Which Fighters Would You Pick For A K-1 vs MMA GP?

by smoogy on Jan 1, 2009 12:58 AM EST

With the MMA fighters in K-1 matches at Dynamite shockingly running the table with 1st round knockouts, it seems like the topics of: "who are the best strikers in MMA?", and "what defines 'K-1 level'?" are alive and well. So with that in mind, pick your top 8 K-1 and MMA fighters for a K-1 rules GP, at open-weight, the MAX limit of 156lbs, or both. My matchups are assuming that its an NCAA style seeding (1v8, 2v7, 3v6, 4v5)

K-1 MAX Team

1. Masato
2. Artur Kyshenko
3. Andy Souwer
4. Yoshihiro Sato
5. Buakaw Por Pramuk
6. Albert Kraus
7. Mike Zambidis
8. Gago Drago

MMA Team

1. B.J. Penn
2. Eddie Alvarez
3. Andre Dida
4. Takanori Gomi
5. JZ CALVAN
6. Tatsuya Kawajiri
7. Duane Ludwig
8. Kenny Florian

Matchups

Masato vs. Kenny Florian
Artur Kyshenko vs. Duane Ludwig
Andy Souwer vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
Yoshihiro Sato vs. JZ CALVAN
Buakaw Por Pramuk vs. Takanori Gomi
Albert Kraus vs. Andre Dida
Artur Kyshenko vs. Eddie Alvarez
Gago Drago vs. B.J. Penn

K-1 Team

1. Remy Bonjasky
2. Semmy Schilt
3. Peter Aerts
4. Badr Hari
5. Jerome Le Banner
6. Gokhan Saki
7. Errol Zimmerman
8. Ray Sefo

MMA Team

1. Alistair Overeem
2. Fedor Emelianenko
3. Melvin Manhoef
4. Gegard Mousasi
5. Anderson Silva
6. Lyoto Machida
7. Sergei Kharitonov
8. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Matchups

Remy Bonjasky vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Badr Hari vs. Anderson Silva
Semmy Schilt vs. Sergei Kharitonov
Peter Aerts vs. Lyoto Machida
Jerome Le Banner vs. Gegard Mousasi
Gokhan Saki vs. Melvin Manhoef
Errol Zimmerman vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Ray Sefo vs. Alistair Overeem

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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Comments

Not sure who the K-1 MAXX fighters are just yet..

I’m still relatively new to K-1 but this is a great article and idea.

Go ahead with the TUF noob comments, I’m immune to them now but I’d throw Chuck Liddell in there plus you can’t exclude Cro Cop in my opinion.

I would honestly love to see any of the top tier UFC fighters against some of the best strikers in the world in the K-1 fighters when their ground games are taken away from them…. see how good they really are and how they stack up.

That Overeem knock out on Hari was insane…. I think Hari has now been punished enough for his actions in the K-1 GP Finals.

by Gunslinger20 on Jan 1, 2009 10:25 AM EST reply actions

CroCop just looks worse and worse every time he fights now, he just isn’t in my top 8. Chuck, Rampage and Rashad would all have to learn how to properly check a kick

by smoogy on Jan 1, 2009 3:24 PM EST up reply actions

I agree with you...

but I think it would take Chuck, Rampage, and Rashad getting their legs beaten into hamburger meat to realize they need to learn the skill.

I respect these K-1 fighters a great deal and I’m enjoying watching old coverage of it, they are warriors.

by Gunslinger20 on Jan 1, 2009 8:58 PM EST up reply actions

Not too many things I'd change

For the Max tournament I might put Kid Yamamoto or Genki Sudo in there… Possibly Urijah Faber because Master Thong is Buakaw’s old trainer and despite Urijah’s recklessness his striking has moved leaps and bounds in a short time. Also perhaps Josh Thomson or Hellboy.

At Heavyweight I might include Shogun and Lesner for laughs to see him get tooled.

by skwirrl on Jan 1, 2009 9:05 PM EST up reply actions

Those are all solid picks. I figured Shogun is too much of a question mark at this point. I had Hellboy on there but switched him for Kawajiri, and yes, in a perfect world Genki Sudo would be involved for sure.

by smoogy on Jan 1, 2009 9:22 PM EST up reply actions