K-1 Osaka PICKEM!!!one Sept 23rd

[H]

its that time again for another K-1 Grand Prix Pickem Contest! Hopefully the participation on this is as good as it was for the Hawaii GP. the winner will recieve 50,000 vCash. any questions can be answered in this thread.

Rules
1 - 1 point for picking correct winner
2 - 1 point for picking correct method
3 - 1 point for picking correct round

**PM all picks to ME. dont post them in this thread like last time**

Elimination Matches

Ray Sefo vs Kaoklai Kaennorsing
Bob Sapp vs Choi Hong Man
Jerome LeBanner vs Gary BADridge
Musashi vs Francois Botha
Ernesto Hoost vs Ruslan Karaev
Glaube Feitosa vs Semmy Schilt
Peter Aerts vs Mighty Mo

Superfights
Remy Bonjasky vs Alexy Ignashov
Nobuaki Kakuda vs George "Iron" Lion


GOOD LUCK!

http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/323/kakutougiposter7qd.jpg

[H]

TTT

[Pro shoot]

Any questions can be answered in this thread.
Does Extra round counts?
For example do I have to pick Iggy to win by decision round 4 or is by decision(round 3 or 4) good enough?

[H]

nah man. if you pick decision then you get the round also regardless of when it occurs.

[Pro shoot]

OK as well as if I pick Iggy to KO remy in round 3 and he win by KO in round 4.

[H]

no. gotta pick the round for the others. decision is different because your basically saying it will go the distance and to the judges regardless.

[dy-no-mite3000]

WHEN IS THE SHOW?!?1?

[H]

i believe the thread title says "Sept 23rd"

[H]

Hoost out with injury, Rickard Nordstrand will replace him vs Ruslan. CHANGE YOUR PICKS IF YOU WISH! ALL HOOST ENTRIES WILL BE DEEMED AS NORDSTRAND VOTES IF YOU DO NOT.

[H]

Also, this will be the LAST K-1 Pick em. Nobody cares enough for me to bother so, This is just for 50K vCash now.

[Pro shoot]

Also, this will be the LAST K-1 Pick em. Nobody cares enough for me to bother so, This is just for 50K vCash now.

No
Posters like me just want to wait for as long as possible because fight card might change. I will PM my picks later

[H]

you all still have time to change my mind. ive only received 5 entries though so far :( not even our champion wants to play

[Gabriel]

crappy, why does k-1 get so little interest?

[Mad Processor]

crappy, why does k-1 get so little interest?

We focus mainly on MMA.

I watch K-1 and enjoy it whenever I get the chance, but MMA > K-1 by far. K-1s freak shows and lackluster shows over the past years have not helped their cause. I think there are a lot of people who think sort of like me, and I consider myself more of a K-1 fan than many others..

[H]

nah, K-1 shows have improves a bunch over the last year maybe year and a half. nobody seems to care much about that or pay attention. oh well, this forum will die with me in it. cause I DO focus on it and want to build it UP. Also, if i had a MAX pick em it would make no difference and would get the same participation. yet it is more pure than MMA and HW K-1.

[elbowsmash]

ive got karaev winning anyways, so no change on the hoost fight

[Pro shoot]

crappy, why does k-1 get so little interest?
Because 98% of posters are invited from SD mma or OT discussion.

[H]

yeah that too. i seem to be the only one looking out for K-1 posters around here.

[derubermensch]

nah, K-1 shows have improves a bunch over the last year maybe year and a half. nobody seems to care much about that or pay attention. oh well, this forum will die with me in it. cause I DO focus on it and want to build it UP. Also, if i had a MAX pick em it would make no difference and would get the same participation. yet it is more pure than MMA and HW K-1.

I must've been sleeping on the MAX GP pick-em cause I value MAX way more than HW K-1. Make sure you hold an Oct pick-em for MAX, Kozo's winning me some vcash

[H]

I appreciate everyone who is participating. we got 9 entries so far for the 50K vcash and rep pts. The event is THIS THURSDAY @ MIDNIGHT (AZ TIME) or 5:00 Friday Japan time. So anybody wanting to play (PRO SHOOT) get me your PM's before Thursday!

derUber, i have not held a MAX pick em yet. Octobers event sounds like a good one to start with. ill keep doin these as long as i get participation from our good core of K-1 posters, which we ended up doing for this one. though our champion from the last one (Ob Juan) still hasnt PM me so i guess we'll just go forward without him if time runs out.

[derubermensch]

I must've been sleeping on the MAX GP pick-em cause I value MAX way more than HW K-1. Make sure you hold an Oct pick-em for MAX, Kozo's winning me some vcash

You know, after re-watching the '05 GP, I realized Souwer's hands are waaay to fast for Kozo. Kozo still has more power though

[H]

i think Souwer is going to take Kozo out. Kozo is good but i dont think hes as good as Souwer.

[derubermensch]

i think Souwer is going to take Kozo out. Kozo is good but i dont think hes as good as Souwer.

