solid left hook that sent Smith tumbling to the canvas. Mo didn't do anything the whole fight and Roufus went to town. A decision for Roufus was made and Smith crawled back into retirement.

Then (finally) came the reason I bought this stupid thing: Mark Hunt, winner of the 2001 World Grand Prix and one of the world's premier fighters, was fighting LIVE on TV in the United States. I was so happy to see him! He was looking strong and he had let his hair go back to its natural dark brown color. The camera then panned down and my jaw dropped: Mark was sporting massive amounts of padding around his left knee. As I hoped he would be okay, Gary Goodridge made his way to the ring. I mentioned earlier that the audience seemed pretty ignorant to what K-1 really is, and there was no better example than when these two entered the arena. Mark Hunt is practically a ***, and you could hear people conversing when he came out. No wild cheers, no screaming fans, nothing. I was insulted and I bet Mark was, too. If he never comes back to the U.S. I wouldn't be at all surprised or offended. Enjoy your margaritas, people! Ignore the living legend passing your table!

As for the match itself, there is really no other way to put this: this fight was a BORE and I want my money back. Goodridge did NOTHING the entire fight. Mark even taunted him repeatedly by dropping his hands and inviting direct blows, but Goodridge continued to block and hang back. When he ducked with his guard up, Mark shot a knee at hs head and was warned, apparently that is illegal in the United States. After five agonizing rounds, the decision was given to Hunt and he left the ring quickly in disgust. Goodridge sucks.

The final between Roufus and Williams was action-packed and made me forget what I had just witnessed. Roufus tried to get something going but Williams was determined and ended up scoring the K.O. in the first round. Williams said after the fight that he would train harder than he ever had for the Eliminations, and he better if he knows what is good for him.

Nobuaki Kakuda's retirement match and Stefan Leko's bouts both got the axe for the American broadcast, but Musashi beat Kakuda by decision and Leko scored a 2R KO.

All in all, this was a lackluster show that made me never want to buy another American K-1 PPV again. But as the numbers will likely show on Moday, there probably will never be another.

-Technosphile

[Muiyan]

i got a question:

If San Shou is kickboxing with takedowns and slams, then isn't it MMA?
Or does San Shou not allow submissions?

[Technosphile]

You got it. Points are awarded for takedowns and there's no subs or G n' P allowed.

-Tech