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Wow, what a K-1 GP!
Wow, what a K-1 GP! |
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Mastodon2
MMA Sensei
Career record: 183-108
Season: 32-23 (#4471)
Location: Newcastle England
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What a great GP this year, the finals are gonna be explosive!
Le Banner is fighting Choi in the first round of the finals, Difficult match up for Le Banner. Anyone who draws Schilt or Choi has a tough match and unfortunately it's not because either of them are particularly skilled kickboxers, they rely on sheer size to pull them through. If they wern't freakish giants, their skills would not allow them to compete at K-1 standard, but atm it seems like K-1 is more interested in promoting oddities rather than the real skilled fighters like Le Banner, Aerts, Bonjasky etc.
The level of competition in this years GP final is very high though, Schilt and Choi make it difficult as always, Choi is hard to get by, Schilt is even harder. Schilt, while not wildly talented is still leagues ahead of Choi in terms of skill, toughness, speed etc. Aerts looked great in the opening, cutting down an admittedly sick Sefo, who was very ill before the fight. It's rumoured that K-1 had to add some serious additional pay and then beg him to compete, since fans would much rather see Sefo fighting than some random alternate. However, he was clearly ill, after taking those leg kicks and returning to his corner, he looked about ready to vomit, and was even in tears. Man I feel sorry for that guy, he could have dispatched Aerts if he had been in good health. Aert's punch defense, while it has improved since his old days, is still not top drawer, and loose punch defense is what Sefo works on. He even knocked Le Banner in the middle of next week, and Le Banner has ace boxing skills, his punch defense is great. Unfortunate for Sefo, but he is a warrior, and I have a lot of respect for him.
The Bonjasky / Leko fight was a bit controversial. Leko, while looking absolutely dreadful in Pride, is actually a lot better than many people give him credit for. He had a great fight against Mighty Mo Siliglia in August, circled the big man for 3 rounds and cut him down with leg kicks, getting an easy decision win. He didn't have the same kind of success against Bonjasky though, who worked him hard. Some people think the fight was a premature stoppage, as Leko was standing and apparently ready to fight, but is said to have failed the 8 count as he didn't raise his gloves and say he was ok to continue and the ref didn't like his body language, and thought he was hurt. Granted, Bonjasky was well on the way to winning, but some people will always winge that Leko could have taken it had he not been stopped by the ref. The ref was looking out for Leko's safety, and doing his job, so Leko has nothing to be angry about. He can be annoyed about what he and some fans might have thought was an early stoppage but it only stopped the inevitability of Bonjasky KO'ing him or winning a decision.
So, it's looking good, but it's gonna be hard for my boy Le Banner, he will most likely have to fight two giants in one night to win this GP. However, he has beaten Choi before, and he was more injury laden then, so he should be able to do it again, hopefully in quicker fashion. An injured Le Banner won the fight after a four round decision, he will need to do it quicker in December to be as fresh as possible for the finals, as the man I see Le Banner meeting in the finals will be either Bonjasky or Schilt. Bonjasky will be fresh, as his fitness is incredible, so he will probably still be feeling sharp, and Schilt will most likely win his first two fights of the night via KO or TKO, due to his abiity to sloppily, but effectively knee people in the face with ease. If Le Banner fights Schilt in the semis then I see (hopefully) a Le Banner / Aerts rematch (they are 1/1, and I think Le Banner will take the rubber match) or a Bonjasky / Le Banner final, which, if his fitness holds out, he can win. If he ges upclose to Bonjasky and starts working him with punches its all his. Bonjasky has great kicks and pretty good flying knees, but his punching (offense and defence) leaves a lot to be desired. He doesn't have the power to KO le Banner or fend him off, if Le Banner closes the distance he will maul him.
I don't see Feitosa or Hari making to the finals, thats for sure. Its a stacked GP and they just aren't sharp enough. Hari is good, but not big enough to compete with the Schilt / Le Banner / Aerts / Bonjasky crew.
