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Welcome back to Weekly Kicks, Bloody Elbow's regular rundown of all the happenings from K-1, Glory, Superkombat, and the world of kickboxing.
K-1 Final 16 Results
K-1 was in action this weekend with their most important show since the relaunch - the K-1 2012 Grand Prix Final 16. Winners of 8 Heavyweight fights now move on to the Grand Prix finals scheduled for December 26 in New York City (though there are some rumblings that the date will be pushed back to January to allow it to air on Spike).
In the main event, Mirko Cro Cop defeated Randy Blake via decision to earn his spot. Cro Cop has looked pretty good since coming back to kickboxing this year, and, crazy but true, is one of the favorites to win this year's crown. The other big favorite is Hesdy Gerges, who defeated Sergei Lascenko. Zabit Samedov also should not be ruled out, as he is a crafty veteran who has looked good lately, including in this quick win over Xavier Vigney. I'll take Ismael Londt as my dark horse pick - he didn't look fantastic in his win over Singh Jaideep, but he's still a force.
On the US side, only Jarrell Miller moved on to the finals - he'll be representing the country in New York.
Overall, it wasn't the best show, as some of the Final 16 fights were a bit conservative (which often happens). But there was a lot of fun to be had, both on the undercard, and in fights like Raul Catinas vs. Ben Edwards.
If you didn't know about the show, you're forgiven. K-1 did very little publicity, and Spike.com didn't even have stream info up for most of last week. Spike had the stream up for free yesterday, but now, it's gone. Why? Who knows. Watch Cro Cop's fight here, and, uh, good luck on the rest.
Next up for K-1 is their MAX Grand Prix finals December 8, though no line-up is yet known for that.
Here are the full results, via LiverKick.com:
Super Fights:
Zhou Zhi Peng (R2 - TKO) Koutaro Mori
James Wilson (R3 - Draw) Rick Roufus
Benjamin Adegbuyi (R1 - TKO [Injury]) Jafar Ahmadi
Pavel Zhuravlev (R3 - Dec.) Saulo Calavari
Changhyun Lee (R3 - Dec.) Genji UmenoFinal 16:
Ben Edwards (R2 - KO) Raul Catinas
Jarrell Miller (R3 - Dec.) Arnold Oborotov
Zabit Samedov (R1 - KO) Xavier Vigney
Hesdy Gerges (R3 - Dec.) Sergei Lascenk.
Ismael Londt (R3 - Dec.) Singh Jaideep
Makoto Uehara (R3 - Dec.) Hiromi Amada
Catalin Morosanu (R3 - Dec.) Paul Slowinski
Mirko Cro Cop (R3 - Dec.) Randy Blake
Glory Signs Daniel Ghita
The world's #2 ranked Heavyweight, Daniel Ghita, has a new home, as Glory has officially signed him. Earlier this year, he was often mentioned as a part of K-1, but when he dropped out of the K-1 Grand Prix, it was assumed he had signed with Glory. Now, that signing is official. He adds even more depth to their already stacked division. Also signed by Glory is perennial Heavyweight prospect Rico Verhoeven.
Both Ghita and Verhoeven will take part in the Glory Grand Slam event in December, though it's not yet determined if that will be as part of the tournament or in non-tournament fights. I can't possibly see why Glory wouldn't put Ghita in that tournament though.
Next up for Glory is their 70kg finals on November 3. Information on those match-ups should be available soon.
Superkombat Show This Weekend
Superkombat has a good show this weekend. Superkombat WGP 11 takes place this Saturday. The main feature is a 4 man tournament to earn the last spot in their own year-end Grand Prix, set to begin November 10. Roman Kleibl is my favorite for the win, though I could easily see Goran Radonjic sneaking by him. This weekend's show also features Alexandru Lungu, Andrei Stoica, plus Sebastion Ciobanu vs. Dzevad Poturak. Fun stuff, as always, from Superkombat. The full fight card is below.
We'll get back to you on any live stream details, though hopefully, they will have the show available here.
Superkombat WGP 11 - Qualification Fight Card:
National Title of Romania (75 kg):
Miodrag Olar vs. Adrian MituReserve Tournament (+96 kg):
Razvan Ghita (Romania) vs. Dmitri Bezus (Ukraine)Tournament Fighters (+96 kg):
Goran Radonjic (Montenegro)
Steve Banks (United States)
Fikri Ameziane (Marroco)
Roman Kleibl (Czech Republic)Super Fight (+125 kg):
Alexandru Lungu (Romania) vs. Deutsch Pu'u (United States)Super Fight (95 kg):
Tony Milanovic (Croatia) vs. Andrei Stoica (Romania)Super Fight (+96 kg):
Sebastian Ciobanu (Romania) vs. Dzevad Poturak (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Video of the Week
Here's my pick for fight of the night from the K-1 Heavyweight Final 16 - Raul Catinas vs. Ben Edwards. Not the most technical display ever, but if you like two guys throwing bombs, this is fun stuff.
Kickboxing Calendar
- Superkombat Grand Prix Qualification - October 20 (Lungu, Stoica, Ciobanu)
- Glory 3 Rome Final 8 - November 3 (70kg tournament finals)
- Superkombat Grand Prix Round of 8 - November 10 (Catinas, Lascenko, Londt, more)
- Shootboxing S-Cup 2012 - November 17 (Andy Souwer, Joachim Hansen, more)
- Glory 4 Tokyo - December 2 (16 man Heavyweight tournament)
- K-1 World MAX GP Finals - December 8
- Superkombat Grand Prix Finals - December 8
- K-1 Grand Prix Finals in New York City - December 26
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