The K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final 16 will take place on September 26th at 3:30 AM EST live on HDNet from Seoul Olympic Park in Seoul, Korea. If you haven't been a fan of K-1 in the past because you've seen a few events that just didn't "click" with you, this is an event that could potentially sway you to the dark side with a fan like myself. Are you one of those casual fans that boos at UFC events because people are "hugging" and "humping"? Fall off the face of the earth, but first… watch the K-1 WGP 2009 Final 16. Do you love knockouts? That's probably a dumb question among fight fans, but K-1 will feed your hunger. Is Melvin Manhoef a god? Obviously this is a rhetorical question.
In any case, here's a full length preview of Saturday's event and what you can expect from each match-up. Badr Hari headlines the event against Belarussian Zabit Samedov while former PRIDE fighter and current Strikeforce heavyweight fighter Alistair Overeem takes on the "Dutch Lumberjack" Peter Aerts in the co-headliner bout.
[b]Badr Hari[/b] (71-9-1, 58 KO's) is considered by many K-1 fans to be the most dangerous striker in the sport today. With an over [b]80% knockout percentage[/b], Hari is by far one of the most successful finishers in the promotion. He's been labeled as the "bad boy" of K-1, and he plays the role of the heel to perfection with his confidence in interviews leading up to bouts. He also tends to be fairly controversial as he did punch and foot stomp a downed Remy Bonjasky in the second round of last year's World Grand Prix final. Many fans claimed Bonjasky acted to win the Grand Prix, and Hari has vocally stated the same sentiments. Both men could meet once again in the final on December 5th with wins here.
Zabit Samedov (69-9, 30 KO's) comes into this bout following an impressive performance at K-1's World Grand Prix Poland leg by dispatching of three opponents to win the tourney, including Ukrainian Sergei Lascenko. Many fans believe he has a solid underdog shot at defeating Hari as Samedov has beaten some tough competition in the past. He's only lost twice in the last two years, both to recognizable K-1 fighters Tyrone Spong and Errol Zimmerman. Hari has only lost to champion Remy Bonjasky and MMA fighter turned K-1 contestant Alistair Overeem in the last three years. It should be a decent main event bout to get Hari into the GP Final, but Hari should be able to put on a spectacular performance of aggression and tenacity.
In the event's co-main event, [b]Alistair Overeem[/b] ( 3-3 kickboxing, 29-11-0-1 MMA) will battle K-1 legend Peter Aerts (95-27-1, 65 KO's). Overeem's move to K-1 was likely for the large dollars that K-1 was throwing at him, but his beefy physique gives him the physical assets to be a real force within the promotion. Most notably, he [b]knocked off K-1's "bad boy" in Badr Hari at Dynamite 2008!!! and nearly defeated K-1 champion Remy Bonjasky at the K-1 WGP 2009 in Yokohama[/b]. He's gained considerable power at the cost of foot speed, but as he showed against Badr Hari — one punch can truly change the tide of the fight.
Aerts presents an unique challenge for Overeem in that Aerts will likely make use of the leg kicks immensely. Aerts is a three-time K-1 WGP champion, but he hasn't one a title since the mid to late 90's. Over the course of his career, he's been through a series of letdowns with knee injuries and losses in final bouts that have caused his career to be less than he probably expected. He has, however, only lost four times within the past 4 years. Semmy Schilt and Badr Hari have given him problems, and he'll likely face-off against one of them once again this year if he can get past Overeem. This should be a true test to see if Aerts still has what it takes, and he has a good shot at defeating the bulkier Overeem. His experience should be key here, but the beast that is Alistair Overeem will be a formidable challenge.
Quick Hits
Musashi (49-29-5-1, 19 KO's) vs. Jerome LeBanner (74-9-1-1, 59 KO's): I'm a bit biased here as JLB is a fighter that so many fans love because the man is a true warrior in the ring. We've seen him fight through injuries and fight off officials because he tried to fight hurt. LeBanner should be able to win this bout if he doesn't sustain an injury before the end of the fight. He has had badly injured forearms in past fights from blocking kicks along with bad knees, but Musashi has had a rough go in the past 3 fights, going 0-3 against Kyotaro, Gegard Mousasi, and Ewerton Teixiera.
Semmy Schilt (29-5-1, 14 KO's) vs. Daniel Ghita (28-3, 22 KO's): I'm a bit interested in this battle because Ghita basically crushed everyone in the K-1 WGP Qualifying Final 16 tournament with leg kicks. The problem for Ghita will be that this is a major step up in competition for him as Schilt is a three-time champion. Schilt will probably be looking for an impressive performance after being bombed by Badr Hari at It's Showtime 2009 in Amsterdam back in May, so don't hold out too much hope for an upset by Ghita.
Ewerton Teixeira (8-1, 2 KO's) vs. Singh "Heart" Jaideep (34-11-0-1, 5 KO's): Teixeira is a third-degree black belt in Karate, and he's won multiple tournaments including the 2007 All-American Open Karate Tournament (he defeated current DREAM fighter Andrews Nakahara to win). He's made the transition over to K-1 smoothly, although he does lack the knockout power. Singh Jaideep is from India, and he's currently trying to make a name for himself within the promotion. He won the K-1 WGP 2009 Seoul leg of the tournament to put himself into the Final 16. I'd go with Teixeira here purely on the basis that he's a solid point fighter that's tough to knock out.
[b]Ruslan Karaev[/b] (12-7, 7 KO's) vs. Keijiro "Kyotaro" Maeda (16-1, 8 KO's): Kyotaro has been a huge surprise this year as he won the K-1 WGP 2009 Yokohama leg by defeating both Melvin Manhoef and Gokhan Saki, two staples of the WGP final every year. He's steadily being introduced to better competition, but Karaev doesn't present a disparity in quality. Maeda has deceptive knockout power, and Karaev has shown a susceptibility.
Glaube Feitosa (17-16-1, 11 KO's) vs. Errol Zimmerman (66-10-1-1, 32 KO's): This match-up doesn't bode well for the Brazilian Feitosa as Errol already has a win against him on top of taking on some of the who's who in the sport. Feitosa has been able to beat mid-level fighters, but he's ran into more losses in taking on better competition. Feitosa has a vast array of kicks, but he'll need to be more worried about the counter to those kicks here as Errol throws a mean right hand. Errol should move on to the final.
[b]Remy Bonjasky[/b] (72-14, 40 KO's) vs. Melvin Manhoef (37-7, 27 KO's): This is, once again, a very interesting bout. Manhoef trains with Badr Hari, who hates Bonjasky, so there will definitely be some rivalry between the two fighters. He's already faced Remy twice in a 2002 GP prelim and a 2008 GP tournament leg, losing both times. The huge problem for Manhoef here is that Bonjasky can nullify his power and aggression with his long reach, kicks, and unpredictability. He's already done it before effectively, so Manhoef should know what to expect. Manhoef has been falling off his game lately however, and his last bout saw him much more reserved. Will we see that on Saturday? I hope not. A super aggressive Manhoef may be the only way to catch Bonjasky.
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