The Muay Thai/Kickboxing Thread

[SHOGUN]

Buakaw is officially in the S-Cup.

Katsuyori Shibata will now be Satoshi Ishii's opponent after Nantz failed the physical.

[SHOGUN]

Good K-1 MAX Final 8 Preview from HKL

Plenty of ink has been spent this year looking at the trials and tribulations of K-1 MAX in 2010. From the loss of their marquee star, to a reduced schedule, to a reduced roster, this definitely has not been a banner year for the division, and when the year is done, these troubles will likely be the focus of any look back.

But what an emphasis on these problems fails to take into account is the simple fact that K-1 MAX has put on some of the best kickboxing action to be found anywhere in the world this year. Starting with the excellent Japan GP, MAX continued with the superb Final 16 event in October. Mired in questions surrounding the departure of top stars Andy Souwer and Buakaw Por. Pramuk, this turned out to be one of the year's best shows, packed with exciting and dramatic fights, and capped off by Chahid Oulad El Hadj v. Mike Zambidis in the fight of the year (and if you have not yet watched that one, do it now).

This Monday, the 2010 MAX season draws to a close as the company crowns their 9th Grand Prix champion. And while their are legitimate questions about just how strong a field this GP is, there's also every reason to believe this should be another top quality show with some of the best action you're likely to see this year. A fight like Gago Drago v. Mohamed Khamal is almost guaranteed to be all action, while Zambidis will likely turn in another big outing against Yuichiro Nagashima.

But the big story of Monday's final has to be the 2nd Grand Prix appearance of reigning champion Giorgio Petrosyan. Last year, Petrosyan entered K-1 behind high expectations from hardcore fans who had seen him defeat Souwer and stand toe to toe with Buakaw. Petroysan did not just meet those expectations, he annihilated them, storming his way through the Grand Prix with not one of his opponents even coming close to defeating him. Now he comes in on an astounding 3 1/2 year, 26 fight undefeated streak. He's one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world, and at age 24, shows no sign of stopping. So is there anyone who can stop him this year?

The first man to take a crack at it will be the #4 ranked Albert Kraus. The first ever MAX champion, Kraus has been on a career resurgence lately, winning 12 of his last 13. That hot streak has led a number of fans to pick him as the man to stop Petrosyan in their quarter-final encounter. Trouble is, that one loss Kraus has registered came against Petrosyan in the Final 8 last year. In that first meeting, the eventual champion made Kraus look pedestrian, picking him apart over 3 round to cruise to an easy victory. It's tempting to think Kraus will correct those mistakes and come to a different conclusion this year, but the reality is many of those 12 wins have come against less than stellar opponents, and I see no reason that Petrosyan can not control him once again.

The other candidate to take out Petrosyan is K-1 veteran Yoshihiro Sato. These two were originally scheduled to meet earlier this year, and a lot of analysts thought Sato's combination of reach, technical mastery, and Muay Thai skills would make him a stiff challenge for Giorgio. But when Petrosyan dropped out of the fight due to an injured hand, that challenge was put on hold. For Sato to get his shot now, he'll need to make it to the finals, defeating Michal Glogowski and the winner of Drago/Khamal along the way. Sato has looked strong in many recent outings, but has also struggled against the top level competition he's faced, logging loses to Pajonsuk, Drago, Kyshenko, and Masato. I think Sato has what it takes to make the finals, but he would need the fight of his life to take out Petrosyan once he gets there.

Which leads us back to the main question - can anyone stop the champ from repeating? In this year's line-up, I'm not sure they can. And for me, that makes this an extremely exciting event. This is a chance to see a field of excellent fighters step up and take their shot at bringing down the best 70kg kickboxer the world has to offer. Even if they are not favored, seeing them get that chance will be a thrill, as will seeing the immaculate technique Petrosyan will show along the way in defense of his crown.

And in those moments, as a worthy challenger tries his hand, and a dominant champion works to turn him away, any concerns about the business side of MAX will be swept away. What we'll be left with is yet another night of MAX fighters turning in the kind of high-end action that reminds us why we all became fans in the first place.

[SHOGUN]

No K-1 MAX thoughts until the HDNet version drops next week, but on the S-Cup front the brackets have finally been released. Interesting to see that the Endless Fighter is throwing his hat into the card.

The bracket for the 2010 S-cup on November 23rd was announced today:

Andy Souwer vs. Bovy Sor. Udomson
Takaaki Umeno vs. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett

Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Hiroki Shishido
Greg Foley vs. Henri van Opstal

The reason they made the rematch between Buakaw and Shishido is because the first fight was the most humiliating and dark moment of Shishido’s martial arts career.

