K-1 WORLD GP 2022 in Osaka [03-12] Results

[K1power]

Fightcard
53kg Bantamweight Tournament
Miburo Kazuki vs. Samvel Babayan
Kuroda Toma vs. Yossila Chor. Hapayak
Ishii Issei vs. Oscar Bohorquez
Ikeda Koji vs. Ambi Nsue Avomo

Tournament Reserve Bout
Noda Aoi vs. Mine Daiki

Superfights
Kaneko Akihiro vs. Kiriluang Chor. Hapayak
Kumura Masashi vs. Ismail Al Kadhi
Sina Karimian vs. Carlos Budiao
Egawa Yuuki vs. Shimano Kotaro
Hayashi Kenta vs. Fukashi
Jomthong Strikergym vs. Shirasu Yasuhito
Mahmoud Sattari vs. Stefan Latescu
Kato Hisaki vs. Akira Junior
Kana vs. Aurore Dos Santos
Yoza Yuki vs. Aikpikart Mor Krungthepthonburi
Niimi Takahito vs. Kunieda Yuta
Kumura Shuhei vs. Toma
Tsubakihara Tatsuya vs. Kaneda Shoki
Gunji Taito vs. Wang Junguang
Shinohara Yuto vs. Hiroki

www.k-1.co.jp/schedule/16582/

[K1power]

Looks like the last K-1 event of the year.

[K1power]

Gunji Taito vs. Wang Junguang added.

I think they may be announcing the card today.

[K1power]

And we have a card (OP updated).

Expecting a handful of fights to be added over the coming weeks.

[Kenshin (Banned)]

The tiny guy with the blue hair really sticks out

[K1power]

Looks like K-1 is getting some foreigners for this card.

This is easily Latescu's biggest test to date.

Right now 'KickboxingRomania' is suddenly getting interested in K-1 and harrassing kickboxing journalists to cover this .

[K1power]

Quite a few superfights with some foreign talent added (OP updated).

We're at 22 fights already which is - again - a bit much for my liking, but what's on there looks pretty good.

[K1power]

Happening this Saturday!

[K1power]

Just a matter of hours until kick-off!

[K1power]

Results
Gunji Taito defeats Wang Junguang by Majority Decision
Sina Karimian defeats Carlos Budiao by DQ (rabbit punch)
Kana defeats Aurore Dos Santos by KO R1
Kaneko Akihiro defeats Kiriluang Chor. Hapayak by KO R2
Kumura Masashi defeats Ismail Al Kadhi by KO R2
Stefan Latescu defeats Mahmoud Sattari by KO R2
Egawa Yuuki defeats Shimano Kotaro by KO R1
Hayashi Kenta defeats Fukashi by Unanimous Decision
Jomthong Strikergym defeats Morita Naoki by KO R2
Yoza Yuki defeats Aikpikart Mor Krungthepthonburi by Unanimous Decision
Shinohara Yuto defeats Hiroki by Unanimous Decision
Akira Junior defeats Kato Hisaki by KO R2
Toma defeats Kumura Shuhei by Unanimous Decision
Kaneda Shoki defeats Tsubakihara Tatsuya by Unanimous Decision
Niimi Takahito defeats Kunieda Yuta by Majority Decision

53kg Bantamweight Tournament
Kuroda Toma defeats Ishii Issei by Extra Round Split Decision
---
Kuroda Toma defeats Miburo Kazuki by Majority Decision
Ishii Issei defeats Ikeda Koji by Unanimous Decision
---
Miburo Kazuki defeats Samvel Babayan by Unanimous Decision
Kuroda Toma defeats Yossila Chor. Hapayak by Extra Round Unanimous Decision
Ishii Issei defeats Oscar Bohorquez by KO R2
Ikeda Koji defeats Ambi Nsue Avomo by KO R2

Tournament Reserve Bout
Noda Aoi defeats Mike Daiki by TKO R1

Prelims
Ishida Ryota defeats Tanaka Satoshi by KO R3
Yamaguchi Shota defeats Sano Isami by KO R1
Miyake Yuya defeats Arata by KO R1

www.k-1.co.jp/schedule/16582/

[K1power]

This started really early and I saw only bits and pieces of the first 9 or so fights, so I'll have to catch up on those when (if?) they hit YouTube.

