K-1 WORLD GP 2020 JAPAN ～K'FESTA.3～ [22-03] Results

[Shadess]

[ecky]

Long time since I was on these forums, just got reminded after going through my old laptop.

I was actually going to be in Japan this week and was planning to go to this show but I thought for sure it would be cancelled as many other events and festivals and Japan have been cancelled or postponed so i pushed my flights back a couple of weeks. Planning to see the RISE show on April 12th and Rizin 22 on April 19th if they still go ahead.

[K1power]

Hey man, it's been a while!

Hope you're safe & healthy.

[K1power]

Fightcard
Superfights
Takeru defeats Petchdam Petchkiatpetch by KO R2
Sina Karimian defeats Aitaka Ryo by Unanimous Decision
Takei Yoshiki defeats Dansiam Ayothaya Fight by Unanimous Decision
Kana defeats Gloria Peritore by KO R1
Asahisa Taio defeats Hayashi Kenta by Unanimous Decision
Anpo Rukiya defeats Fukashi by Unanimous Decision
Noiri Masaaki defeats David Mejia by Unanimous Decision
Leona Pettas defeats Murakoshi Yuta by KO R3
Kumura Masashi defeats Kaneko Akihiro by Majority Decision
Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan defeats Ozawa Kaito by TKO R3
Kubo Yuta defeats Jordann Pikeur by Unanimous Decision
Yamazaki Hideaki defeats Terashima Hikaru by KO R2
Yutaka defeats Satoru Nariai by Decision

70kg Tournament
Final - Kimura "Philip" Minoru defeats Wajima Hiromi by KO R1
===
SF#2 - Wajima Hiromi defeats Kido Yasuhiro by Unanimous Decision
SF#1 - Kimura "Philip" Minoru defeats Eder Lopes by KO R1
===
QF#4 - Wajima Hiromi defeats Avatar Tor. Mosri by KO R3
QF#3 - Kido Yasuhiro defeats Milan Pales by KO R2
QF#2 - Eder Lopes defeats Jinbo Katsuya by KO R2
QF#1 - Kimura "Philip" Minoru defeats Kaito by KO R1

-Tournament Reserve Fight-
Fujimura Daisuke defeats Kotetsu by Unanimous Decision

Preliminary Fights
Uemura Shinya vs. Tanigawa Seiya end in a Majority Draw (1-0)
Riamu defeats Ryuto by Unanimous Decision
Hasumi Hikaru defeats Higashimoto Hisaki by KO R3
Rira defeats "Kyoken" Jin by KO R1

www.k-1.co.jp/schedule/16504/

[K1power]

Comments will follow when I've caught up with all the stuff I missed live.

[lero]

I just missed all the preliminary fights. I had one hell of a time.

[K1power]

You can rewatch everything on Abema.tv (VPN needed):
abema.tv/video/title/154-117

Atlernatively, a torrent is available on the tracker (720p - single fights).

I'm sure it won't be long until all of it pops up on K-1's own YouTube channel.

[K1power]

So I've finally caught up with all the fights and while I've watched most stuff out of order I'll try to at least have my comments somewhat in order.

But first, while I've touched upon the subject in the rant thread already, let me preface my little review by stating the obvious (but necessary):

This event should not have happened. It should have been cancelled/postponed.

Yes, the government should have shown some force by stopping all scheduled events nationwide, but K-1 should have made the sensible decision here regardless of potential monetary losses. The financial aspect can't possibly outweight the fallout K-1 is facing on both a political and (potentially) viral level.

Yes, some responsibility absolutely lies with the people who - against better judgement - still decided to attend the event, but K-1 should have protected these fans against their own poor judgement rather than opening its doors for them. And Last, but certainly not least K-1 was putting its own staff members and fighters at risk.

There have already been reports of at least one attendee getting sick after the event, but he tested negative for the virus, so K-1 is somewhat out of the woods for the time being.

But fuck bad PR for a second: you don't put people's health at risk, period.

Even if cancellation spells certain doom for the future of your promotion/company, make the human(e) decision under any circumstances.

Other, even small(er) companies/promotions didn't need intervention to make the right decision, so there really is no excuse here.

