A Viewer's Guide to K-1 MAX on MAIN EVENT

A VIEWER'S GUIDE TO ...

K-1 MAX ON MAIN EVENT

Who's Who in the K-1 MAX FINAL 8

MASATO

Japan’s favourite fighting son and the apple of every Japanese woman’s eye remains the hands-down most popular fighter in the Land of the Rising Sun. A man with rock star status, his face is plastered over billboards, magazine covers, newspapers and television advertisements.

Winner of the K-1 Max belt in 2003, and runner up in 2002 and 2007, you’d be forgiven for thinking Masato is a lot older than his 29 years such is his experience. Taking on Max’s best for more than six years hasn’t slowed down the fastest hands in the business, and if recent form is any indication Masato is faster, more aggressive and hungrier than ever before.

In his last fight Masato laid waste to former IBF Intercontinental Champion Virgil Kalakoda of South Africa, knocking the Springbok out in stunning fashion with hands in the third round. In doing so Masato once again proved himself as the nemesis of the boxer, adding Kalakoda to his list of victims that includes former world champions

A Muay Thai stylist with a rounded game based on speed, accuracy and overwhelming workrate, Masato’s other major strength is his mental resolve and sheer hunger. There is probably no other fighter who wants to win the Max title in 2008 more than Masato – and there’s certainly no fighter FEG would like to see crowned more than the Japanese pin-up.

WATCH MASATO FOR…

His awesome speed and brilliant boxing combinations. It’s also fun to see the cutaway shots of crying ladies in the crowd every time Masato is in the ring.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

His ego. ll Masato’s ego get the better of him and make him trade with Drago toe-to-toe to prove a point? This would be a dangerous gameplan against a fighter of Drago’s raw power.

DRAGO

An Armenian refugee who escaped his war-torn country as a child, Gago Drago brings his never-say-die attitude to centre ring every time he fights.

Voted as the Fan Favourite to fill the eighth of final spot in last year’s K-1 Max final tournament, it’s no surprise that fans worldwide have embraced Drago. He is, to say the least, excitement personified, both with his crazy ring-entrance antics and his breath-taking fight style.

Drago is an animal in the ring boasting a high workrate and every shot thrown with enormous power and the intent to knock an opponent’s block off. His last Max fight against USA’s Gori was arguably his best performance to date in Max as Drago pounded the American with vicious boxing combinations and a previously unseen array of turning back kicks, axe kicks, leg kicks and spinning hook kicks.

Drago’s mercenary attitude and his willingness to constantly engage provides headaches for any opponent: when you fight Drago you know you’re not going to come away unscarred. A fight with Drago is a pure war of attrition.

A Muay Thai stylist who has become an all-rounder and puts massive power behind his combinations, Drago could be a real threat to stop the Masato bandwagon come July 7 in Tokyo.

WATCH DRAGO FOR…

His awesome ring entrance in which he looks like a madman flailing his arms about crazily.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

His total offensive ring nature leaves gaps that precision artists like Souwer, Buakaw and Masato can pick apart.

YOSHIHIRO SATO

A former world kickboxing and world Muay Thai champion, when Sato arrived in K-1 Max he was instantly humbled by the enormous talent pool on hand. That humbling experience took a lot of time for Sato to get used to, as he freely admits that as a world champion prior to Max he thought he was a world-beater, only to be brought back down to Earth in losing three of his first 10 Max fights.

There was a time when Sato didn’t feel the warmth of Max’s embrace, nor the embrace of Japanese fans. Those days are gone, he now says, and he fights solely for the purpose of becoming the Max champion, even though he is yet to crack through the Max’s top four.

The fighter from Nagoya, who recently opened his own chiropractic clinic (we’re sure it’s for the free massages) will once again have to get past his nemesis Buakaw on July 7 if he wants to break Max’s top four. Last time the two met in February at the Budokan in a super fight, Sato took the Thai star an extra round before losing via decision.

WATCH SATO FOR…

His phenomenal workrate. The guy just doesn’t stop. Like Semmy Schilt in the heavyweights, Sato works and works and works and gets the points on the board.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

Slow starts and not believing in himself. Sato has already lost twice to Buakaw and may resign himself to the fact that he will never beat the Thai machine.

BUAKAW

What can you say about Thai star Buakaw that hasn’t been said before? Only that in 2008 the Muay Thai Machine has once again found the bone-crunching form that has made him one of the most feared fighters on the planet for the past few years.

Buakaw is a machine. If you stripped away the skin on his face you wouldn’t find blood vessels and sinew, but wires and microchips. Arguably the best fighter pound-for-pound on the planet, there is seemingly nothing that this Muay Thai powerhouse can’t do.

A two-time Max world champion, Buakaw pulled off the greatest victory in K-1 history when he last won the title in 2006. He was bundled out in the quarter finals of last year’s championship tourney by a rampaging Masato, but in 2008 Buakaw is once again looking his deadly self.

In his last fight against Albert Kraus in the Final 16, Buakaw looked sensational, consistently cracking away to Kraus’s forearms with the world’s hardest lead and rear leg roundkicks. Nothing Kraus threw at Buakaw seemed to faze the Thai, who just smiled every time Kraus landed a combination and then fired back with hands of his own and kicks.