From what I've seen of Kozo since the Oct '04 MAX show, whenever he lets hands go, people get hurt. If he overcame his reluctance to let those stiff ass punches go, I can see him hurting Souwer a bit. But Souwer is expected to to take this one at least by dec.

If Sato and JWP fight, Parr should beat Sato with his boxing cause from watching Sato's fight with Kalakoda he doesn't handle agressive punching very well. Kalakoda BTW is someone I expect great things from in MAX once he gets kicking and defending kicking down. He's easily the best boxer in MAX, going so far as to say I think he got robbed against Kraus since the only thing that comes to mind when I think of that fight is Kraus eating some nasty body and head shots for 2 rnds.

[H]

yeah, alot of ppl said Kraus vs Kalakoda was kind of a rip. Kraus won it on his name.

[Kamatari]

i think Souwer is going to take Kozo out. Kozo is good but i dont think hes as good as Souwer.
Their strengths lie in different areas, Kozo will ALWAYS have a shot at winning the fight because he's got that golden right straight and those powerful low kicks. If you let him get into his rhythm you'll lose. Because he lives by the sword and dies by the sword (Kozo wants his fight to end in a finish no matter what) and his chin being softened he can get stopped.

From what I've seen of Kozo since the Oct '04 MAX show, whenever he lets hands go, people get hurt. If he overcame his reluctance to let those stiff ass punches go, I can see him hurting Souwer a bit. But Souwer is expected to to take this one at least by dec.

If Sato and JWP fight, Parr should beat Sato with his boxing cause from watching Sato's fight with Kalakoda he doesn't handle agressive punching very well. Kalakoda BTW is someone I expect great things from in MAX once he gets kicking and defending kicking down. He's easily the best boxer in MAX, going so far as to say I think he got robbed against Kraus since the only thing that comes to mind when I think of that fight is Kraus eating some nasty body and head shots for 2 rnds.
Kozo's the prototypical Japanese Muay Thai fighter, strong low kicks and punches. It's looked at as a standard, but if you look at the individual fighters then a different picture is painted.

Sato's handled aggressive punchers well in the past, like he stated he really lost himself and was fighting a Muay Thai fight. He's not the greatest boxer in the world, but on workrate he can beat anyone in MAX. Hell, even though he wasn't punching in the Kalakoda fight he threw way more strikes than Virgil. For my assessment on the fight you can search for the thread on kakutougi.

You actually make a good point when it comes to that decision, people who think Kraus won and don't give Sato any credit haven't got a clue. Kraus did land the most noticeable shot(s) to the head though.

[derubermensch]

Their strengths lie in different areas, Kozo will ALWAYS have a shot at winning the fight because he's got that golden right straight and those powerful low kicks. If you let him get into his rhythm you'll lose. Because he lives by the sword and dies by the sword (Kozo wants his fight to end in a finish no matter what) and his chin being softened he can get stopped.

Yeah one can see this in the JWP fight where he came on hurt Parr, but Parr somehow came back dropped him. I've only see Souwer's K-1 material, and from what that tells me, I can't really say if he can take a schooling and come back. And I've always loved his stiff ass punches. I didn't see Souwer take that many punches in the GP except from Kazuya a bit, so I'm interested in seeing his chin tested (I have not see his fight vs. Kraus, so I imagine better evidence lies there).




Kozo's the prototypical Japanese Muay Thai fighter, strong low kicks and punches. It's looked at as a standard, but if you look at the individual fighters then a different picture is painted. .

Thats interesting, Kaoklai says the same thing in his interview. I wonder why the Japanese NakMuays I haven't grown on the middle kick.

Sato's handled aggressive punchers well in the past, like he stated he really lost himself and was fighting a Muay Thai fight. He's not the greatest boxer in the world, but on workrate he can beat anyone in MAX. Hell, even though he wasn't punching in the Kalakoda fight he threw way more strikes than Virgil. For my assessment on the fight you can search for the thread on kakutougi..

I'll admit I haven't seen any of Sato's acclaimed Muay Thai fights outside of K-1 so I guess your call is as good as any that has. He was throwing a ton of kicks at Virgil, but Virgil's constant moving forwards and aggressive punching scored more pnts under K-1 rules.

You actually make a good point when it comes to that decision, people who think Kraus won and don't give Sato any credit haven't got a clue. Kraus did land the most noticeable shot(s) to the head though.

For me, he finally got something going in the 3rd, but by then its just too late for me to honestly think he'd won the fight. One could concede that he'd thrown noticeable shots to the head, but Kalakoda's style scores major points in the judges eyes since it makes good fighters look overly defensive. Kraus was throwing unanswered leg kicks, but Kalakoda hardly showed the damage which scores him points, or at least doesn't lose him points, under K-1 rules. Same thing in the Sato fight, he got legkicked a lot but never stopped coming or showing any signs of damage. Masato ate major body shots from Zambidis but he didn't flinch about em. Thats key to the judges.

