Osaka Dome- There are few things that can compare with the spectacle that is K-1 Dynamite. It’s absurdly entertaining and just ridiculous enough, so that it’s still worthy of true fight fans. This year’s event held nothing back, and the Japanese public lapped it up. With hearty helpings of good match-ups and silly novelties, Fields 2007 K-1 Dynamite ended the year with a bang.
Leading up with card was fight-legend, Kazushi Sakuraba against Pancrase veteran, Masakatsu Funaki. Funaki hadn’t battled in the ring since his loss to Rickson Gracie six years ago, but seemed calm and focused as things went underway on New Year’s Eve. A roaring crowd of over 47,000 people shouted support for both fighters, despite Saku’s overwhelming reputation.
The bout began slowly with both fighters testing the proverbial waters. Funaki peppered Saku with a punch/combination, but Saku utilized his jab and shot, scoring the take-down. The two scrambled on the mat where Fuanki attempted a knee-bar, but failed. Sakuraba returned to his feet (to the delight of the crowd) and leapt into one of his trademark stomps, but to no avail. Back on the ground, Sakuraba managed to control the side mount and succeeded in submitting Funaki with a kimura in the first round. Funaki was clearly outclassed, but it was no surprise considering his time spent away from the ring.
Japan’s bad boy, Yamamoto ‘Kid’ Norifumi, took on Jiu-Jitsu practitioner Rani Yahya. Yahya is known for his extremely effective ground-game, but Kid controlled the fight all the way through, and refused to let it go to the mat. In the first round Kid countered Yahya with a hook, and tried to go for a guillotine choke, but was thwarted. Yahya then tried for his own wild hook combination, but hit mostly air.
The second round saw more action, as Kid delivered a crushing knee to the body, causing Yahya to wince in pain. For what it’s worth, Yahya did a good job of keeping up with Kid’s punches, and even returned a few, but he was out-gunned with his hands, and in the second round, Kid finally dropped Yahya with a hook/uppercut combo, and then finished him with three wildly thrown soccer kicks. Kid was penalized a yellow card for blowing imaginary kisses to Yayha’s ring, causing some ruckus after the fight.
Bob Sapp vs Comedian, Bobby Ologun, was nothing short of sloppy, silly hoopla. The Nigerian born Ologun entered the ring in the usual fashion, smiling and posing for the cameras. After the bell, Ologun ran around, dodging some of Sapp’s punches, and landed a leg kick before Sapp took him to the ground and tried for an arm bar, but failed. Finally, Sapp started the ground and pound in full mount and got the knock-out in just under 3 minutes. Who cares? I didn’t. The crowd seemed to enjoy it, and clapped for their beloved Ologun who smiled and waved to the crowd after the fight.
Masato shocked the world after defeating Buakaw Por Pramuk in the 2007 K-1 World Max in July, but was stopped by Andy Souwer due to reoccurring leg injuries. At Dynamite, Masato came to please, and he did, by beating the hell from Korean boxer, Yong Soo Choi. Masato was slow to start, but after some aggressive, leaping punch combos from Choi, Masato tore into the fighter with a flurry of good punch/combinations and a high kick to Chois face, from which he received a standing eight-count. Masato proved too amazing for the former WBA champion, but Choi managed to take some devastating knocks until the third round where he was ultimately knocked out.
Nicholas Pettas fought the towering Kim Young Hyun. The gigantic Hyun started strong, using his height advantage with some strong knees, and a quick spinning back-fist. Pettas began utilizing leg kicks to “chop-down†the Korean giant and changed the pace of the fight. Pettas even managed to land a beautiful axe-kick to the face of Hyun. The fight ended with a flurry of haymakers resulting in a TKO.
K-1 Kickboxer Masashi, scored a defeat over Bernard Ackah with a KO in the third round, but not before Ackah managed a serious assault on Masashi in the opening seconds of round-one. Masashi took several uppercuts to the face, but quickly recovered and took control, knocking Ackah out in 1:26 in the third.
RINGS Submission fighter Kiyoshi Tamura, took advantage of Hideo Tokoro in an MMA rules match that resulted in a submisson. Tamura outweighed Tokoro by 50 pounds and it was evident that this played a factor, as Tamura lead the fight with classic heavy karate kicks to the mid-section. Tamura used his kicks to soften Tokoro and then lead to an eventual submission by arm-bar in the third round.
Melvin Manhoef exploded against perpetual loser Yousuke Nishijima, in the first round. It was clear that Nishijima was condemned to a quick death when Manhoef threw multiple haymakers and then took the Japanese boxer to the mat for a ground and pound that ended the match in under a minute.
For all the flash and fire of K-1 Dynamite, there’s got to be something completely retarded, so that Japanese fans can have a laugh. One was Ologun vs Bob Sapp, the other was Minowaman and Zuluzinho. Minowaman, deemed as Mr. Heaven, tried his best to avoid the swings of the 400 pound monster, but failed to move quickly enough and was squashed under the behemoth for most of the fight. Impressively, Minowaman did manage to lift the rotund warrior in the air and slam into the mat. Fans shouted for the for their beloved Japanese wreslter, but Zulu’s weight was just too much, and Minowaman lost the fight in the third from corner stoppage.
In one of the most exciting matches of the evening, Yudai shocked the dome when he defeated celebrated Hiroya in the under 18 kickboxing tournament, crowing him the first under 18 champion. The fight was extremely close, and had to be pushed into an extra round. 16 year old Yudai’s multiple thrust kicks proved to be too much for Hiroya, winning a unanimous decision in the extra round. Fans can expect big things from both fighters in the near future.
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I do still love MMA and have...
January 18th, 2008 at 1:20 am
stunned