Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:12

K-1 will continue with its regional qualifying events with a qualifier in Lisbon, Portugal on April 13th. We'll have more information on the event when it's available, but for now here is the official poster for the event.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:12

It's that time again, hot on the heels of Glory 5 London's success, Glory 6 Istanbul goes down this weekend featuring the rematch that we've all been waiting for in Gokhan Saki vs. Daniel Ghita. The two met in one of the most explosive fights of 2010 in the K-1 World Grand Prix and helped to cement their status as two of the best in the eyes of Kickboxing fans across the world. Since then, Daniel Ghita has become a lot more of a complete fighter and Gokhan Saki has done his best to prove that he's one of the top Heavyweights in the world. This is realistically a fight between the #2 Heavyweight and #3 Heavyweight in the world right now, which is really an awesome, awesome fight to put together.

Also on the card is Fabio Cyclone vs. Mourad Bouzidi, Alessandro Campagna vs. Andy Ristie, Filip Verlinden, Nieky Holzken and a whole lot more. As always, you'll be able to purchase the PPV event right here, on this very page and not only support Kickboxing and the Glory World Series, but support LiverKick.com and it'll just set you back $20.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:12

Earlier today, Krush held a press conference to announce some upcoming fights for Krush.28 on May 12th and Krush.29 on June 16th and they did not fail to deliver some big fights.

The biggest announcement was that Krush.29 would be hosting a one night, 4-man tournament to crown the next ISKA World Lightweight Champion. One semifinal sees the rubber match between Koya Urabe and Fumiya Osawa while the other pits top 60kg fighter Naoki Ishikawa against France's Gagny Baradji. Urabe and Osawa fought at Krush.27 with Osawa winning by disqualification. After dropping Urabe as he came in for a flying knee, a clearly dazed Urabe dropped Osawa with a left hook after a clinch, resulting in Osawa being unable to continue and winning via disqualification. Their first fight ended with Urabe winning via flying knee. Despite what transpired in the opening minutes of their most recent encounter, Urabe has to be a big favorite. Osawa has proven that he's better than his record, but his defense isn't the sharpest and someone with the offensive arsenal of Urabe should have no trouble putting him away, provided he doesn't leave himself open to a big shot like he did previously. The second semifinal is extremely hard to pick due to Baradji's lack of fights against top competition. Ishikawa has been on a tear lately, with a 4-0-2 record dating back to 2011, with the two draws coming in Krush title fights against Hirotaka Urabe. He did struggle in his most recent outing, needing an extension round to beat Junpei Aotsu, but there is little doubt that he is one of the best 60kg fighters in Japan. Baradji's lone Krush appearance saw him knock out recently crowned 63kg champion Hideaki Yamazaki, despite being knocked down in the first round himself. Both have shown defensive vulnerability, but I think it will be Baradji's power that wins out. I'd say Urabe is a safe pick to win it all, but each man has a good shot to win this tournament and I expect all three fights to produce fireworks regardless of who wins.

The other fight announcements were all fights for Krush.28, which will be headlined by the 58kg Tournament finals between Nobuchika Terado and Takeru. Former 63kg champion Ryuji Kajiwara had an intense staredown with previously announced opponent and rising star Minoru Kimura. Kajiwara is just 1-2 in his last 3 fights, losing his title to Thomas Adamandopoulos and dropping his opening round fight to Yukihiro Komiya in the Road to GLORY Japan 65kg Slam. Kimura has won three in a row after being handed his first two professional losses in back to back fights. Kimura definitely has the power to hang with Kajiwara, but he's hit the canvas pretty frequently as of late, both in victory and defeat, and I think Kajiwara's counter punching will be Kimura's downfall.