[Kamatari]

Thats interesting, Kaoklai says the same thing in his interview. I wonder why the Japanese NakMuays I haven't grown on the middle kick.
Again, it depends on the individual fighter. Hiroki Ishii (ranked at Rajadamnern LW) throws great middle kicks and throws some wicked elbows. Modern fighters like Kobayashi and Takeda embody it however and even someone like Masato.

As for the Kraus/Kalakoda fight, watch him land that right in the first round, he was already winning it thanks to his kicks anyway. Like I said before Kraus was landing the better shots to the head. Even if you give the second to Virgil, you admit that Kraus got it going in the third. How it was a rip off in anyone's eyes I'll never know.

[Kamatari]

Like in the Kraus fight Virgil keeps walking forward, but Sato throws a low kick every time and when he gets in too close he's right there with the knee or at least clinching off. Virgil is landing some good clean shots, but Sato also lands some knees and again he keeps on low kicking.

Advantage? On one hand Virgil landed his punches but Sato wasn't exactly inactive either. Virgil moved forward but in the beginning it was Sato who was firing off in the counter. But the hands are favoured in the scoring and he was landing the cleaner shots. I don't think it's fair to say anyone took it convincingly. Virgil was moving forward and being aggressive but most of the time it was negated by Sato's defense. To disregard him coming through at times would be stupid.

In the second round, Sato starts throwing more knees now but still mixes it up with low kicks, again Virgil is coming through with some stinging blows (to the body and a nice left straight). After the restart, Sato comes right out of the gate with more knees. In the early going Virgil's body shots in the clinch were much more prominent, he was still effective at times when he attempted to blast out.

In the highlights the focus was on the punches again. Virgil's punches stand out more and created more of an impression I think. Sato was doing plenty; it was singular shots against a string of techniques.

In the third, Sato as the thread starter mentioned realized that he could actually teep and so he did. He still got tagged, but if you downright want to give him a round this is it.

In K-1 rules it really was close, but I also felt that the judges failed to acknowledge Sato's actions most of the time. And it's not a case of "kicking the arms doesn't score points" either. The cosmetic damage is infantile, though it sticks out in the viewer's mind but for those that have seen more than one Sato fight it's not anything out of the ordinary. Now considering that it was in K-1 it was close, don't let anyone fool and try to convince you otherwise.

I think you'll be seeing things differently every time, if you pay enough attention and look for it. I really think a draw wasn't out of the question. Yeah, clean punches found their mark but don't teeps and knees count?

You're a Muay Thai fan or purist? You'll think Sato won. You're a K-1 fan or one that pays attention to the aforementioned singular shots, and then you'll think Virgil won.

Under K-1 rules however it should be a fair JD. Absolutely no consistency in the judging aside, which makes it hard to tie things together. I just have a problem with giving rounds to someone based on one or two shots, but that's what keep things apart in the end I guess. I mean Kraus vs. Gayderbekov still makes me scratch my head.

The result stands and it's a big win for Virgil who can only improve with time and who certainly proved doubters ("Sato's going to KO him with leg kicks" or something along that line) wrong. As for Sato, we haven't seen enough of him in K-1 MAX. But the rules DO work against him and he needs to tweak certain things.

I wish I could say "Virgil clearly won it!" or "Sato wuz robbed!" but I can't.

Summary: Kicks + knees, "BIG RIGHT (left) HAND!" - UFC announcers, repeat.

[/TL,DR]

My thoughts on the Virgil vs. Sato, there was no clear winner in that fight.

Kalakoda hardly showed the damage which scores him points, or at least doesn't lose him points, under K-1 rules. Same thing in the Sato fight, he got legkicked a lot but never stopped coming or showing any signs of damage. Masato ate major body shots from Zambidis but he didn't flinch about em. Thats key to the judges.
I think that's bullshit, points are points. Yeah, you're being aggressive but if your opponent is outscoring you on the counter then that's easily negated. Masato won that fight by landing more and scoring the down. The K-1 is not MT thing has been established and we know that, but the scoring is undeniably partisan.

[derubermensch]

I think that's bullshit, points are points. Yeah, you're being aggressive but if your opponent is outscoring you on the counter then that's easily negated. Masato won that fight by landing more and scoring the down. The K-1 is not MT thing has been established and we know that, but the scoring is undeniably partisan.

Its not just being aggressive, part of the criteria calls for if a guy shows signifcant damage, and Kalakoda just wasn't the damage so I don't see how Kraus or Sato scored under that part of the criteria

[derubermensch]

My thoughts on the Virgil vs. Sato, there was no clear winner in that fight.

I'll read that once I get home

[Kamatari]

I'll read that once I get home
I agree with your summary it's fair
Great guy and under K-1 rules he probably should have gotten the nod even though I feel like they should just start boxing. It's the lack of consistency that I have a problem with.

That's just not K-1 though, in Rajadamnern officiated matches when a Japanese edges a Thai it's usually a draw or even a loss.

[H]

Pro Shoot??? The event is tomorrow. If you still want to play you should PM your picks to me very soon!!

[Pro shoot]

Thanks for remind me. I didn't pay too much attention to my prediction just trusting my intuition:)