Masato Victorious at DYNAMITE!!
December 31, 2009 - Saitama Super Arena, Japan ? The final day of 2009 was marked with beautiful sunshine, and an incredible line up of fighters all willing to give the crowd everything they had hoped for and more. There was something on this card for every one of the 45,606 people that attended, with the DREAM x SRC Team Battle, Masato's retirement fight, a handful of superfights and the finals of both the Super Hulk Tournament and the Koshien Grand Prix.
In the first of 9 DREAM vs. SRC Team Battle fights, Olympic silver medalist in Judo, Izumi Hiroshi stepped in the ring to face perennial joker, Katsuyori Shibata. Despite this being a judo vs. pro-wrestler bout, almost the entire fight was spent with both fighters trying to out box the other, with the addition of Shibata throwing some knees and the odd high kick. They both had the other in trouble at times, but didnft quite have enough in their tanks to finish. In the final minutes of the third round Izumi took Shibata down after a hard flurry, moved to full mount and pounded him until the round ended. Coupled with his standing, it was enough to be awarded the decision.
Brawler Takaya Hiroyuki then took on yet another judo fighter in Michihiro Omigawa. Yet again the judo fighter took on the role of the boxer, but with unexpected results for many. He actually picked apart Takaya with his speedy combinations, and managed to avoid being hit almost entirely. As the round progressed Takaya began to look worse for wear, and a combination ending with a right hook to the chin turned his lights off completely. He dropped like a 64kg sinker, and ate a handful of small shots until the referee officially stopped the assault.
Next up, Akihiro Gono was joined on stage once again by DJ Ozma and co. They sang and danced their way to the ring to the delight of all. DJ Ozma then took the microphone and introduced Gonofs opponent, Hayato gMachh Sakurai. These two have been friends for years, but vowed not to let that get in the way of trying to knock each other out. As expected, they lived up to this promise. The first round saw each of them head-hunting, and Mach seemed to have Gono on the back-foot for the latter half. In the second round the tide suddenly turned, and it was all Gono-pace. After catching a kick from Mach, he forced him to the mat, passed to side position and started to pound away on his friend. Mid pound, he spun to the other side, grabbed and arm, and placed Mach in a textbook arm-bar. Mach resisted, but eventually tapped with bitter disappointment in his eyes.
Next in the series mini Tyson himself, Melvin Manhoef faced off against Kazuo Misaki. The man with the highest KO average in K-1 managed to add yet another to a rapid growing list of victims. After the pair circled each other throwing the occasional faint, Melvin advanced on Misaki with a flurry in which the first and third left hook landed clean, the second dropping Misaki into the corner ropes. Melvin moved in to start to pound him and the referee jumped in to save his opponent from further damage.
Last minute replacement, Kim Jong Man then took to the ring to face Hideo Tokoro. These featherweights put on a performance they can both be proud of, with huge bombs, flying knees and submission attempts coming out of no where. Tokoro had the upper-hand on their feet, though despite hitting Kim with everything he had, Kim just smiled through the blood and kept on going. He even dropped Tokoro with a flurry and proved difficult to submit, successfully defending 4 or 5 solid chances Tokoro made. In the end the judges all agreed that Tokoro had done enough to earn the victory.
Yokota Kazunori was the next to come out to face Kawajiri Tatsuya. Despite bragging about having far superior striking, Yokota found himself being ridden like a mechanical bull for the entire 3 rounds. He could do nothing the entire time other than fight for a position in which he would take less punches, and defend the submission attempts of Kawajiri. The DREAM fighter had Yokota in an arm-bar as the final bell rang. The judges obviously all gave the fight to Kawajiri, evening the current score between DREAM and SRC to 3-3. Kawajiri didnft look at all happy with himself for being unable to have stopped his opponent though.
Kanehara Masanori was paired up for this event wit KID, and he was fired up to get a win over the infamous Yamamoto. He promised to show his superior skills against KID, and was supremely confident he would do so. He somewhat managed to do so as well, but he had a little luck fall his way which helped. In the first round they traded on the feet, and Kaneharafs knees were getting dangerously close. The SRC representative managed to use his reach and countering speed well to make most of KIDfs attacks ineffective. Then, shocking the crowd, he dropped KID in the second with a big right as KID changed levels to shoot. KID returned the favor in the third with a straight left, and he then got position and began to drive knees into the face of Kanehara. As he was gaining momentum with these knees, they fell out of the ropes, and were restarted in the middle of the ring standing, with only seconds remaining on the clock. The bell rang leaving KID unable to make up entirely for the first 2 rounds, and the judges awarded the victory to Kanehara.
The Monster, Alistair Overeem then came out to once again defend DREAMfs reputation against SRC fighter, Kazuyuki Fujita. The fight ended almost as it began. After a few missed attempts with knee Overeem timed one as Fujita looked to shoot in for a single leg, and it wiped the older wrestler out. I landed around the right eye, and sent Fujita through the ropes and left him unconscious on the ring apron.
With the scored between SRC and DREAM at 4-4, Aoki and Hirota come to hold the decider. Aoki clearly felt like he had something to prove, and he did just that. As soon as the bell rang he took the SRC representative to the mat, twisted his right arm behind his back, fully mounted him and began to pound the side of his face that he couldnft protect. When he got bored doing this, he rolled Hirota over and twisted his arm further behind his back in a policemanfs hold. He kept pushing, and pushing, and pushing. He turned it into a variation of a hammer-lock, and kept adding further pressure. There was an audible crack, and Hirotafs arm was left lying at several very unnatural angles. In the ultimate display of poor sportsmanship Aoki then leaned over and started screaming at Hirota, ramming his middle finger into his face all the while.
