K-1 postpones October event by one week due to 'technical difficulties'

The post on the official K-1 Global Facebook page reads as follows:

Latest update: Due to some technical difficulties we had to move the date of the fight to October 11th 2014, sorry for any inconvenient

The event had previously been moved from July 26 to October 4 with organizers citing the "turbulent political situation" in Thailand at the time following the military coup of May 22.

Judging by the comments underneath the post, the most recently announced date move has not [yet] caused much of a ripple. That could be due to where the show is taking place.

Pattaya, Thailand is a tourist destination with a steady flow of holidaymakers all year round. There are frequent Muay Thai shows in the region, most of which depend on tourists making spur-of-the-moment ticket purchases.

October marks the beginning of ‘high season', when the region experiences its biggest tourist influx, so the new date means that ticket sales for the event, which takes place at the 7,000-capacity Indoor Athletics Arena, should be well-placed to capitalize on that.

Buakaw Banchamek and Enriko Kehl are set to headline. Their fight is the final of a sixteen-man lightweight grand prix which kicked off back in September last year.

It will be the second time Buakaw and Kehl have fought. They faced off under Muay Thai rules in December for the Max Muay Thai promotion in Thailand, with Buakaw dominating the fight and taking a clear win over the spirited German.

K-1 was once the world leader in kickboxing events but fell on hard times in recent years. Money troubles led to stars deserting after going unpaid and the organization went on hiatus in 2012.

A series of convoluted deals meant that K-1 trademarks and rights ended up being owned or licensed by several different entities. The Japanese market has moved on and K-1's recent events have been in overseas territories and of a much smaller nature than ‘classic' K-1 events.

In May 2012 there was further fallout after fighters who competed at a K-1 branded event in Madrid complained of not being paid. Badr Hari was on that card but as known to have insisted on advance payment in full.

According to the company ‘K-1 Global Holdings', which currently owns most of the K-1 rights and trademarks, that event was outside of its control and the branding had been licensed from a different company which owned some K-1 rights of its own.

In a further twist, rival organization GLORY then bought the K-1 event library from Fuji TV, the Japanese television home of the ‘old' K-1. A video library is an essential asset for any promoter, both for pre-show and in-arena video and promotional materials.

Paul ‘Semtex' Daley has been announced for the October card taking place in Pattaya in what will be his official K-1 debut.