If you absolutely must, at least hold the event without an audience (like they actually did with the Krush event last week) /rant

On to my actual notes of the event itself:

+ While it was short and expected, the flurry Takeru finished off Petchdam with was great.
+ Takei Yoshiki/Dansiam Ayothaya Fight was way more competitive than you would expect from a late replacement. While I think Takei did enough in the first two rounds to secure the win, it wasn't an easy victory at all. And replacement or not, Dansiam was game. These really low weightclasses are where you typically find the best Thai fighters and while I don't know how he ranks in Thailand, Dansiam's skills translate to kickboxing quite well as I barely saw him clinch at all.
+ Kana scored a really nice knockout over Gloria Peritore. Just when the ref was about to break their clinch too. You don't see these sort of clean knockdowns/knockouts when the women are fighting very often, so this was a cool surprise. Also worth to mention that both Kana and Gloria wobbled each other earlier in the round.
+ I didn't know how good Anpo Rukiya/Fukashi was. While Anpo was the better fighter, Fukashi really hung in there. Also, Anpo has this attack where he jumps and decides what to throw mid-air. You need a good eye and athleticism to pull that off successfully.
+ I really liked Noiri Masaaki/David Mejia and was positively surprise by how well Mejia was able to keep up. It wasn't until somewhere in the third he realized he wasn't able to keep up with Noiri anymore.
+ Leona Pettas was impressive. He's one of many fighters to say 'Takeru's not the only exciting fighter!', but he actually showed something to back it up.
+ Yamazaki Hideaki finshed Terashima Hikaru nicely in the 2nd round, but I liked that quasi-knockdown he scored with a knee in the first as well.
+ Nice knockdown in the first by Yutaka over Satoru Nariai, and then he scored the same one in the second. And another other ones for good measure. Funny how even correct scores don't always reflect how relatively competitive fights were.
+ While the lingering realization that Kido will never hold a K-1 belt saddens me, it's hard not to be happy for Kimura having reached the level he has. Remember when he was kinda more talk than bite and lost to Krazy Horse? Kimura in 2020 is a completely different fighter. Awesome tournament run and his KO over Eder Lopes has to be KOTY contender already. All the other tournament fighters that won their fights scored some nice KO's as well. I especially liked Kido's victory over Pales. Kido was spamming the backfist a bit in that fight, but landed some sneaky highkicks on Pales for both the initial stun and finish. And Wajima Hiromi finishing Avator Tor. Mosr, a Thai(!), with lowkicks? That's got to be very rare. In all fairness, Avator was a late replacement and probably still outweighed by Wajima even at his walk-around weight. Also Eder Lopes really stepped it up in the second round against Jinbo Katsuya, to great - and almost instant - effect.
+ Higashimoto Hisaki/Hasumi Hikaru was a standout preliminary bout due to the momentum shifting in each round. Great KO too.

- While I'm not really sure what to think about the Kubo/Pikeur fight yet, I feel it was close enough that an extra round would have been the right decision. Wasn't nearly as questionable a decision as some of the decisions we've seen in past K-1 Japan events.
- Not really sure how I feel about Takeru's emotional breakdown after he finished Petchdam. I mean, to be that emotional over the desire to fight Tenshin means he's really passionate about this. It also means that there's probably quite some shit going down behind the scenes to get Takeru riled up like that.

I think that covers most of what I wanted to say.

Overall just a really great event that lifted my spirits during a time of abnormalcy, but to be frank, shouldn't exist.

To anybody actually taking the time to read my belated ramblings, thanks for bearing with me.

[shkibb]

Did you see the Hayashi vs Asahisa fight ? It was one of the most impressive performances of the whole event IMHO. Asahisa took the fight on 4 days notice and up a weight class. Beautiful jump switch kick drops Hayashi in round 2 and he went down a second time in the round. I don't think Asahisa was in top fighting shape otherwise he may have gotten the KO in rd 2. Hayashi's jaw was broken also.

I was very happy for Kimura as he is my favorite. I would like to see him go up against Pikeur again.

I agree that the event probably should not have gone on out of concern for everyone involved. It was a great card and I loved it, but still ....... I did see that they have canceled and rescheduled the next 2 or 3 KRUSH events, so they are taking this seriously now.

[K1power]

I did see the Hayashi/Asahisa fight, but must've missed to comment about it. It was pretty great.

Also intended to comment on Sina Karimian/Aitaka Ryo; I loved it. That kind of brawly affair might not be everyone's cup of tea, but you gotta at least admire the heart both fighters showed. And Karimian definitely threw some solid technical combinations.

[h]

damn you barely watched this? slacker!

[K1power]

That I am, sir.

Here's the knockdown/KO compilation:



And a full playlist of the event consisting of presser vids & fights.