TOKYO, Oct. 9 — Both the HERO’S middleweight (154 lbs.) and light heavyweight (187 lbs.) titles were up for grabs Monday as K-1’s MMA offshoot hosted the tournament semifinals and finals at the Yokohama Arena.
One has to wonder if Sakuraba’s injury was really precipitated by the questionably prolonged beating he took at the hands of Kestutis Smirnovas (Pictures) in the opening round of the tournament last August.
The K-1 organization took a lot of heat from the fans and press in that affair. Whatever the case, it seemed that K-1 referees were unusually quick this evening to jump in and stop the action if it looked like a fighter was in danger.
Of all the fights this evening, only three saw the second round.
The finals of the light heavyweight bracket saw Japanese judoka Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) square off against Dutch striker Melvin Manhoef (Pictures).
Akiyama has become a pretty decent striker in his own right, knocking out Katsuhiko Nagata (Pictures)with a crushing spin kick to the ribs and dispatching Kestutis Smirnovas (Pictures) with an excellent combo on his way to the finals. But despite how much Akiyama’s stand-up has improved, the high-paced Manhoef was all over him in the first minute of this match.
The Dutchman pushed the judoka around the ring with vicious flurries of punches and kicks, forcing the Japanese fighter to turtle up and run to avoid Manhoef’s bombs.
Manhoef was quite interesting in this one in the sense that he seemed to be more than willing to take Akiyama down. From a clinch just after his brutal opening onslaught, the Dutch fighter literally tossed Akiyama to the ground with a powerful throw, only to see the technique backfire on him with Akiyama rolling into the mount. Despite this, Manhoef was able to get to his feet before suffering any damage from the bottom.
Once standing, Manhoef got hold of one of Akiyama’s legs and on his second attempt lifted him for a slam. But once again, the technique backfired on the Dutch fighter, and as both hit the canvas Akiyama was able to secure an armbar.
Manhoef grabbed his arm to fight off the technique, but eventually the Japanese judoka got full extension, forcing Manhoef to tap at the 1:58 mark of the first round.
In the finals of the middleweight bracket, American Top Team fighter Gesias Calvancanti (Pictures) squared off against former Shooto champion Caol Uno (Pictures).
Calvancanti had just over a minute of work in his bout against Rani Yahya (Pictures) on his way to the finals, whereas Uno had to go through a full 10-minute war with Ivan Menjivar (Pictures) prior to the championship bout.
After some initial strikes from both fighters to test the waters, it was Calvancanti who drew first blood, forcing Uno to the mat with a hard flurry of punches as he came forward.
The ATT fighter briefly had his opponent’s back as he twisted to avoid strikes, but Uno worked to return to his feet and held on until the referee separated the two.
Calvancanti scored another takedown off an Uno kick and finished the round by punching in the guard.
The second period saw Calvancanti land two textbook double-leg takedowns, taking side-control on both. But the wily Uno avoided damage and again worked his way back to standing.
After trading strikes the fighters tied up in a clinch and Calvancanti got the takedown in the closing seconds. From here the Brazilian took back-mount on his Japanese opponent, but could only throw down a few punches before the final bell.
The fight went to the judges and Calvancanti was awarded a majority decision.