The quarter finals started with fan favorite Masato taking on the very dangerous Mike Zambidis. This was the fight that I was really looking forward to, thinking back to the brutal knockout Zambidis put on Kid Yamamoto. The crowd exploded when Masato was announced, waving their Masato fans ever more furiously.
Zambidis, of course, worked to close it. It seemed like every punch Zambidis threw was a power shot. He mixed his targets up and launched some great shots to the body, as well as his patented fake kick followed by a punch.
In the third round, Masato was able to score a knockdown on Zambidis with a perfectly timed counter punch after a kick from the Greek. Later in the round, Masato scored again with a textbook straight-uppercut combination. Zambidis put on a great show, really going after the former champion, however, in the end, Masato received the unanimous victory.
After his victory Masato had to be helped from the ring and was visibly wincing with every step he took. Watching the way he walked I felt that he could not return for the semifinals.
Other quarterfinal action saw Takayuki Kohiruimaki take on Souwer. This match was a real clinching war earlier on. Kohi threw lots of knees from here, especially in the first. Eventually Souwer caught up and was throwing some of his own.
While Kohi did well in the first, Souwer really took it to him with boxing in the later rounds. His punch combos were sharp and connected to various targets. Kohi really couldn’t seem to get things going with his hands on this occasion. Souwer dominated the last two rounds of this fight and left, relatively unscathed, with a unanimous victory.
John Wayne Parr faced off against Krauss in the quarterfinals. This was a great display of Muay Thai against Western-style kickboxing. Krauss really displayed his boxing here, covering up, slipping punches, closing distance and delivering lighting fast hands. Parr threw lots of kicks in this fight, much more than this opponent.
In the third he really came to life and threw a large flurry of unanswered punches. But Kraus was too much for him on this night and got the unanimous victory.
In the last quarterfinal match up, Buakaw faced tough Mongolian, Jadamba Narantungalag. Whenever I see this guy fight, it always reminds me of a barroom brawl. Tonight was no exception. While this fight was not the prettiest to watch, he really took it to the former champion. Narantungalag was always trying to cut the distance, and even when trapped in the Thai’s exceptional clinch, he still threw punches to the body.
However, it was Buakaw’s incredible clinch that really sealed this fight for him. From there he threw lots of knees and tossed the Mongolian around. Buakaw won the decision in this fairly enjoyable match.
In the reserve match, Yasuhiro took on Lithuanian Darius Skliaudys. In the first, Skliaudys put the Japanese fighter to the floor twice with accidental low kicks. You could hear the smack off of Yasuhiro’s cup when the shots landed. I said to my partner Stephen Martinez that perhaps Skliaudys is used to training with taller guys.
In the second, Yasuhiro was cut early on and the doctor stated that he couldn’t continue. The fight went to the scorecards and Yasuhiro got the victory in a disappointing fight.
South African boxer Virgil Kalakoda dominated the boxing end of his fight against Japanese kickboxer Yoshihiro Sato. Kalakoda came forward all the time with punches, but he often paid for them with low kicks from his opponent. This match eventually became a clinching war, with both fighters tying up every nine or 10 seconds and the referee constantly breaking them up. It got to be a bit predictable and the crowd expressed some displeasure. Kalakoda won the decision.
Ramon Dekker faced Duane Ludwig in a very enjoyable super-fight. This marked Dekker’s return to a K-1 ring in quite some time, but you’d never know it with his performance. He knocked down Ludwig three times: once in the first with a hard jab while the American was coming in; once in the second with a hook; and then again in the third with a left hook.
Dekker had some great combinations and was constantly switching between southpaw and orthodox stances — not an easy thing to do in a fight but confusing something awful to your opponent when you can successfully do it. Dekker gets the victory in a great return to the ring.
The first match of the night saw Akeomi Nitta fight Shootboxer Koutetsu Boku. K-1 dubbed this fight as the battle between Boku’s punches and Nitta’s kicks, and they were certainly right. The whole fight basically followed that pattern. Nitta really hammered his opponents legs, affecting his balance. Kicks were victorious time, Nitta by unanimous decision.