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 Funaki 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.

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With Christmas a thing of the past, and New Years only a couple days away, most MMA fans can’t wait to end to introduce the New Year with fresh memories of the end of a chaotic 2007. Although it’s been a very limited year for the K-1 Hero’s circuit producing only 6 shows, 7 if you include the annual K-1 Lithuania-Hero’s show, they too seek to end the year on a great note. Like past years, Hero’s has taken the norm of putting on 1 Lightweight GP per year for the last 3 years, with the exception of 2006, where they incorporated a Light Heavyweight GP. The Hero’s circuit has definitely grown and I do expect 2008 will be a big test to see if K-1 can become relevant in the eyes of the Japanese and especially in the eyes of MMA fans.

In past years we’ve seen that the Dynamite!! show has provided us with many great memories of both the Kickboxing and MMA world. The inaugural 2002 Dynamite! show, which was co-promoted by PRIDE, saw a supposed crowd of 90,000+ fill the Tokyo National Stadium, a stadium that usually host J-League and Emperors Cup Finals (Soccer). In 2003, the fight between Akebono and Bob Sapp drew approximately 54 Million viewers to see these behemoths do what they interpret as fighting. 2004 was also host to one of the most bizarre moments in Combat sports history when Jerome LeBanner took on Bob Sapp in a MMA/K-1 rules bout that would be scheduled for 4 rounds and would have 2 rounds of MMA and 2 of Kickboxing, with the fighters changing gloves and rules during the breaks. 2005, saw the coronation of 1st GP champion in Hero’s in Norifumi Yamamoto. Finally, in 2006 we saw the sad departure of Genki Sudo and the controversial Akiyama Grease Scandal. Read the full story

On June 2^nd of 2007, the Gracie hunting season came to an end. The previously Gracie-undefeated Kazushi Sakuraba barely fell to Royce Gracie at the hands of the judges during the latest K-1 Heroes promotion on June 2^nd, 2007. Gracie barely prevailed with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 at the end of the three rounds while Sakuraba looked mildly confused and waited for the next round to start. It’s been 7 years since the first matchup at the 2000 Pride Grand Prix and an end to Sakuraba being undefeated in the ring with the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu family.

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