K-1 - Premium 2008 Dynamite!! card

Nothingcompares

Mixed reactions to this show. It was very entertaining and some of the fights were great but at the same time I was a little embarrassed by it. It seems the Japanese want to run MMA shows a bit like a combination of a circus, a pro-wrestling event and a UFC event.

The most attractive part of the sport of MMA (and combat sports in general) is that you aim to match up two guys of the same size, experience and quality and let them go at it using their wits, strength and technique to see who comes out the victor. The UFC, almost always has very fair match up with few people being fed to big names etc. etc. So while the UFC has gone for consistency, this show seems to have gone for theatrics.

Guys dressed in stripey pants, masks, cartoon character costumes, wrestling shoes, shin pads, k1 rules, mma rules, 7 foot guys versus 6 foot guys, 300 lbs guys versus 200 lb guy, debutants versus veterans, it was bizarre. Guys being matched up based on the pronunciation of their names...

But then again, all that stuff really isn't all that important. But the most scandalous part of the night was the refereeing in my opinion. Musashi shouldn't have taken that much punishment. He was fooked as soon as he was knocked down.

The pre-fight entrances were great, really entertaining etc. but i think 90% of the fights I watched didn't last half as long as the entrances. Maybe it's just sour grapes on my behalf but when you look at a ufc fight you know for a fact that both of the guys in the cage have trained on a daily basis in all 3 ranges for years to work their way to the top to justify getting a call up into the ring. You only have to look at Tom Egan to see proof of this. But how many of the guys fighting on that card are actually legimate MMA fighters? Like I've huge respect for semmy schilt, but based on the amount of time it took for him to triangle might mo...I'm not sure what his level is really on the ground. With the exception of Houston Alexander and Corey hill I can't think of many ufc people that have demonstrated such naivety on the ground then what I saw in some bouts at dynamite (e.g. bob sapp). Like if someone told me Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were going to be on a Cage Rage card I'd defintely watch it and even If anderson silva was fighting rampage I'd probably watch the footballers fight first.

Having said that, Tokoro and Nakamura was a great little grappling battle and I really enjoyed that.

In conclusion, I love the Japanese shows because they're bizarre, but I'm glad UFC is striving to bring credibility to the sport.

calex71

I agree with alot of what u say , japan do theatrics well

Watch the normal dream and K1 events they are not as farsicle as this was
or some of the fights where, i mean cro cop and sapp's management should be shot for allowing those fights to take place regardless of ᅜ$$$$$$$$

" but I'm glad UFC is striving to bring credibility to the sport" ??????????

thats a whole other debate, UFC is striving for bottom dollar, market share and PPV numbers end of (its a business so who can blame them), if they thought what the dynamite event was would increase those they would would do exactly the same

Fozzy

calex71 wrote: »

Watch the normal dream and K1 events they are not as farsicle as this was

That's pretty much it. The New Year's Eve shows have always been about getting the casual fan to watch. The casual fan doesn't care about the best fighters. They care about the guys like Bob Sapp and "freak show" fights like a few on this card. Although there's always been that sort of element to Japanese MMA since the beginning anyway. It was more of a pure sport when it was still pro wrestling :pac:

I really enjoyed the show. I'm just finished watching it the full way through. I really wish that Sakuraba vs Tamura had happened at least five years earlier

Kawajiri and Overeem had my favourite KOs I think. They were both set up to lose and ended up looking really impressive. Same with Mousasi

Tokoro vs Nakamura was the best fight, it was a lot of fun

I don't know if anybody noticed considering how many fights there were, but Hansen vs Calvancante never took place. Hansen was diagnosed with a head injury in the pre-fight medical. A pity since I was looking forward to that

Aoki did great. I knew that if he could just get it to the ground then he'd have it. I think that he knew that too :pac: He's so good on the ground

The TV rating for the show wasn't great from what I remember reading, but the boxing fight on before it did worse, so it looks like the 2009 NYE MMA show should be safe