Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:48

Quick Results:

Monday, March 11
Dej Sor. Ploenchit def. Petmuangchol Sor. Tardsart by decision.
Sannarinoi Or. Auansuwan def. Prajanban Visootjaroenyont by decision.
Nongbeelek Kiatyongyut def. Seryai Lukmuangphet by TKO in Round 4.

Tuesday, March 12
Kengsiam Nor. Sripueng def. Aikmongkon Gaiyanghadao by decision.
Sirimongkol Sitanupap def. Dejrit Poptheeratham by decision.
ET Phetsomnuek def. Tongsak Sitjatoi by decision.

Wednesday, March 13
Satarnmuanglek Windysport def. Ploysiam Petchyindeeacademy by decision.
Niwlukrak Excidicalgym def. Peteng Kiatphontip by TKO in Round 3.
Wanchai Rambo-Esarn def. Yuthasak Sakburirum by decision.

Thursday, March 14
Sunchai Tor. Laksong def. Raktemroi Visootjaroenyont by decision.
Phetlamsin Kiatphontip def. Detkart Por. Pongsawang by decision.
Kumarndoy Sor. Jitpakdee def. Teelek 91Rungroj by decision.

Friday, March 15
Nongbia Chokngarmwong def. Palangtip Nor. Sripueng by decision.
Yokvithaya Phetsimean def. Saksuriya Gaiyanghadao by decision.
Phetsila Kiatmoo9 def. Baikarn Wor. Sangthep by TKO in Round 3.

Saturday, March 16
Petchartchai Chaorai-Oi def. Petngarm Kiatkampon by decision.

Fahmongkon Sor. Jor. Danyarong def. Simanoot Sor. Sarinya by decision.
Aranchai Pran26 def. Wacharachai Rajanont by decision.

There was a lot of good action this past week, particularly below 110lbs. Highlights from that weight range include Wanchai vs. Yuthasak, Niwlukrak vs. Peteng and Raktemroi vs. Sunchai. Definitely check out Niwlukrak vs. Peteng for a great KO. Niwlukrak displayed some really nice footwork, angles, timing and counter punching. He caught Peteng right in the middle of an attempted knee.

Kengsiam vs. Aikmongkon at 119lbs was another good fight. Aikmongkon is very scrappy and makes for a good fight with anyone. He came out aggresively with some punches but as the fight went on, Kengsiam turned it around in the clinch and landed some vicious knees.

Speaking of vicious knees, the fifth round of Wanchai vs. Yuthasak saw Wanchai land a knee that took everything out of Yuthasak and held him off until the end of the fight. Aside from that, the whole fight was great and Yuthasak was doing very well earlier.

Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:48

W5 held their second event of the year yesterday, branching outside of Russia to Bratislava, Slovakia where they held two tournaments to crown two new champions. The two tournaments consisted of four fighters each and took place at 71kg and 75kg respectively, with the winners becoming W5 champions.

At 71kg, the field was set up with Hysni Beqiri vs. Vladimir Konsky and Alim Nabiev vs. Tevfik Sucu. Beqiri vs. Konsky was up first and was a non-stop fight. Beqiri hit Konsky with everything including the kitchen sink but Konsky still managed to valiantly fight back for the entire fight. Konsky had the more diverse attack while Beqiri, outside of a few kicks, only threw punches, seemingly trying to save his legs for the final. Beqiri was awarded a unanimous decision but couldn't continue to the finals due to injury, so Konsky moved on to the finals despite the loss.

The other 71kg semi final saw 18 year old Alim Nabiev put in another clinical performance as he schooled Tevfik Sucu and moved on to the finals with a unanimous decision win.

At 75kg, the semi finals saw Vladimir Moravcik fight Artem Litvinenko and Remy Bonjasky pupil Darryl Sichtman fight Konstantin Serebrennikov. Litvinenko hung with Moravcik for a short period of time, but eventually Moravcik took over by the second round and stopped Litvinenko with body punches, moving on to the final. In the other semi final, Serebrennikov was competitive with Sichtman, but it was the two knockdowns Sichtman scored that sealed the fight for him. Sichtman would land some perfectly placed and timed punches that sent Serebrennikov down.

