K-1 World GP 2024 in Osaka [05-10] Results

[K1power]

Fightcard
Asian Qualifier Fights
Sina Karimian vs. Claudio Istrate
Jerome LeBanner vs. K-Jee
Errol Zimmerman vs. Yamaguchi Shota
Tanigawa Seiya vs. Kwon Jangwon

Single Fights
Stoyan Koprivlenski vs. Oda Jinku
Jordan Pikeur vs. Dengue Silva
Darryl Verdonk vs. Zhora Akopyan
Hiromi Wajima vs. Kim Joon Hwa
SAHO vs. Erivan Barut
Toma vs. Kaneda Shoki
Tsubakihara Tatsuya vs. Kumura Shuhei
Ginji vs. Matsumoto Kaito
Hayashi Kenta vs. Kensei Kondo
Yuto Shinohara vs. Furumiya Haru
Takahashi Naoki vs. Matsumoto Ryoga
Akira Jr. vs. Takigama Shota
Oyume vs. Higashi Toranosuke
Kuroda Yuto vs. Murata Kengo
Ryo Yoshikawa vs. Ori Kensuke
Harada Toki vs. Tatsuma
Horii Kaito vs. Iwa King
Yuoke Yusei vs. Arai Masato

www.k-1.co.jp/schedule/16627#sec02

[K1power]

Not sure how trustworthy this is:



en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_in_K-1#K-1_World_GP_2024_in_Osaka

[vampiro]

When I looked yesterday, it was just Yildirim and Ivanoaie. If what has been added is true, it's not a bad card imo.

[K1power]

It's definitely interesting.

I'm not a big fan of giving Istrate another chance after his Sarajevo tantrum, but he's been feuding with Sina on social media so I get why their rematch would be somewhat anticipated, provided it's not the clown show their first fight turned into.

Ivanouaie and Yildirim did well in their respective qualifiers so I'm fine with them getting a second chance.

Mannaart is where I have my doubts, though. His K-1 belt hasn't been defended in literally five years so his inclusion would be welcome, but he hasn't fought since his loss to Maslobojev in 2020 and from what I understood he's been quasi-retired.

[K1power]

K-1 is announcing card details on Friday and Saturday through YouTube streams.

[K1power]

Bunch of participants was just announced (OP updated). The qualifying tournament is more in line with what I would expect from an Asian qualifier. They certainly can still add a nice European name or two, but I'm fine with an Asian GP being mostly, you know, Asian centric.

Really like seeing the 70kg guys back, especially Koprivlenski and Akopyan. I hope Ouyang Feng will be fully recovered and able to make his comeback here.

[K1power]

Looks like Kacper Muszynski and Dengue Silva will be participating as well.

[K1power]

[K1power]

I just wrote out the matchups and noticed Kacper Muszyński is not mentioned as a participant.

Hope he's not still injured. Aside from that I like Verdonk vs. Akopyan and Pikeur vs. Silva. Good to see Wajima back, but I'm not familar with his opponent. I guess Koprivlenski is getting an easier stay-busy fight?

[vampiro]

Errol Zimmerman is listed as a participant on Wikipedia. If true, I had wondered if his Romania appearance would lead to a potential appearance in a tournament.

[K1power]

I somewhat expect Zimmerman and the previously mentioned Dikmoet getting invites for some sort of appearance in Japan.

Recently Vechtsportinfo contacted K-1 and asked if Zimmerman has secured himself a spot in the Final 8. A K-1 representative replied something along the lines of "nothing has been finalized yet".

Personally I'd be fine with it. Sure, Errol is just a shadow of his former self, but he's been stringing together some wins in more recent fights and still has some name value. If they put him in this qualifier that'd be fine too. I don't see him winning - or even just fighting - three fights in a night anymore though.

[K1power]

[K1power]

Yup, this is actually happening:

[vampiro]

Lord, lmfao. The rumoured Karimian vs. Istrate II is confirmed. So is Zimmerman and Jangwon. Imagine Jerome somehow wins it all.

[K1power]

BeyondKick Write-up:

51-Year-Old Jérôme Le Banner Set to Compete for a K-1 Grand Prix Spot on October 5

For some reason it didn't click with me before, but this won't be a qualification tournament.

These are single qualification bouts, pretty much a mini version of the final eliminations: winners move on to the GP.

I must say, that makes a lot more sense. Not just because final eliminations typically used to take place in Osaka in October, but also because I don't see some of these guys fighting in a tournament other than the GP itself.

As for JLB being in there at 51. Sure, the first reaction is that it's a misstep. There are very real dangers attached to professional fighting and the risks only increase with age.

On the other hand, JLB is not like one of those older fighters coming back after 10+ years of retirement for a paycheck. He still looks great physically and has remained active, still taking fights in both Kickboxing and MMA. In fact, his most recent fight was just a couple of months ago. He's not fighting elite level opponents anymore, but he wouldn't really face any monsters here either.

Obviously I'm not implying he's gonna win it all, but there's a bit of a Rocky element to this which I can appreciate.

From K-1's perspective they're adding one of the few OGs who has been active in K-1 30 years ago and somehow is still fighting today. He's still very popular in Japan should be somewhat of a draw.

The same goes for Zimmerman, albeit to a lesser extent. He's more of a second generation K-1 veteran.

Edit: BTW while I'm not a fan of Istrate being invited back, I'm somewhat curious about his rematch with Sina.
Of course, there's always the risk of this turning out to be a complete shit show like their previous fight.