Man I love K-1!
So, what are your thoughts on this years finals? Who will face off in the final? Who will win? Will anyone topple Schilt? When will Schilt retire?
Tell me all your thoughts on this years K-1 GP!
(If you want to see any of the fights, go to Daily motion, they have a lot of K-1 stuff there. I know for sure Le Banner's fight in the opening round is on there, amazing KO!
(yeah I did copy and paste some of this post from another of my posts in the news forum, shoot me!)
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Post #1 10/1/07 7:15:36AM
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Wins Fairly Squarely
Career record: 207-122
Season: 46-24 (#266)
Location: Cornwall, UK
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Yeah it looks like a great card, im not massively into K1 but did watch the last round on a stream and will watch this one again, gotta go with Schilt tho, he is just too sharper methodical striker, he has the size of a Choi but the skills of a better JLB
Wheres the freak show matchup tho? i wanna see Akebono Giant Silva 2 ffs!
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Post #2 10/1/07 7:37:01AM
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Mastodon2
MMA Sensei
Career record: 183-108
Season: 32-23 (#4471)
Location: Newcastle England
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"The skills of a better JLB" - by that do you mean he has skills like JLB's, but better? I'm sorry but I've just totally gotta disagree with. He is less accurate, doesnt defend as quickly or as effectively and he knows this, which is why he relies on teep kicking continually then leaning in with a big left power straight take people down. It's one dimensional but effective, since no one can get past its crazy range!
Jerome Le Banner is a much more effective striker, he is quicker, cleaner and more accurate than Schilt, and has more power, despite being about 25lbs lighter. He is just more well rounded, hits harder and moves quicker, but the one thing he doesnt have that Schilt does (and Schilt uses this as a crutch for his lack of elite level skill) is a freakish reach. Schilt is huge, and lanky even for his size, and he knows how to use it. He is effective, but it no way is he a "better" striker than Geronimo!
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Post #3 10/1/07 7:43:13AM
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The Cowboys Mod
Career record: 142-101
Season: 41-29 (#1705)
Location: Maryland
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Naturally I'm curious to see how Hong-Man does, I still wish he didn't have that medical problem that kept him out of the fight with Brock Lesnar. His size alone makes him an obvious attraction because he's probably one of the tallest fighters ever in MMA, if not the tallest.
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My new blog
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Post #4 10/1/07 9:02:40AM
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The Axe Kick Murderer
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Career record: 159-78
Season: 51-19 (#39)
Location: who's asking?
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yea i dont know but the asian countries (japan, china, etc...) seem to really like watching freakshow fights, thats why match ups like bob sapp vs peter aerts, and why they put giant silva in there...
but non the less this is a great card, semmy is a difficult task for anyone...looking foward to this...
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Post #5 10/1/07 9:26:43AM
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The best kicker in the world
Career record: 170-89
Season: 37-18 (#2479)
Location: Regina SK
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I don't think it's a freak show, schilt wins, bob sapp dominated until Cro Cop broke his faced.
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"Fall down 7 times, get up 8" - Japanese proverb.
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Post #6 10/2/07 7:49:49PM
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hathcock32
In Full Mount
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Career record: 220-116
Season: 50-20 (#147)
Location: San Diego
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Posted by cmill21
I don't think it's a freak show, schilt wins, bob sapp dominated until Cro Cop broke his faced.
Cro COp dominated....until GOnzaga kicked his face.
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Post #7 10/3/07 6:20:09AM
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Mastodon2
MMA Sensei
Career record: 183-108
Season: 32-23 (#4471)
Location: Newcastle England
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Cro Cop's skills in 2007 are not what they were when he was in his K-1 prime, watch some videos and compare the two. Mirko still has the best striking in MMA, but in particular his combinations have waned. He showed he still had them against Coleman, but now he hardly uses them at all.
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Post #8 10/3/07 1:49:57PM
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