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Post by Shadess on Feb 3, 2024 16:08:30 GMT 1
Sure, Rico would probably win the tournament without too much trouble from any starting position, but bracket A is definitely the 'stacked' one as far as I'm concerned. Rico fighting Levi/Rajabzadeh/Cookie early on is a bigger risk than fighting Laidouni/Khachab/Mahieddine Just have to keep disagreeing hahah. I do value Rajabzadeh, but he really isn't a legit HW and his size might come to play here. Levi I don't see even necessarily making it past Uku. I might meme a bit about Uku, but he's probably the most motivated guy in the tournament and a tough first fight for anyone excluding Rico. Almost nobody seemed to think he'd beat Terpstra and I saw it go down just about exactly like it did. Think there's a decent chance he does the same here, and then be a non-factor in the semifinal  . Cookie we already saw do nothing against Rico. He might get past the "deer in the headlights" reaction for a 2nd fight with him. I cannot give him the benefit of the doubt on that tho. Rico saying he has no interest in tournaments last year and then backtracking when he sees the line-up is not as strong as everybody hoped is pretty telling. And even then he's ensured to walk the path of the least resistance. It's not Rico's fault he's dominating during a weak era, but if you look at who, how and when he fights it's understandable why people have issues with him. I would also bring Glory into this. They didn't have the pressure to pay Rico enough to get him in the tournament, then the tournament went to shit, and suddenly Rico is in. I see this being more of a money thing than a Rico thing. The one thing Rico desperately wants is recognition, but a fishy draw like this only opens the floodgates for more speculation and Glory nor Rico are doing themselves any favors here. It also doesn't help that Glory has given zero transparency on the Jamal situation and only came out with vague public statements. Remy said he called Robbie Timmers to complain about the draw and that Robbie sounded like he wanted to agree, but couldn't because of his position. I agree with Rico wanting to get past the "dominating a weak era" issue he has and winning an 8-man tournament is about the last thing he can try to do to get past it. Glory did mess this "draw" up, for no real gain too as far as I see it. Was just unnecessary to do it like they did. JBS should've been in the tournament, it desperately needed him. Not sure what the deal was and Glory could've handled it better. Could be a money thing here too, JBS might've asked for too much knowing Glory really needed him. |
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Post by vampiro on Feb 3, 2024 16:43:43 GMT 1
He's asking people how they feel about him potentially going for the 75kg belt? Just noticed he's at Mike's Gym. I think he may have travelled there before the New Year, and has gone back recently. He seems to be moving down from what I can tell. Lots of Japanese asking for Toy and the Japanese champion to fight him. He's based out of the Asakura's Japan Top Team gym nowadays from what I can tell. He seems to be doing lots of jiu jitsu. In regards to Rico.. expressed my thoughts on this in the Grand Prix thread. I don't believe he needs the tournament, and I don't think he should care about detractors either. He'll never please any of them. Grab the money, its all that matters at this point. Unpopular opinion, perhaps, but fuck Remy Bonjasky. Fucking cry baby. I distinctly remember him taking the easy way out for his last Grand Prix victory. |
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Post by K1power on Feb 3, 2024 18:06:39 GMT 1
You're definitely not alone in your opinion Remy, although in my experience it's been mostly Badr fans feeling that way. In fact, someone asked Remy about it in a comment a few months ago. Remy said Badr's attacks when he was down shifted/detached his lens from his eye (an issue he's been dealing with for years) and he had trouble seeing straight. He continued "I'd have to be stupid to continue fighting after that!" or something along those lines. He also feels Badr should have been disqualified right then and there instead of making it Remy's decision and thus 'the bad guy'. Of course we'll never know for sure if Remy was indeed having trouble with his eye at that moment, but there's at least a history of him having dealt with the issue through the years.
It does sound a bit contradictory though, giving Remy shit for taking the 'easy way out' after saying Rico should just grab the money and it being all that matters.
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Post by K1power on Feb 3, 2024 18:16:05 GMT 1
^^ Shadess Reading your comments I actually do think we're mostly in agreement. It's just that I believe bracket A is the stronger one and I wouldn't be surprised if Cookie/Rajabzadeh/Levi gave Rico a decent fight, whereas I would be surprised if Laidouni had anything in store for him. His backpedal counter style just clashes badly with Rico. The one fighter in bracket B that could give Rico a fight is Mahieddine, but that's only when he's fresh and has a good day. He's a pressure fighter that throws combinations and level changes which is the right way to fight Rico. Alas, Mahieddine is way too inconsistent to put my money on. He may not even get past his buddy Khachab. As for Uku, I like him. He's a fun tough guy with a Mighty Mo sort of quality in that he has some well-timed bombs. He specifically had success with those against taller guys so I guess Levi has his work cut out for him. I do rate Levi a lot higher than Rimdeika/Terpstra/Badr though. Edit: Also yeah, Glory is (largely) to blame. |
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Post by vampiro on Feb 3, 2024 20:03:21 GMT 1
You're definitely not alone in your opinion Remy, although in my experience it's been mostly Badr fans feeling that way. In fact, someone asked Remy about it in a comment a few months ago. Remy said Badr's attacks when he was down shifted/detached his lens from his eye (an issue he's been dealing with for years) and he had trouble seeing straight. He continued "I'd have to be stupid to continue fighting after that!" or something along those lines. He also feels Badr should have been disqualified right then and there instead of making it Remy's decision and thus 'the bad guy'. Of course we'll never know for sure if Remy was indeed having trouble with his eye at that moment, but there's at least a history of him having dealt with the issue through the years. It does sound a bit contradictory though, giving Remy shit for taking the 'easy way out' after saying Rico should just grab the money and it being all that matters. I couldn't care less. It's very easy to shit on Rico. |
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Post by K1power on Feb 4, 2024 8:38:39 GMT 1
I actually became a bit of a Rico fan when he first won the title. He finally got rid of that stiff movement he had as a younger fighter and seemed like a nice kid who was genuinely happy when he became champion.