That said, my thoughts:

+ It was really good to catch a K-1 card live again after I missed the Yokohama card in September (and still have to catch up on that one).
+ The tournament final between Ishii and Kuroda was a solid main event.
+ Gunji vs. Wang: the fight.
+ Kana's KO over Dos Santos.
+ Kaneko's KO over Kiriluang.
+ Latescu's KO over Sattari.
+ Egawa made surprisingly quick work of Shimano. A return to form (?).
+ Fukashi, while completely outclassed, kept coming back for more. Hard head.
+ Kuroda's knee that cut Miburo was stunning.
+ Very fun, competitive tournament semifinal between Ikeda and Ishii.
+ Lots of great knockdowns and knockouts.

- This event was the definition of a mixed bag with some high highs and some low lows. I'd still say it was good overall, but like the August card in Fukuoka, I didn't love it. The absolute rock-bottom moment that was Karimian vs. Budiao completely killed any momentum and put a huge dent in my overall enjoyment. Definitely not as high on it as some of the guys on Discord.
- Gunji vs. Wang: the decision. It was debatable. Even Gunji didn't look convinced when they called it. An extra round would have been the right decision here.
- WTF was Karimian vs. Budiao? That fight was full of shenanigans and illegal blows, but Budiao KTFOing Karimian with a rabbit punch definitely takes the cake. Hope Karimian recovers from this.
- K-1 needs to get some decent fighters in the upper weightclasses, because a fighter of Karimian's level having that prolonged level of success turns the weightclass into a joke.
- Champions fighting in superfights is such a cop out. K-1 should really stop this BS.
- Latescu murdering Sattari really exposes how weak K-1's rosters above 70kg are, because Latescu isn't even a blip on anyone's radar in Europe. I'm still baffled Kyotaro lost to Sattari.
- Some really one sided fights. It helped produce some nice KDs/KOs/showcases, but I prefer competitive toe-to-toe fights.

Some additional notes:

Apparently Karimian was looking to get into Glory during his time at Mike's Gym. They offered him to fight in Rivals and he rudely declined LOL. I respect Sina's wish to test himself, but he's completely delusional about his skillset and Glory wouldn't be a fun experience for him.

Not sure what to make of Dos Santos not putting her hands up during the count. Did she honestly not notice the ref trying to get her attention or was she out of it?

K-1's really been pushing Miburo Kazuki, despite his results being very inconsistent. I guess he's a bit of a character and K-1 really needs some of those.

Not really a knock on the event itself, but I'm getting increasingly annoyed at there being no official way to watch these events outside of Japan. More and more VPNs are getting shut out by Abema; SoftEther stopped working for me a long time ago and Proton doesn't work for me either. Apparently it still works for some people, but it's annoying having to use a VPN to begin with. I'm not sure there are good reasons for geoblocking these shows outside of perhaps legal ones. I'd gladly pay for a painfree way of watching these.

While there was a good crowd for this, it didn't look like a sellout event. There were a bunch of empty seats and there were some very noticeable sections with just tarp showing. Not sure if this is related to the World Cup or Takeru's leaving taking away interest from K-1, but I can imagine both of those circumstances not helping this event.

All the more reason to start catering to fans outside of Japan as well, I'd say.

[vampiro]

Kyotaro is fucking shit lol. I have never understood the buzz around that dude. His style is tailor made for Sattari. All the Japanese fighters, minus Tanigawa (somewhat) are.

I am not surprised Karimian looked pants against Budiao. I actually was picking Carlos just because I liked his style when he fought Ahn Jess back in the summer on a RISE WS show. Karimian, as you said, is completely delusional about himself and even Japanese social media has roasted him for years. They can't stand him.

I am beyond disappointed that I expected the Sattari loss. I did not like that fight for him.. something about Latescu I just didn't like. He is a lot bigger, clearly steroided up, but I don't even think thats the reason Mahmoud lost. I find Mahmoud to be very boxer-ish for kickboxing, and he has no sparring partners in Japan. It is pretty alarming that old Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, former world boxing champion Shinji Takehara and a former amateur boxer turned 0-1 pro Valodia Carrero are the only people who can hold pads for him and actually do some drills with him. The only other fighter out of his gym (which is a yoga and fitness gym with UFC branding) is Mehrdad Sayyadi, a flyweight.