Krush 60kg champ Hirotaka Urabe will make an apperance at the event, taking on his 5th foreign opponent since the beginning of his title reign in Antonio Campagna. Urabe is on as an impressive a streak as anyone, with a 12-0-2 run dating back to 2010. He has struggled in his last 3 bouts, taking a slightly controversial stoppage win over Xavier Bastard, drawing Naoki Ishikawa for a second time in a fight of the year contender and needing another extension round cut stoppage to beat rising star SHIGERU. Campagna is the older brother of GLORY 70kg fighter Alessandro Campagna and is currently the WAKO Italy champion. I don't know much about him, but I would be surprised if he was the person to put an end to Urabe's streak.

At 67kg, 2013 Grand Prix participants Yuya Yamamoto and TaCa are set to square off in what is sure to be a brawl. Yamamoto impressed many by making it to the semifinals of the 67kg GP and giving Abdellah Ezbiri one hell of a fight after his career had basically bottomed out with three straight losses. TaCa was stopped by tournament favorite Yuta Kubo in the quarterfinals, bout bounced back with a knockout of Kazuki Hamasaki in the reserve fight of the Road to GLORY Japan 65kg tournament. The last fight announced was a 70kg matchup between Shintaro Matsukura and Yoichi Yamazaki. Matsukura has had mixed success throughout his pro career, but the young fighter has shown he can hang with some of the top Middleweights in Japan, with a win over Yuya Yamamoto and close losses to Yutaro Yamauchi and TOMOYUKI. While he won his opening fight in the 67kg tournament, he was outclassed in the semifinals by Yuta Kubo. Yamazaki has quietly been riding a 7-fight unbeaten streak with wins over Masakazu Watanabe, Shingo Garyu and Hareruya. A win over Matsukura is just what he needs to gain some recognition. 

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:12

We are a few weeks out from Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic scoring his K-1 World Grand Prix victory, winning three fights in one night and finally winning the "big one" after all of those years. Mirko Cro Cop has had a legendary career with battles with some of the biggest names in all of combat sports and an impressive resume over the span of two sports; MMA and Kickboxing. This World Grand Prix win was a big deal for Cro Cop as well as fans of his around the world, but many see it as a tainted victory.

In the Quarterfinal round Cro Cop faced off against America's Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller and the two had quite a war, with Miller dominating most of the fight, dictating where the fight took place and landing some truly devastating knees and punches from the clinch. The decision has been a topic of conversation since it happened, many deeming it to be a robbery and that Miller rightfully won the bout. Some of the Cro Cop faithful are willing to stick their necks out and say that Cro Cop won the fight, but the overwhelming opinion is that Cro Cop stole the victory and that it was handed to him by a hometown crowd, hometown judges or even having his manager and team as the promoters of the event.

There is no proof of foul play anywhere, but the circumstances are interesting, to say the least. On FightSite.hr (also a property of Fight Channel, which is owned and operated by Orsat Zovko, Cro Cop's manager) they posted an interview with one of the judges from the event, Mladen Kranjcec, who shared his thoughts on the event, the fight and how the judges rendered the decision for Mirko Cro Cop. He notes that there was another Croatian judge for the fights, Zvonko Rukavina, because the organizers felt that they needed Croatian judges.

While I'm not going to post a Google Translation on here, when asked the question as to the bout with Miller and the controversy around it, his explanation was that Miller was breaking the rules by throwing so many strikes from the clinch, which hindered Cro Cop from being able to fight the fight his way, and that the referee was at fault for not properly enforcing the rules. So the judges took it upon themselves to instead enforce those rules. He then commended Ismael Londt for not crying foul when Mirko Cro Cop went for a grounded strike after he knocked Londt down, or for "acting" like he got hit by it.

The problem here is that the basic logic is heavily flawed. In combat sports it is the referee's job to enforce the rules and the promoter and commission's job to ensure that the rules are clear and being enforced during the fights. It is not a judge's job to interpret the rules for themselves and to discount significant action because they believe it to not be legal. In boxing if a referee misses an intentional headbutt followed by a barrage of strikes the judges do not discount the strikes that follow the headbutt because they have a better understanding of the rules than the referee, they are forced to score the bout as it goes down and leave the rules to the official inside of the ring.

