I was surprised to see Overeem so dominant. I think Overeem should go to the UFC and fight Kongo for his first fight.

I think there are various points to be considered here:

1. Kozo Takeda is a bit too old to be considered a top fighter in K-1 standards. He used to be an elite level K-1 guy (MAX finalist in 2002) but he hasn’t been anywhere near the top since 2003. Currently 36 years old, he came out looking like he hadn’t really been training that hard.

2. Musashi also hasn’t been near the top of K-1 since 2004. Everyone knows after UFC 92 how things can change quickly and the fact is that since 2004 Musashi hasn’t been the same fighter who could make it to the K-1 finals. To anyone who says four years isn’t that long a time go and check out who were the MMA division champs around the world in 2004 and then speak. A lot can change in 4 years. He also probably didn’t train that hard this fight (more on this in a separate fanpost that I intend to create later).

3. Badr Hari I have no excuses for except that he has always been somewhat prone to being KOed and he probably wasn’t mentally all there given the K-1 fiasco in the finals of the world GP.

4. I agree to a certain extent with smoogy that K-1 MAX has recently been at a much higher level than K-1. The current K-1 MAX fighters, particularly Buakaw, Souwer and Masato would be too much for someone like Kawajiri to handle. K-1 just hasn’t had the elite level fighters that it used to. That is one reason why Remy Bonjasky was Champion again this year – there’s not really been any top new blood.

5. All the MMA guys came in with the right game plans. This game plan was balls to the wall punching and turn it into a brawl. If you’re used to getting clocked with 4 oz. gloves from the likes of Alvarez and Gomi I think the fear of getting hit by a 12 oz. glove isn’t the same as what you or I would feel. Therefore you’d be confident you could take a punch a two and the key point would be to land your own combinations.

6. All the MMA fighters had much better hand combinations than the K-1 guys. This is because hands are so much more important in MMA than in K-1. For example, Buakaw relies heavily on his kicks. However such a tactic wouldn’t work in MMA (because of takedowns etc) so therefore MMA fighters train more on hands. Look at Mousasi’s combination (straight right, left hook, right upper, left hook) on Musashi for evidence. These sort of combinations aren’t seen that often in K-1 but are used a lot in MMA.

7. Defence. Look to Overeem’s gif against Badr Hari. Every MMA guy has to have top notch defence given that you’re defending against a 4 oz. glove. See how tight Overeem holds has right hand to his face comepared to how Badr Hari holds his hands. In MMA the chance of you getting KOed with one punch is much higher due to the smaller gloves, so you naturally train the discipline of keeping your hands high and defending well.

To conclude there are three reasons why the MMA guys won. The right fighters from K-1 were chosen to face the right fighters from MMA. The MMA guys train harder and are more relevant (i.e. they are in their prime as opposed to 4 years past it) than the K-1 guys whom they were fighting (Badr Hari being the exception). All the MMA guys came in with the right gameplan which was to turn the fight into a brawl. The K-1 guys should have fought like Crocop fought Choi Hong Man and run and throw leg kicks all day. That strategy would probably have got them the win. They all got sucked into a brawl and lost.

A few guys who happen to have entered MMA as, you know, kickboxers, happened to beat other kickboxers (most of whom were, uh, really old). No offense, but Alistar Overeem winning a bout against Badr Hari doesn’t mean that Brock Lesnar is ready to tackle the GP.

Alistar is a monster. I think that his growth in the past 20 months is a bit suspect. He might have problems passing the AC’s testing policy. Are the Japanese as strict about performance enhancers as the American organizations? Dutch strikers seem to always be really solid. Go down the list none of them disappointed. Schilt by triangle? who saw that coming? Japanese Jujitsu looked very strong Nakamura and Takada was a war very technical. Did he Nakamura get the arm for a trophy. He wanted it bad enough. I have no complaints except for the guy whose 9 second thread flooded you-tube with his stupid spam add. Long live Japanese MMA . It made me not miss pride as much. Poor Bob Saap he had nothing to gain win or loose he’s a side show. That sucks he’s always fun to watch. Gaint crazy Gorilla beast. No disrespect intended.

It seemed like the two fighters should have been in different weight classes. I was shocked to see the size difference between Alister and Badr. Alistair’s shost were crisp and right on point, the knee to left combo that put him down I think the second time was crazy. Also the uppercut looked like it launched him four feet. Power made the difference. MMA vs K-1 is all about the ground game. Good strikers are just that no matter where they’re from. Sorry for being off topic on my first comment I was just excited. Great event!

The level of striking amongst the K-1 heavyweights/superheavyweights isn’t anywhere near the level of striking you see with the guys who fight in K-1 Max (155 pounders). The reason why you always see the same big guys being recycled in K-1 heavyweight and superheavyweight tournaments (Aerts, Schilt, Bojansky, Le Banner, Hoost) is because there just seems to be fewer big men who are top level strikers. There is a huge wealth of talented strikers in the world at or around the 155-pound level. Watching a K-1 Max fight is a totally different experience. I’m not taking anything away from the big guys, but when I think of “K-1 Level Striking” I think of the Max guys. When it comes to striking – boxing or kickboxing – the skill set depends a lot on which weight class you’re talking about.

While Mousasi and Overeem turned in spectacular performances, throwing an MMA guy in with a K-1 Max guy in a kickboxing match would be a very different story.

Another reason might have something to do with the fact that Alistair had put on about 50 lbs of solid muscle in his trunk and neck due to obvious performance enhancing drugs. Look at him against Badr and against Shogun, he looks like a completely different fighter. Watch the fight and you will see very early that both fighters realise that Hari cannot hurt Overeem and from that point on Overeem just walks straight into him. I think this fight speaks more to the individual fighters than a larger point about K-1 vs MMA striking.

Alistair = JACKED
Badr = some lanky dude

Alistair came in as a BIG heavyweight and Badr can probably made middleweight.
Its not even fair

Overeem IS a K1-level striker. He has trained with Golden Glory for his entire career, a gym that has produced several long-time K-1 stars. It’s just feels strange to describe him that way, because his long MMA career doesn’t have an amazing knockout reel like you might expect from a “striker”.

“K-1 level striking” doesn’t always adapt well to MMA and it’s easy to think of other examples. Semmy Schilt, another Golden Glory fighter, was a real underachiever in MMA, but he had great results when he switched to K-1.

dude we train with those gloves all day al day that aint shit
but when we fight we strap on them 4-8 ounce gloves and thats real

so for u non street kids

we spar with those size gloves get hurt using those size gloves so a kickboxing match would be just like sparing were use to getting hit with tem so yea just land yer shots and dudes go to sleep i can tell you we are real we are hardcore we are mma!