So with the finals set, Alim Nabiev faced Vladimir Konsky at 71kg. It was almost identical to Nabiev's semi final fight, as he schooled Konsky over three rounds and was never close to being in danger. Nabiev won a unanimous decision and earned himself the W5 71kg title.

In the 75kg final, it was another action packed fight between Darryl Sichtman and Vladimir Moravcik. Moravcik was the much more experienced fighter and had much bigger names on his resume, but Sichtman overcame that and had Moravcik seemingly out on his feet at the end of the third round, and damaged from repeated low kicks. After three rounds the judges declared an extra round but Moravcik was unable to continue, therefore giving the win to Darryl Sichtman. Sichtman got the biggest win of his career to date and became the W5 75kg champion. 

71kg semi final: Hysni Beqiri def. Vladimir Konsky by unanimous decision.
71kg semi final: Alim Nabiev def. Tevfik Sucu by unanimous decision.
75kg semi final: Vladimir Moravcik def. Artem Litvinenko by KO (Body Punches) in Round 2.
75kg semi final: Darryl Sichtman def. Konstantin Serebrennikov by unanimous decision.

81kg: Pavel Turuk def. Marcel Jager by unanimous decision.
55kg: Alena Hola def. Ekaterina Vandaryeva by unanimous decision.
67kg: Maxim Shalnev def. Rudolf Durica by split decision.

71kg final: Alim Nabiev def. Vladimir Konsky by unanimous decision.
75kg final: Darryl Sichtman def. Vladimir Moravcik by TKO (Gave Up/Corner Stop) after Round 3.

Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:48

A big RISE 92 card went down today in Japan and featured some pretty big fights in the lighter weight divisions with a number of RISE titles on the line.

The biggest fight on the card wasn't for a title but featured two of LiverKick's top ranked lightweights, Masahiro Yamamoto and Karim Bennoui. This fight had been a long time in the making and it seemingly lived up to expectations and went into an extra round. Yamamoto edged the fight out in the extra round to get the decision win, continuing on the roll that he's been on as of late. This win really does prove just how good Yamamoto is, even after a long career. 

RISE's 65kg title was on the line in a match-up that was built up for a long time between champion Koji Yoshimoto and challenger Yasuomi Soda. The bout went all five rounds and Soda got a majority decision. With that, he becomes the new RISE 65kg champion.

Chang Hyun Lee and Genji Umeno put on one of the fights of the year in 2012 and today they rematched on this card. The fight seems to have gone in a much different direction than last time, as Genji Umeno won a unanimous decision on scores of 30-27 across the board. With that, he avenges the loss to Lee from last year.

RISE's 55kg title was also on the line in a fight between Dyki and Seiya Rokukawa. This seems to have been a pretty close fight, going to a split decision in Dyki's favor after all five rounds.

Last but not least for the title fights, the RISE 90kg title was on the line between two heavyweights dropping down, in Kengo Shimizu and Makoto Uehara. This fight was the main event and like the 55kg title fight, also went to split decision. Uehara got the decision, with a point deduction from Shimizu in the second round seemingly being the deciding factor.

RISE 90kg title: Makoto Uehara def. Kengo Shimizu by split decision.
RISE 65kg title: Yasuomi Soda def. Koji Yoshimoto by majority decision.
RISE 55kg title: Dyki def. Seiya Rokukawa by split decision.
61kg: Masahiro Yamamoto def. Karim Bennoui by unanimous decision in an extra round.
60kg: Genji Umeno def. Chang Hyun Lee by unanimous decision.
60kg: Motochika Hinada def. Taison Maeguchi by unanimous decision.
63kg: Yuya Fujita def. Yuto Nakaegawa by TKO in Round 3.
57.5kg: Masato Sato and Yuta Sashikubi draw after an extra round.
57.5kg: Tomoaki Iemoto def. Ryoma Hasumi by unanimous decision.
63kg: Keisuke Niwa def. Tomohiro Sato by majority decision.

Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:48

For a fighter who was just involved in one of the biggest and most prestigious Kickboxing tournaments that the world has known and to lose a fight that many believe that he handily won, Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller is sure handling it better than most fighters in his situation would. Many look at Miller when he’s in fight-selling mode and is talking a good deal of trash, hyping up his fights and rush to conclusions that he is some uneducated punk who runs his mouth, but in fact, the opposite is true as Miller might be outspoken, but comes across as personable, intelligent and very mature for a fighter his age.

LiverKick.com caught up with Jarrell Miller in Croatia after his fight where he was doing his best to unwind and relax after his fight with Mirko Cro Cop and he seemed calm, cool and in better spirits than most in his situation would be.

“I mean, it feels awesome to get to the Final 8,” he told us this afternoon in regards to being in the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 8. “Could have probably been a Finalist, but you know, you fight the superhero in his hometown,” he shakes his head. “The fans have spoken and they say that it was a hometown robbery and that I won it. You know, it is what it is, every fighter has to pay their dues and I’m paying my dues right now.”

Jarrell is indeed paying his dues, but makes no secret that his main goal is to be the Heavyweight Champion of the World in Boxing; “Right now my focus is on Boxing, but if an opportunity comes along and my team feels that it is beneficial to us, then maybe, maybe I’ll step back in a Kickboxing ring,” he adds about his possible future in Kickboxing. “But for right now I’m gonna take a few weeks off, get my mind right and get back to training.”

He had stated in an interview leading up to the fight that he understood that he had to knock Cro Cop out to get the win in Cro Cop’s hometown, but even though he controller most of the fight and landed the most shots, he was far from shocked when the decision was announced.

“Yeah, you know, I was surprised that they still announced it, but I knew it was gonna happen,” he shakes his head and smiles. “If you saw my expression right after the fight, you could see that I was thinking that they were gonna give it to him. You know, I take it for what it is, I mean, what can I say? I’m undefeated still, point blank, period and everybody knows that. Ain’t nobody beaten Big Baby.”

Many forget that Miller is still a young fighter and this was arguably the biggest stage and most famous opponent that he has faced in any sport, which had to bolster his confidence, regardless of the decision. “Listen, from the time that I was sparring with the Klitschko’s, and sparring and fighting are two different things,” he stops to clarify. “But you are absolutely correct because the pressure is on, but yeah it was a boost of confidence. It also let the fans see what happens when you fight in another’s hometown. I’m glad that they were able to see this and I appreciate their support and I hope to fight out here again.”

As for the prospect of a rematch with Cro Cop? Let’s just say that Miller would have fought him right then and there if he could.

“Hell yeah I’d take it. Listen, I’d take it ASAP, I’d take it right now, but um, you know,” he slows down, reflecting for a moment. “God has a plan for everybody and I’m just happy that I don’t have any injuries. I have a little lump on my head from when he hit me with a headbutt. He might have landed one good left hook or right hook, but I mean, I’m good, man, I’m blessed, man. I’m here with a bunch of great fighters; Melvin Manhoef, Zabit Samedov, Ismael Londt. I mean, this is a great atmosphere. I can say that I did it and now it’s time to do something else and you know what? I appreciate everybody out there; the fans, the press for being here and seeing all of the hard work that I put into this. For a Boxer to come back to their game and still kick their butt in it?” He laughs, shaking his head, before finishing. “And I appreciate LiverKick.com for putting this out there. Peace!”

Sunday, 19 May 2013 10:48

The K-1 World Grand Prix has come and gone and Badr Hari, the bad boy, one of the main attractions at the event was forced to pull out of th event due to a foot injury. There was some talk about it possibly being less-than-accurate or truthful, that there was some controversy about him fighting beyond one fight, but this photo was released this morning and tells all of the story that you need to know; that looks really, really painful.

There have been other rumors, like Badr Hari being back in prison already, but we've seen absolutely nothing to substantiate that. We wish the Bad Boy a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing him back in the ring again when he has more time to prepare.