A Look at Mousasi v. Kyotaro

Last Updated on Friday, 31 December 2010 17:47 Tuesday, 21 December 2010 18:04

Written by Fraser Coffeen

In the recent batch of Dynamite!! 2010 fight announcements was a fight worth a closer look.  Under K-1 rules, it will be K-1 Heavyweight champion Kyotaro v. Dream LHW champion Gegard Mousasi.  This is one of only two kickboxing fights currently scheduled for Dynamite!!, and although Mousasi is primarily an MMA fighter, this is a very intriguing fight.

The backstory of this fight largely stems from Dynamite!! 2008.  There, Mousasi made his K-1 debut, easily dispatching Japanese veteran Musashi in under one round (check out today's daily fight or click here to watch).  Since then, Musashi has retired, and Kyotaro has picked up the mantle of Japan's top heavyweight, winning the K-1 heavyweight title, and scoring upsets over opponents like Gokhan Saki, Peter Aerts, and Jerome Le Banner.  Given Japan's national pride, the story here is clear - Kyotaro wants to avenge the honor of Musashi and K-1.  As the champion himself stated: "I saw Mousasi KO Musashi 2 years ago and now I want to prove that K-1 fighters are stronger... I want to win back our prestige."  That story alone gives this fight a nice edge.

In ring, the fight should deliver as well.  Mousasi is a very strong all around fighter who can not be discounted here.  Kyotaro is more experienced, but far from invincible, and if Mousasi fights a smart game, he could bring his K-1 record up to 2-0.  Kyotaro will no doubt be looking to pull Mousasi into his game and get the Dream fighter moving forward and attacking.  From there, Mousasi could be exposed to Kyotaro's beautiful counter-punching attack.  That ability to counter-punch has been the demise of fighters with considerably more stand-up experience than Mousasi, and Gegard will need to be well prepared to avoid the same fate.  I think those skills will guide Kyotaro to victory again here, but I certainly don't think it's a lock.

The Dynamite card is now shaping up nicely with 11 confirmed fights and 1 confirmed by everyone but K-1.  Here's the line-up:

DREAM Rules:

Andy Ologun v. Furuki Katsuaki

Hideo Tokoro v. Kazuhisa Watanabe

Hayato Mach Sakurai v. Jason High

Kazushi Sakuraba v. Marius Zaromskis

Jerome Le Banner v. Satoshi Ishii

Josh Thomson v. Tatsuya Kawajiri

MINOWAMAN v. Hiroshi Izumi

Kazuyuki Miyata v. Caol Uno

Bibiano Fernandes v. Hiroyuki Takaya

K-1 Rules:

Tetsuya Yamato v. Akiyo "Wicky" Nishiura

Kyotaro v. Gegard Mousasi

Mixed DREAM/K-1 Rules:

Shinya Aoki v. Yuichiro Nagashima

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