Also.. Sattari has become a very popular YouTuber in Japan. He seemed to be very relaxed over the summer and into the winter I found. He's been on KAI Asakura's YouTube channel a few times since they first collaborated in May. He has also been 'sparring' with the BREAKING DOWN fighters, who are very popular YouTube fighters and former pros. Even Peter Aerts wanted to fight with them. I imagine Stefan, who has put together a nice little run this year, was locking himself away for this moment.

[Shadess]

Some fun fights, didn't catch it all either.

It has to be some rights issue for the Japan only broadcasts. Very stupid no matter why exactly it is.

I feel like many hardcores give K-1 a ton of leeway on a lot of things just because of the brand and what it was for the sport historically. Put some of these fights on Glory and same people would talk mad shit...

Lower weights are quite good, but yea anything above 70 kg is kind of a dumpster fire.

[K1power]

Dec 3, 2022 16:37:28 GMT 1 vampiro said:

Kyotaro is fucking shit lol. I have never understood the buzz around that dude. His style is tailor made for Sattari. All the Japanese fighters, minus Tanigawa (somewhat) are.

I am not surprised Karimian looked pants against Budiao. I actually was picking Carlos just because I liked his style when he fought Ahn Jess back in the summer on a RISE WS show. Karimian, as you said, is completely delusional about himself and even Japanese social media has roasted him for years. They can't stand him.

I am beyond disappointed that I expected the Sattari loss. I did not like that fight for him.. something about Latescu I just didn't like. He is a lot bigger, clearly steroided up, but I don't even think thats the reason Mahmoud lost. I find Mahmoud to be very boxer-ish for kickboxing, and he has no sparring partners in Japan. It is pretty alarming that old Peter Aerts, Ernesto Hoost, former world boxing champion Shinji Takehara and a former amateur boxer turned 0-1 pro Valodia Carrero are the only people who can hold pads for him and actually do some drills with him. The only other fighter out of his gym (which is a yoga and fitness gym with UFC branding) is Mehrdad Sayyadi, a flyweight.

Also.. Sattari has become a very popular YouTuber in Japan. He seemed to be very relaxed over the summer and into the winter I found. He's been on KAI Asakura's YouTube channel a few times since they first collaborated in May. He has also been 'sparring' with the BREAKING DOWN fighters, who are very popular YouTube fighters and former pros. Even Peter Aerts wanted to fight with them. I imagine Stefan, who has put together a nice little run this year, was locking himself away for this moment.

Well, Kyotaro's defeated Mighty Mo, Manhoef, Saki, Aerts and LeBanner within a short timeframe when those names held relevance. Also did quite well in boxing considering he should really be fighting around 85kg.

He's easily the most accomplished Japanese HW alongside Musashi and Satake.

He should beat Sattari an Karimian blindfolded. Alas, he looked out of shape. It's too bad, but it is what it is. Not sure why he's getting hate from some people, though. I suspect it's fans who only discovered the sport in recent years. Not that there's anything wrong with that in and of itself.

I thought there was a chance of Sattari losing to Latescu. Not like this, though. Latescu has been struggling against old veterans and chubby fellow Romanians, not someone I'd pick to be the future of heavyweights. To be fair, he's only 20 and now he's made Sattari's unbeaten record look padded. I hope Latescu will be back and we start seeing more Western fighters in K-1's heavier divisions. Otherwise becoming a K-1 champion will be seen as a stepping stone when it should be the dream. But I'm obviously biased.

Anyway, welcome aboard.

[K1power]

Dec 3, 2022 16:56:49 GMT 1 Shadess said:

Some fun fights, didn't catch it all either.

It has to be some rights issue for the Japan only broadcasts. Very stupid no matter why exactly it is.

I feel like many hardcores give K-1 a ton of leeway on a lot of things just because of the brand and what it was for the sport historically. Put some of these fights on Glory and same people would talk mad shit...

Lower weights are quite good, but yea anything above 70 kg is kind of a dumpster fire.

I dunno man. K-1 is easily my favorite promotion, but I'm still constantly calling them out. What would be the point of sugarcoating their BS? I ultimately want things to get better, not just for K-1, but the sport as a whole.

And I'm in the minority that I've actually been enjoying a lot of their cruiser and HW stuff, it's just that sloppy brawls between the same 8 or so guys loses its shine after a while and it's time to diversify the roster and bring in some decent Western fighters. Not saying they should try and go after Rico, but get a handful of decent fighters and put them in a tournament.