K-1 Japan - 60kg World Grand Prix Tournament [19-09] Results

[K1power]

Cheers for the heads up (OP Updated)

Too bad Kaew is out, but it sounds like a solid replacement.

[karaevfan]

Prefight comments from the fighters

Tournament fighter presser

Hernandez
'Tomorrow I plan on throwing down, being aggressive and showing my power. I plan on putting on a fight that all the fans watching will be entertained.'

(On the staredown at the weigh-ins) 'Every fighter here is here with the goal of winning. So I hold nothing against Taiga just because we stared down and I plan on showing respect to anyone who will be my opponent.'

(Who do you want to fight in the Finals) 'I want to fight Koya. I think Koya is the best in this division. I've lost to him once before, but then I made a mistake. Next time there will be no mistakes.'

Taiga
'I think tomorrow is going to be my event. I said I will KO three people and I will KO three people'.

(On the condition of his opponent) 'My impression of my opponent has not changed. Its no different from any other opponent.

(On the staredown at the weigh ins) 'I want to thank him for going into this fight with such aggression, I'm looking forward to the matchup now. I felt that his head was pretty hard when we locked foreheads, so tomorrow I plan on crushing it open.

(Who do you want to fight in the Finals) 'I want to fight Paulo Tebar.'

(Some other fighters are marking you out) 'I'm happy to be getting the attention. But no matter who I face, I will KO them all. Also, tomorrow the champion (Hirotaka) will be participating as well, but if he loses I want him to abdicate the belt. I don't want to have to fight him twice for it.

Wolfe
'I am prepared to put it all on the line for the first fight and put off my best. After that, I will work hard to advance.'

(Who do you want to fight in the Finals) 'Winning the first fight is whats important. From there I will focus on taking things step by step.'

Hirotaka
'Tomorrow is a tournament to prove to everyone watching that I am the champion. A lot of things happened this year, but if I win that's all forgiven so I'm prepared.'

(On the condition of his opponent) 'Tebar, Bennoui and Koya seem to be big. Besides them, I'm not too worried.'

(On your own condition) 'I've put in a lot of physical training and I'm at the 120% mark now. I've had a lot of time to prepare so in that sense, being sidelined with injury was good.'

(Who would you want to fight in the FInals) 'No one in particular. As a Champion, I'm planning on just winning and looking for the next level of stardom so that's all.'

(On Taiga's request that you abdicate) 'Its a moot point since I'm only thinking of winning. Well, really, [Taiga] can't win. He can't win'

Bennoui
'Tomorrow I plan on putting on a good fight to entertain the Japanese fans.

(Who you would like to fight in the Finals) 'I'm just focused on the first fight. I can face anyone in the Finals.'

Koya
'I am at my best condition. Tomorrow I'm going to do it. Please watch out for me.

(On the condition of his opponent) 'He seems to be strong and in good condition. He looks tough so it my be a difficult fight, but I plan on fighting three times.

(Who would you like to fight in the Finals) 'I'm not thinking ahead. Just focusing on one step at a time, so first fight I plan on getting my revenge on Bennoui'

Tebar
'Konnichiwa. I feel now I'm hungry, but no problem. Tomorrow its all right. I feel good for the fight tomorrow. But today, I want to drink and eat. Sushi.

(Who do you want to fight in the Final) 'I think the Taiga. Because he's a good fight, he's a leftie like me, his power, and he's beautiful too huh. So everyone is in condition to get to the final, I take it step by step. First fight. Second fight. And I hope he's in the final too.'

Komiyama
'Osu. So tomorrow we can finally decide who is number one in this division. I plan on being the last man standing. I will build up K-1 and I will build up combat sports.'

(On the condition of his opponent) 'I said on the K-1 TV show that Tebar is built like a rhinosaurus, but actually that's the impression I get from everyone here.'

(Who do you want to fight in the Final) 'I've never fought any of the Japanese fighters here today, so I would like to fight one of them. Especially Urabe Hirotaka since we were once slated to fight only for it to be canceled.'

Reserve fight: Koji vs. Toshi

Koji: I'm going to take out this muddy old man and... you know on NYE, I'm sure Minoru-kun would be lonely if its just him up on Rizin so maybe I'll go and help him out too.

Toshi: I've been saying this forever, but first thank you mom for looking after my kids while I was preparing for this fight. As for the fight... I was planning on saying I wanted to get on NYE too (lol) This is just an opener fight, but I'm sure I can make this the best one on the card, so look forward to it.