This logic is clearly heavily flawed and while it might clear up some of the controversy surrounding Mirko Cro Cop's K-1 WGP victory, these decisions made by officials will continue to mar what was a big night in Cro Cop's career.

Wednesday, 19 June 2013 03:12

On April 6, Bogdan Stoica makes his return to the ring from a nasty injury at the Superkombat WGP in Oradea, Romania. Stoica is the current reigning 95 kg Superkombat Champion, and is easily one of the most high-flying, dynamic, and exciting fighters in kickboxing today. Liverkick.com caught up with Bogdan to ask about his early life, his injury, and his upcoming fight in Oradea. 

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Liverkick: You are one of Superkombat's most well known stars, but fans in the West still don't know much about your beginnings. Can you tell us a little about where you grew up, and how you first got into kickboxing?

Bogdan Stoica: The first sport I ever was played was football. When I was six years old I began training with Steaua Buckarest (A Romanian Football Club), but when I was fourteen I started having health complication and was forced to quit. Two years later I decided to take up combat sports in my hometown of Bucharest. I used to visit my brother Andrei whenever he practiced judo, and that's what got me interested. I began with Wushu, and then became a professional fighter when I turned eighteen. The first time I fought for Local Kombat was in 2010. 

LK: What is it like having a brother than also competes at a vey high level in kickboxing? 

BS: We spar against each other all the time. It gets very emotional in the ring, and it helps to have his encouragement. Whenever we spar we use a lot of power and technique, but I would never actually fight with him. 

LK: How do you feel about the development of kickboxing in Romania? Has it changed since you were young?

BS: It's grown much bigger in the last decade. It's great for Romanian kickboxers because it allows us to better help young athletes gain more experience. Superkombat President, Eduard Irimia, has done fantastic things here and worldwide. Kickboxing has become a product where it wasn't before. It's so popular that people recognize me on the streets. Most of them tell me about my amazing flying knees, and it makes me happy that someone appreciates my work. 

LK: Most people aware of your accident that occurred in July of 212. For those that don't, can you give us your account of what happened that day?

BS: I was driving my motorcycle down a boulevard, and a car driven by careless driver collided with me. I swerved and collapsed to the pavement. For a few minutes I was unconscious, and when I awoke I was being transported to the hospital. I was there for about a week. 

LK: What did the doctors say about the extent of your injuries?

BS: They told me if I was not an athelete I would have almost certainly have been dead. They were also extremely impressed with my ability to recover.

LK: You began training again in November of 2012. How was your rehabilitation? 

BS: I followed the advice of my doctors. I have not forced anything, and taken my time, although I would have liked to fight in the final Superkombat in December. I did everything slowly, and took my time to make sure I was 100% recovered. 

LK: Did your family want you to continue fighting after the accident?

BS: As you probably know, they were very concerned for my health. But they also knew that my life is this sport, and I wouldn't be able to live without it. They have supported me all the way. and have been with me ever since the accident. I can happily say that they will be there for my return fight on April 6 in the Superkombat Grand Prix in Oradea.

LK: Speaking of which, you're making your return fight against Romano Romasco of Italy. How do you feel about this fight? Is there anything about Romasco you feel you'll have to watch out for?

BS: I'm not worried about anything in particular. More importantly, I can't wait to be back in the ring again, trying to put on the most spectacular show I can. I'm well prepared and hungry to take a win. 

LK: Do you ever plan to drop down to 85 kg again?

BS: No, for the moment I want to be the best in the world at 95 kg. In the future I'd like to fill out and fight heavyweight. 

LK: Is there anything you'd like to say to your fans around the world?

BS: I want to apologize for my break, and I promise I've done my best in training. I would like to make up for it in Oradea by putting on a spectacular fight. I hope that everyone will be satisfied with my performance. Thank you for your support and Supuerkombat World Grand Prix on April 6, on Eurosport!

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Head on over to Superkombat.com for more information, and be sure to catch the first installment of the Superkombat WGP on April 6.