K-1 - Musashi, Hoost and Sapp Win in Saitama

French kickboxer Cyril Abidi took on 22 year-old Hiraku Hori of Japan in the first matchup. Hori had won six of his nine K-1 bouts. "I'm excited to meet a good fighter like Cyril," he said at the pre-event press conference, "it's my birthday next week and the win would be a great way to start celebrating!"

While Abidi had lost three of his last five bouts, these defeats had come against elite fighters (Remy Bonjasky, Ernesto Hoost, Alexey Ignashov). And so this fight was an opportunity for both fighters to put some shine on their records.

Abidi started things off with several punch combinations, then put the low kicks in. Hori, a southpaw, came back with hard kicks to Abidi's midsection. Hori got the best strike through in the first -- a left high kick which caught Abidi in the jaw at the clapper, and won Hori the round on two judges' cards.

Although he was frustrated by Hori's defense early in the second, Abidi finally got inside and turned things around midway through, with a flurry of punches that put Hori on the ropes. Abidi then coolly connected with a good left hook for a down. The third round was all Abidi, a graceless Hori ending up on the canvas a total of nine times, although six of these were ruled as slips. Abidi got his second down with a right high kick, another when Hori stumbled and fell while trying to stand from a slip, and secured the KO when, just seconds from the bell, Hori lost the will to fight and retreated to the canvas. A convincing win for Abidi, who looked focused and, as always, just a little wild.