Thankfully, following such disturbing behavior was the headliner of the night, and the fight that many of those in attendance came to see. Masato, the most successful kickboxer Japan has ever produced, has finally decided to hang up his gloves. After this yearsf MAX GP Champion became injured and was unable to fight, Masato chose the only ex-champion that has wins over him for his opponent for his last ever fight. Andy Souwer made his way to the ring with his family and team, looking very confident. The determination on Masatofs face as he walked out was clear. The fight will become an instant gmust seeh MAX classic. It had everything you would want from a competitive fight, and both fighters refused to give an inch the entire time. Masato managed to take the first round with his higher work-rate against the famously slow starter. Both the second and third were action-packed dramas that the judges scores 10-10. In the fourth round Masato landed a right counter hook that knocked Souwerfs legs out from under him. He took an 8 count, but came back strongly. In the fifth round Masato didnft sit back and defend his point lead though. He actively attacked while Andy pushed to make up the difference. He just couldnft find a big enough gap between Masatofs offense and defense to score a clean enough shot.
A retirement ceremony was then held for the man of the moment. He was presented with a huge canvas filled with well-wishes from his fans, as well as flowers and a pair of golden gloves from Event Producer Tanikawa. With his wife in tears beside him, he thanked his fans for their support, as well as K-1 staff. Andy Souwer also offered him a plaque, and his son gave him a pair of clogs. He then wished the audience a Happy New Year before spending a good deal of time signing autographs for the thousands of fans crowding the entrance.
The Super Hulk Tournament also came to a conclusion tonight when Sokoudjou and fan-favorite, Minowaman took to center stage. Both fighters entered the ring with their left knee heavily strapped. Minowaman wasted no time before attempting to get a hold of the Africanfs damaged leg to pull off one of his miraculous submission. Sokoudjou defended those, and reminded Minowaman that they werenft doing submission grappling by bouncing his head off the mat. The second round was almost an instant replay, however in the final seconds Minowaman somehow managed to lock in a knee-bar, but the bell was Sokoudjoufs savior. The Team Quest fightersf luck ran out there though. Round three saw both fighters circle each other for a tense 3 minutes without throwing a thing. The first time they engaged Minowaman landed a left hook that made perfect contact with cheekbone, and Sokoudjou crumbled to the canvas. With this win the living animation character Minowaman was crowned the first ever Super Hulk Champion.
The next fight on the card saw K-1 veteran Ray Sefofs return to the ring in Japan to face local ex- boxing champion, Nishijima. Both fighters are well known for their fast and heavy hands, and each enjoyed displaying them along with some serious showboating that the crowd seemed to appreciate. In the first round Rayfs jab seemed to be too quick for the lighter opponent, and with the aid of some heavy low kicks, helped set up a right hook that had Nishijima momentarily fish dance. Both fighters went gno guardh for much of the second and third round, and seemed to enjoy showing the crowd that they could be touched by their opponent. Nishijima got touched hard though. With an overhand right, gSugarh dropped his ballsy opponent for an eight-count, and took home a comfortable decision victory.
Gary Goodridge made his long awaited return to Japan. He faced the first DREAM Middleweight Champion, Gegard Mousasi, in a heavyweight match. The middleweight weighed in at 99kg for this fight, and rather than risk getting caught with a bomb, he took Gary to the mat quickly. Once there, he used rapid-fire punches to get the referee to jump in and stop the fight.
We were also treated to the much anticipated debut of Satoshi Ishii. After winning Olympic gold, he has spent the last year in preparation for this fight. His opponent,
Yoshida Hidehiko, knows that road all too well. Ishii looked good early one, but his lack of head movement was soon taken advantage of by the more experienced Yoshida. The second round started much like the first ended, however as Yoshidafs stamina started to fade, Ishiifs ring confidence grew. Perhaps a little too much. He clinched Yoshida on the ropes and started driving knees into the body, one landing on, and breaking Yoshidafs groin protector. It almost broke his will too fight too, but the battle-worn veteran took the time he could to recover, and continued on. The third round saw each open up a little more, but the result was ultimately left in the judges hands. All three of them agreed that Ishii hadnft done enough to steal his first victory, and a tired and sore Yoshida walked away with the trophy.
Finally, the Koshien tournament final was decided. Noiri Masaaki, a first year high school student from Nagoya City, out-punched favorite, Hiroya, to win his first fight in the GP. His next opponent was the taller Shota Shimada, however Noirifs aggression made up for reach difference, and he was rewarded with a standing 8 count in the second round after landing right straight and following it with a flurry. Shota, bleeding from the nose, tried valiantly to recover the lost points however the judges saw it as a convincing decision for Noiri. He was awarded the Koshien Champion belt, and cried tears of joy as it was wrapped around his narrow waist.
One by one the fighters then took turns to address to crowd and wish them a Happy New Year and to thank them for their support tonight. It was a touching closing to a dramatic night of fights. If you havenft seen it yet, look for it on HDNet where you can join Michael Shiavello and Mayhem Miller in the excitement of this night.
Written by Stuart Tonkin
Photos courtesy of FEG
2 January 2010
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