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- Tag Archives K1
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Badr Hari To Compete In the K-1 World Grand Prix?
In surprising (but very good) news for Badr Hari fans, K1 has announced that Badr Hari will replace Ben Edwards in the K1 World Grand Prix. I didn’t realize that this was a legal possibility for Badr Hari, since he hasn’t even gone to trial yet.
With the K1 World Grand Prix being the weakest its been in a very long time, maybe ever, Badr Hari has a very good chance of finally realizing his dream of being a K1 champion. Now that Daniel Ghita has mysteriously decided to compete in GLORY instead of K1, Hesdy Gerges seems the only real competition for Hari left.
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What Does Alistair Overeem’s Loss Say About The Skill-Level of K1 Strikers?
I’m not going to go out on a limb here and say that K1 strikers are inferior to boxers or MMA fighters, because I don’t think it’s true. Still, it’s genuinely puzzling to me that Overeem was able to steamroll through the likes of Peter Aerts, Gokhan Saki, and Tyrone Spong, and then struggle with the likes of Bigfoot Silva and Fabricio Werdum.
Overeem considers himself a MMA fighter (not a kickboxer) and he was still able to win the largest kickboxing tournament known to man. He also brutally knocked out Badr Hari, and quickly dispatched of the legendary Peter Aerts.
Even the most diehard fans of Bigfoot Silva and Fabricio Werdum wouldn’t claim that they’re elite strikers.
Are K1 kickboxers simply not as good as MMA fighters? I’m not sure what the answer is.
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K1 Announces The Final Eight For WGP
K1 keeps limping along. After losing their crown jewel in Badr Hari, they also have lost their Spike deal. Their final eight competitors is filled with a laundry list of “Who dats?” and has-beens. These are the final eight participants:
Ben Edwards
Jarrell Miller
Hesdy Gerges
Zabit Samedov
Catalin Morosanu
Ismael Londt
Makoto Uehara
Mirko FilipovicMy money is on Hesdy Gerges winning the championship, with Jarrell Miller the dark-horse to win. I’m rooting for Jarrell Miller, because I believe he has the personality and skills to have a long-term career.
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Hesdy Gerges Is Now The Favorite To Win the K1 World Grand Prix
Hesdy Gerges, or “herpes,” as some Badr Hari fans like to call him, is now the definitive favorite to win the K1 World Grand Prix. This isn’t really a tribute to him, but rather the result of the weakest pool of participants that the Grand Prix has ever known.
Now that Daniel Ghita has mysteriously disappeared and has been spending his time sparring Tyson Fury and playing golf, Hesdy Gerges has the size, experience, and pedigree to win the tournament. Although he recently lost badly to Daniel Ghita, there is no one left in the tournament who could last more than than one round with Ghita.
Mirko CroCop has looked good, but he is a badly faded version of himself. Zabit Samedov is too small. Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is probably the fighter to give Gerges his toughest competition, but he is way too inexperienced to defeat Gerges. So as long as Hesdy Gerges can keep himself out of trouble outside the ring, it looks like he has a nice payday coming up at the end of this tournament.
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K1 Announces Its Final 16 Lineup
K1 has announced who will be part of the final 16 for the World Grand Prix, sans Badr Hari.
I admit, there’s something lacking about this year’s GP, it just doesn’t feel the same. Yet I’m happy that it’s still happening, and hopefully some new stars will be born under the new K1. I believe that Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller has some potential, even though he is still largely untested.