“I only know that he’s human because once I saw him limping backstage,” says Nicholas Pettas. “Other than that I’d assume that Buakaw is a machine. The guy is just incredible. Watching him is one of the greatest pleasures you can have. His kicks are just so hard – even harder than the heavyweights.”

WATCH BUAKAW FOR…

His roundhouse kicks to the ribs, liver, forearms and legs. If the producers of SAW V are looking for new forms of torture, they could just lock a victim in a room with Buakaw kicking their legs.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

His ego. Big star, big ego. Buakaw’s only undoing could be if he chooses to let his defence down for a split second. Other than that, it’s hard to pick a weakness in The Machine.

ANDY SOUWER

The current and two-time K-1 Max world champion is, without a doubt, pound-for-pound the best fighter on the planet.

The question is: how can Souwer be stopped? The Dutch ace, trained by the genius Andre Manaart out of Meijiro Gym in Amsterdam, is a flawless fighter. He hardly gets hit, his workrate is high, his boxing is sublime, his kicks are precise and lethal and his knees effective. His footwork is deceptive, his speed is blistering and his composure is eerily relaxed.

Souwer comes into July 7’s final 8 on an amazing 10 fight winning streak, including a non-Max win over The Contender star Yodsanklai, and Max wins over Mike Zambidis (who he knocked out with a head kick), Masato, Kraus, Sato and Kalakoda.

We’d like to sit here an closely analyse Souwer’s game and break down the fine points of his weaknesses but in all honesty, there are none!

“He’s pretty much perfect,” says Nicholas Pettas. “He doesn’t have any weaknesses from what I can see. He has only ever been beaten twice in 18 fights, he hasn’t been touched in a long time and he is, well, flawless.”

WATCH SOUWER FOR…

Everything. If you want the definition of a flawless fighter with excellence of execution, Souwer is it.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

Nothing. His ego is in check. His defence is water tight. His mental and emotional state is always calm and in control.

WARREN STEVELMANS

New kid on the block Stevelmans has taken the K-1 Max by storm. The South African is trained out of Amsterdam under the tutelage of the great Muay Thai veteran Ivan Hippolyte at Vos Gym.

Undefeated in his four fight Max career, Stevelmans qualified for the Top 16 by way of winning the K-1 Max European championship. He then went on to defeat Italy’s Saro Presti in the Final 16 to qualify for the final eight.

Although out-pointed by Drago in his last fight (non Max on Its Showtime in Amsterdam), Stevelmans will be ready to war with Souwer come July 7.

The chances of Stevelmans defeating the flawless Souwer are long, but stranger things have happened in the K-1 world and Stevelmans should not be underestimated. A powerful boxer and formidable kicker, Stevelmans boasts a high workrate and lots of guts and determination.

With Ivan Hippolyte formulating the gameplan in the corner, Stevelmans will be looking to pull off Max’s biggest upset if he can solve the riddle of the Souwer perfection.

WATCH STEVELMANS FOR…

His fast hands and his constant workrate and determination.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

His inexperience in the top flight of K-1 Max.

ARTUR KYSHENKO

The new pin-up Westerner of K-1 Max, 22 year old Kyshenko of the Ukraine is touted by most pundits to be a future K-1 Max world champion.

The tall, formidable Muay Thai stylist is reminise of a young Alexey Ignashov and the days when Alexey tore through K-1’s upper echelon heavyweights with ease utilising technique and crunching power.

Since his loss to Masato in the semi finals of last year’s K-1 Max championship tourney, Kyshenko has won two fights including his devastating first round destruction of Shingo Garyu in February and his recent tough points win over Shingo Garyu in February and his recent tough points win over Jordan Tai in April.

Kyshenko has the size and the weapons to be the real darkhorse in this final 8 line-up. Fans are attracted to him not only for his boyish looks but his Ignashov / Aerts lanky style of knock-out looping punches and vicious headkicks that is sure to earn him the K-1 Max strap some time in the future – maybe even this year.

WATCH KYSHENKO FOR…

His unassuming attitude and ability to sniff a knockout and execute it in devastating fashion.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

Kyshenko likes to stand and trade and while he has one of K-1 Max’s toughest chins, good boxers like Jordan Tai and Masato have exposed it.

YASUHIRO KIDO

Japan’s new sensation has set the K-1 Max world on fire since winning the K-1 Max Japan tourney in February in stunning style.

The Muay Thai stylist is on an amazing winning streak of seven fights including his last outing where he knocked out Korean K-1 Max champion Chi Bin Lim in only 30 seconds with a jumping knee to the jaw!

Kido may not have the movie star looks of Masato nor the experience of Sato but the kid has immense hunger, beautiful use of his leg kicks, hands and knees, and a certain charm that fans are flocking to in their droves.

Kido’s undefeated streak since 2005 includes names such as Kozo Mitsuyama, Andy Ologun and Hayato, but now he steps into the Top 8 for the first time ever and must trade with Kyshenko’s power and iron resolve.

Will the jump to Top 8 be too much for Japan’s new Muay Thai darling? Only time will tell but we think that Kido may yet again shock the world and keep his amazing winning streak alive.

WATCH KIDO FOR…

His sheer passion and his beautiful use of the jumping knee. Jaw-shattering stuff! He also knows how to stick to a gameplan.

HIS WEAKNESS COULD BE…

His inexperience at the top level.