K-1 BEAST 2004 in Niigata 3/14/04 Niigata Toki Messe (9,414) |
I have been watching a lot of K-1`s 90’s stuff and talk about comparing apples and oranges. While some of the shows I’ve reviewed for Quebrada have not been bad at all, they are blown away by their 90`s counterparts. Anyways, this is probably the most "nothing" show of the promotion I’ve seen yet. Once again, this is part of the "K-1 JAPAN" series on Nippon TV where they show only selected matches (six out of nine). The whole show was built around Bob Sapp’s MMA match with Yokozuna Asashoryu`s brother, Dolgosuren Sumiyabazul, and Steve Williams Japan MMA debut against Alexey Ignashov.
Winner gets a slab of pork match: Hiromi Amada defeated Eric "Butterbean" Esch via unanimous decision after three rounds.
Yes, the match stipulation is not a joke. By Japanese standards, 237 pound Amada is fat, and Butterbean is massive by any standards, so in the tradition of Japanese sensitivity, the winner would get a slab of pork. The pig they were going to slaughter even cut a promo in the pre-match video. I’m not lying. I guess since Kazuyoshi Ishii is in the slammer, they hired Jerry Lawler to book their shows. I can’t wait for the Peter Aerts and Ernesto Hoost in a hog pen match!!!! All silliness (and K-1 has a lot of it these days) aside, Amada had no problem landing punches or kicks in this match. Butterbean did some taunting to Amada, implying his punches had no effect, but this sort of pro-wrestling posturing doesn’t get guys much of anywhere in kakutougi. This was almost like watching a Tank Abbott match (lots of bombs but nothing much else).
Masaaki Miyamoto defeated Cliff "Twin Tyson" Couser via unanimous decision after three rounds.
According to the broadcast, Couser is Mike Tyson`s brother? My Japanese isn’t that great so maybe I missed something. Well, he looks like Tyson but he sure doesn’t bite, I mean fight like him. Miyamoto had his way with landing low kicks and even landed some high kicks later on. He gassed late in the fight, but was able to keep Koza off the offensive.
Tatsufumi Tomahira defeated Petr Vondrechek via unanimous decision after three rounds.
Vondrechek slightly dominated the first two rounds, but he gassed in the third and Tomahira went to town on him. Tomahira ended the third round by landing a spinning high kick on Vondrechek, which obviously made an impression on the judges.
Tsuyoshi Nakasako defeated Mavrick via KO in 1R 1:30 with a right hook.
Mavrick is a "stuntman" who likes to do wild motorcycle stunts. They also showed him doing some MMA matches in King Of The Cage, I think. Mavrick came out swinging real fast but Nakasako got in a devastating blow and downed Maverick twice with some hard blows.
To show how different K-1 thinks its audience is from PRIDE, they explained MMA rules and the difference in gloves between MMA and K-1. I feel like I’m watching UFC 1. The only major difference from PRIDE rules is the rounds are five minutes long and they can use both elbows and knees on the ground.
MMA Rules: Alexey Ignashov defeated Steve Williams in 1R 0:22 via KO with a knee strike.
This was originally going to be Peter Aerts taking on Williams and I have no idea what caused the change. Since this is Nippon TV, they showed a highlight reel of Williams suplexing the death out of Kenta Kobashi. They then showed Ignashov watching the footage and just laughing (he was probably thinking, "I am so going to win this"). In a pro-wrestling type build (the good kind though), they put over Ignashov`s knee strike by showing the footage of Shinsuke Nakamura on the receiving end from K-1 PREMIUM 2003 Dynamite!! 12/31/03 and also had an interview with Karate legend Nicholas Pettas, who was a recipient of said knee in the WORLD GP 2001 FINAL 12/8/01. I think Williams intro was longer than the match. He shot in on Ignashov (did he watch the Nakamura fight??), and in typical Wanderlei Silva fashion, the Russian gave a devastating knee to Williams. I guess this makes Ignashov the new "Pro-Wrestler Hunter", but even though he has the skill, he lacks the Ivan Drago type menace of Mirko Cro Cop. Not to mention, a "new" anything has never gotten over in the pro-wrestling world (which is heavily influencing K-1 these days).
MMA Rules: Bob Sapp defeated Dolgosuren "Asashoryu`s Brother" Sumiyabazul when Sumiyabazul`s corner threw in the towel after the 1st round.
They spent the whole show hyping this match, and spent 15 mins on the a five minute match. To show how much visibility Sumiyabazul has, they just kept calling him "Asashoryu`s Brother" most of the show. That really puts guys over. When Kazuhiko Nagata debuts in New Japan, I’m sure they’ll just call him "Yuji’s Brother" for most of his tenure. This match was really boring and will probably turn K-1 fans off MMA before K-1 can even get it going. Sumiyabazul shot in and tried to slam Sapp and had a little trouble. Since he does know how to wrestle, he eventually had success by hooking The Beast's leg and tripping him to the ground. And then.....................they just layed there. Sapp was in a guard and Sumiyabazul seemed clueless as to what to do. Somewhere in this (I am trying to forget the match), Asashoryu`s Brother got out of Sapp’s guard and charged him but was tossed off like a pancake by Sapp (who was on his back). This led to Sapp getting a rear naked choke that Sumiyabazul almost didn’t escape. Then, the round ended. Turns out, Sumiyabazul twisted his ankle when Sapp pulled him in for the choke.
More Online Reviews for Titlemax: Title Loan Reviews | Titlemax Reviews