Here is the card:
K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16
Raul Catinas (Romania) vs. Ben Edwards (Australia)
Makoto Uehara (Japan) vs. Hiromi Amada (Japan)
Xavier Vigney (USA) vs. Zabit Samedov (Azerbaijan)
Hesdy Gerges (Egypt) vs. Sergii Laschenko (Ukraine)
Singh Jaideep (India) vs. Ismael Londt (Surinam)
Jarrell Miller (USA) vs. Arnold Oborotov (Lithuania)
Paul Slowinski (Poland) vs. Catalin Morosanu (Romania)
Mirko Flipovic (Croatia) vs. Randy Blake (USA)
Super Fights
Genji Umeno (Japan) vs. Chanhyung Lee (Korea)
Jafar Ahmadi (Iran) vs. Benjamin Adegbuyl (Nigeria)
Saulo Cavalari (Brazil) vs. Pavel Zuravliov (Russia)
Rick Roufus (USA) vs. James Wilson (USA)
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Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller Is Chasing K1 Glory
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is an American heavyweight boxer, who has decided to try his hand at kickboxing. The revival of K1 in America must be inspirational for young fighters to have other avenues to pursue their dreams. I wish him the best of luck in Los Angeles. The fight game is not easy. The video below does a good job at showing off his personality.
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K1 Is Coming To Los Angeles
Pictured above is kickboxing veteran, Dewey Cooper, who will be competing in the K1 Los Angeles event. K1 is staging its first event in LA, in its initiative to gain an American audience. K1 has surprisingly made some big moves recently, after initial reports that they were unable to pay their fighters for the K1 Rising event. In fact, Badr Hari’s opponent, Anderson Silva, has claimed that he still hasn’t received payments for his services.
But with this event, and their deal with Spike, K1 keeps moving forward in their efforts to stay the number one kickboxing organization in the world. They even claim Badr Hari is still part of the Final Sixteen (fanciful thinking). This event can help gauge what type of interest Americans can have in K1.
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K1 Has A Deal With Spike
The new K1 has been trying to gain a foothold in the US. Kickboxing has NEVER been popular in the US, although I’ve always loved it. With the upcoming K1 show in Los Angeles and New York, Spike has signed K1 to a television deal. This is unprecedented for kickboxing to have an opportunity to get this kind of audience.
It’s hard for me to understand how MMA can get so popular in the U.S., but kickboxing remain so undervalued. I think, perhaps, it’s because there’s very few good American kickboxers. Perhaps it’s because kickboxing is a European past-time, and isn’t part of American culture. I would love to be able to see more kickboxing in the US. I’ve always liked watching striking more than ground and pound or wrestling, so I hope K1 does well.
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Remy Bonjasky Signs With Glory, Kickboxing Is Slowly Making a Comeback
Remy Bonjasky (pictured with girlfriend above) is 36-years old, but he is still most likely one of the best kickboxers in the world. Personally, I find him terribly boring to watch with his peek-a-boo style, but his style is undoubtedly hard to defeat. He has won many boring decisions over the best fighters in the world, including Badr Hari, Alistair Overeem, Errol Zimmerman, and Ernesto Hoost.
Now Remy has officially signed with Glory, and says that he’s ready to compete at the top-level of kickboxing.
Besides Remy’s return, Peter Aerts has an exciting fight coming up with Tyrone Spong. This is destined to be a fun fight to watch. Also, Semmy Schilt recently TKO’ed the surging Errol Zimmerman.
The new K1 has started holding events again, with the most recent re-launching the K1 World Grand Prix, kickboxing’s glamour event. So while kickboxing still has a long ways to go, the death toll that seemed to be ringing for kickboxing has grown dimmer. Badr Hari’s return to K1 is great news for the kickboxing world. He is one of the sport’s biggest stars, and they need all the stars they can get right now.
If kickboxing is able to produce even one or two more stars on the level of Badr Hari, I think they will have a brighter future ahead of them. Right now, Daniel Ghita and Errol Zimmerman seem like the most promising future kickboxing legends. Gokhan Saki might still hang around, and with Anderson Silva’s recent spirited performance against Badr Hari, he might eventually make some waves also.
All-in-all, there’s enough talent in kickboxing for many interesting match-ups to be made, and K1′s Grand Prix sounds like it’s going to be a entertaining spectacle. I look forward to watching it!
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