Unfortunately, over the years he's turned into an attention hungry risk avoider who puts on this fake veneer attitude which easily cracks the second he receives any kind of criticism - which probably stands out more in Dutch media. I guess that's what happens when you're at the top for an extended period of time.
Obviously Rico is still the man to beat and I very much respect his dedication to hard work - he's one of the very few heavyweights who's always in genuinely great shape and that's what kept him at the top more than anything else.
It's just that I can understand why some people aren't exactly his biggest fans for multiple reasons.
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Post by vampiro on Feb 4, 2024 9:40:43 GMT 1
I couldn't care less. It's very easy to shit on Rico. Indeed. Think about that for a minute.. I know what I said, and I'm not backing down from it. Especially from a ONE fan who believed Chatri to be a saint. |
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Post by K1power on Feb 4, 2024 11:10:21 GMT 1
Come on guys, we can disagree without taking each other's heads off.
This isn't kindergarten and personal insults won't be tolerated.
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Post by K1power on Feb 5, 2024 10:09:20 GMT 1
ONE Friday Fights 50 ResultsNot sure there's a proper list of results for RCC Fair Fight 26, but looks like Aleksei Ulianov defeated Jamal Yusupov by Unanimous Decision. Not seeing any results for Wu Lin Feng.
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Post by K1power on Feb 5, 2024 10:19:11 GMT 1
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Post by Shadess on Feb 5, 2024 16:53:34 GMT 1
Rukiya's brother Riku Anpo has apparently been up to no good
-Borrowed money from friends without returning it.
-Received 1 million yen to move to Tokyo, didn't move to Tokyo
-Got sponsorships to fight, then pulled out during the weight cut. Didn't pay the sponsors back
-Stole stuff from his moms place
-Stole from his grandpa
-Borrowed money from his boss, but didn't work
-Borrowed money from Rukiya to pay his boss back
-Stole from his bosses house
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Post by K1power on Feb 5, 2024 17:04:28 GMT 1
Sounds like he's either been living the good life or dealing with some sort of addiction (gambling?).
The stealing from his relatives is especially despicable.
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Post by Shadess on Feb 5, 2024 17:09:28 GMT 1
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Post by K1power on Feb 5, 2024 17:10:36 GMT 1
Was just about to watch that vid, I think some of the interviews should be in English so perhaps interesting for everybody.
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Post by K1power on Feb 5, 2024 18:21:31 GMT 1
So yeah only Remy's interview with Uku was in English lol.
Uku comes across as a nice, honest guy though.
Some comments:
- Cookie says he thought the draw was weird and explained how Glory's rankings make no sense to him.
- Rajabzadeh would have preferred to fight Rico first, but says now he'll simply meet him in the finals.
- When asked about being the smallest fighter in the tournament, Rajabzadeh says he's more technical than the big guys and that way he can balance things out.
- Marinho told Levi it's been a long time he's seen him fight, other than beating up a 60kg kid in his qualifier lol.
- Levi said while the 60kg comment is a bit exaggerated, he acknowledges it wasn't the best matchup. He was happy to finally be in the ring again though, however short it may have been.
- Levi would have preferred an open draw, but is okay with how it played out.
- Remy asked Robbie about the draw. Robbie said the draw is based on the rankings and they'll use this draw system for every tournament. Remy asked Robbie if an open draw wouldn't be better given the questionable legitimacy of the rankings lol. Robbie said they'll introduce an entire new ranking system before the tournament.
- Robbie indeed confirmed 70kg and the women's division are on hold for the time being, while 65kg more or less moves to Rise. He added that Glory wants to do a few divisions well, rather than half-assing a lot of them. He also said if this season goes well they'll look into bringing those divisions back and that they still might do superfights for them throughout the year.
- Khachab hated the draw, said he'd been watching old K-1 draws the night before and got excited, but now he somehow ended up in a quarterfinal against his team mate without either of them having a say in it lol.
- Khachab adds he didn't want to fight Cookie or Mahieddine in the quarterfinals, but is willing to fight anyone if he has to.
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