Announced as a super fight for the event was, quite surprisingly, MMA fighter Mitsuhiro Ishida taking on Shoot Boxing Japan Super Featherweight 1st ranked Hiroaki Suzuki.
Card

Shoot Boxing World Tournament S-cup 2010
Date: November 23rd, 2010
Place: JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan

S-cup 2010
Andy Souwer vs. Bovy Sor. Udomson
Takaaki Umeno vs. Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett
Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Hiroki Shishido
Greg Foley vs. Henri van Opstal
Souwer/Udomson vs. Umeno/Bennett
Pramuk/Shishido vs. Foley/Opstal
Final

Single Fights (3×3 mins, limitless ext rounds)
61.5kg: Tomohiro Oikawa vs. DJ.taiki
65kg: Hiroaki Suzuki vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

[SHOGUN]

Not a bad show, just really predictable this year. Giorgio Petrosyan once again cleaned house. Kraus and Sato had nothing for him, but Zambidis started to figure him out a little too late. Strong performances of the night by Zambidis, Drago and Sato.

I found it funny how Kogan and Schiavello tried to sell us on a new and improved Nagashima and ended up losing in the same fashion again. Great personality that could capture the fans attention, but he's just not good enough to be a major face in the organization unfortunately.

It sure as hell would be nice to see Ishii fight somebody his own size in MMA.

All reports said the ratings were really down this year. The lack of big stars like Buakaw and Andy Souwer were bigger losses than FEG estimated.

I hope S-Cup delivers.

[SHOGUN]

Krazy Horse is out of the S-Cup and will be replaced by Toby Imada.

Shoot Boxing World Tournament S-cup 2010
Date: November 23rd, 2010
Place: JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan

S-cup 2010 (3×3 mins, 1×3 mins ext)
Andy Souwer vs. Bovy Sor. Udomson
Takaaki Umeno vs. Toby Imada
Buakaw Por. Pramuk vs. Hiroki Shishido
Greg Foley vs. Henri van Opstal
Souwer/Udomson vs. Umeno/Bennett
Pramuk/Shishido vs. Foley/Opstal
Final

S-cup 2010 Reserve Fight (3×3 mins, 1×3 mins ext)
Kenji Kanai vs. Jun Hyuk Song

Single Fights (3×3 mins, limitless ext rounds)
61.5kg: Tomohiro Oikawa vs. DJ.taiki
65kg: Hiroaki Suzuki vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida
Shunsuke Inoue vs. Kengo Shimizu

Ladies FIght (3×3 mins, 2×3 mins ext)
Ai Takahashi vs. TBA

Opening Fights (3×3 mins, limitless ext rounds)
60kg: Yuji Sugawara vs. Masaya Matsuhana
55kg: Kazuyuki Fushimi vs. X

[SHOGUN]

S-Cup results. Heard the fights were really good.

 

Shoot Boxing World Tournament S-cup 2010, Nov 23rd, 2010 - JCB Hall in Tokyo, Japan

S-cup 2010 Final
Buakaw Por. Pramuk def. Toby Imada by TKO - Round 2, 2.29

Single Fights
Daiki "DJ.taiki" Hata def. Tomohiro Oikawa by KO - Round 2, 2.18
Hiroaki Suzuki def. Mitsuhiro Ishida by KO - Round 2, 2.21

S-cup 2010 Semi-finals
Buakaw Por. Pramuk def. Henri van Opstal by Unanimous Decision
Toby Imada def. Andy Souwer by Split Decision

Single Fight
Ai Takahashi def. Karina Hallinan by Unimous Decision

S-cup 2010 Reserve Fight
Jun Hyuk Song vs. Kenji Kanai by KO (Kick) - Round 2, 1:59

S-cup 2010 Quarter Finals
Henri van Opstal def. Luis Saraiva by Unanimous Decision
Buakaw Por. Pramuk def. Hiroki Shishido by Unamious Decision
Toby Imada def. Takaaki Umeno by KO (Punches) - Round 3, 3:00
Andy Souwer def. Bovy Sor. Udomson by KO (Punches) - Round 3, 0:47

Single Fight
Kengo Shimizu def. Shunsuke Inoue by TKO (Corner Stoppage) - Round 3, 0.35

Opening Fights
Kazuyuki Fushimi def. Hiroaki Okuwa by Unanmious Decision
Yuji Sugawara def. Masaya Matsuhana by KO (Body Shots) - Round 1, 2.32

[SHOGUN]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlHJ9LdnZsU[/ame]

Bob Sappu jumped into the ring again against Jörgen Kruth. You'd think after being involved in the sport for so long, he'd have learned some technique by now.

[SHOGUN]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuNfE4Fqm6M&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

From the same event as the Sapp fight (Rumble of the Kings). Moving to Mike's Gym was a good move for Artur.

[SHOGUN]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBazyyvUEqM[/ame]

[calgaryballer]

Thinking I might try to get a GSP/Kos and WGP all nighter

[calgaryballer]

Also that trailer is so lame. When they are all shadow boxing, it looks even more forced than a UFC promo.

But I still enjoyed. God I love the Japanese

[SHOGUN]

S-Cup footage is finally coming out.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO5LV71AL4M&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjqwNUGGiaM&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[SHOGUN]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUwVPfZdvoU&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

One of the best fights of 2010.

[Liquidrob]

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCpNs_LiN3k&feature=player_embedded[/ame]

[calgaryballer]

I started training some Muay Thai a couple weeks back, really enjoying it. The gym I go to (MikeMiles.com) his son is Jesse Miles, who competed in the Kings Cup. Never put it together until like a week ago