Q. Can you both tell us a bit about your preparation for this fight?
Koji: My condition is fine, but yeah, I haven't really trained for this at all. I can beat the old man anytime so its fine. Yeah.

Toshi: When I was preparing for Leona-kun, I was training my ass off, but maybe I'm at half of that level. He keeps calling me an old man, but he was actually already 27 or something himself so I was surprised.

Q. I think this is a match that's getting a lot of attention despite being a reserve fight. Anything you want to appeal to the fans?
Koji: Yeah. I think the guys in the tournament should be grateful towards myself and the old man. (Phone starts ringing) I'm in a presser with the old man now so I'll call back. Sorry. What was it? Yeah, the tournament fighters should thank me. If it wasn't for us, nobody would care to watch this. Tomorrow, our fight will be the best.

Toshi: See, I was hoping that since Kaew couldn't fight we would be slotted up to the co-main, but I guess that didn't pan out. But yeah, our first fight, its definitely gonna end in a KO.

Koji: But you better be raising your guard praying that you won't be getting knocked out.

Toshi: Nah... Yeah if this goes into the 3rd round, I'm prepared to throw down with my hands down.

[K1power]

Fight order, Tournament line-up & VS poses:

[K1power]

BTW at what time does this air?

[karaevfan]

Sept 18, 2016 19:34:43 GMT 1 K1power said:

BTW at what time does this air?

The Abema broadcast begins 15:00 Japan time (11PM US PST), but first hour is prelims. Main card start from 16:00.

[K1power]

Thanks, that means Abema/prelims kick off in 10 hours, main card in 11 from this timestamp.

I'll create a Live Event Discussion thread just in case some people will be able to catch this while it airs.

[K1power]

Live Event Discussion thread

kakutougi.proboards.com/thread/724/japan-60kg-world-grand-tournament

[K1power]

Main card has started.

[K1power]

Full Results
Undercard
Itoh Kento draws with Ashizawa Ryusei
K-Jee defeats Yoshinari by KO in R2
Masanobu Goshu defeats Yuta Takahashi by Majority Decision (2-0)

K-1 College Fights
Kuwata Yuta defeats Nomura Yu by KO in R3
Morii Kosuke defeats Uchida Michitaka by Majority Decision
Mori Kazuma defeats Hong Jingyao by KO in R3

60kg WGP Tournament
Reserve Fight
Koji defeats Toshi by Unanimous Decision

QuarterFinals
Taiga defeats Javier Hernandez by TKO/Walkout
Urabe Hirotaka defeats Johannes Wolf by Unanimous Decision
Urabe Koya defeats Karim Bennoui by Unanimous Decision
Komiyama Kosuke defeats Paulo Tebar by Unanimous Decision
*Komiyama couldn't fight in the SemiFinal due to injury and was replaced by Tebar

SemiFinals
Taiga defeats Urabe Hirotaka by Unanimous Decision
Urabe Koya defeats Paulo Tebar by TKO in Round 2

Final
Urabe Koya defeats Taiga by TKO in R1

SuperFights
Gonnaper Weerasakrek defeats Yamazaki Hideaki by Unanimous Decision
Uehara Makoto defeats KOICHI by Unanimous Decision
Hayashi Kenta defeats Takeuchi Yuji by TKO in Round 1

Props to Karaevfan for providing some of the results that I missed!

[K1power]

Another great event.

The only fight I disliked is the one I tuned into, which was Urabe Hirotaka VS Wolf, which was overshadowed by groin shots.

Other than that great stuff though:

[K1power]

[karaevfan]

Phew, 5AM here, but no regrets. What a great event.

Thanks for sticking around on the live discussion!

[K1power]

Cheers, same to you and everyone else who jumped in to check.

[Fox]

Sept 17, 2016 16:16:38 GMT 1 karaevfan said:

Gonnaper has fought quite a few times in Japan before (he's 12-1 vs. Japanese fighters including Umeno, Yasuyuki, Kenta, Mizuochi, T-98).

Who is the one Japanese guy who beat him?

[karaevfan]

Sept 21, 2016 12:23:49 GMT 1 Fox said:

Sept 17, 2016 16:16:38 GMT 1 karaevfan said:

Gonnaper has fought quite a few times in Japan before (he's 12-1 vs. Japanese fighters including Umeno, Yasuyuki, Kenta, Mizuochi, T-98).

Who is the one Japanese guy who beat him?

Kenta took a 2-0 decision vs. him when they rematched.

Also, I think I was mistaken in the first post. Umeno has lost to a Gonnaper, but probably a separate one.