Countdown to the World Grand Prix: Badr Hari vs. Ruslan Karaev

Badr Hari is the baddest man on the planet, we all should know that by now. His cocky attitude, the dynamite in his fists, the pinpoint precision of his knockouts and his hot temper have led him to be one of K-1's biggest stars. If you haven't caught the HDNet Badr Hari special, you should. That being said, Badr is not invincible, as we've seen in the past. In the World Grand Prix this year Badr Hari's first match is one that fans have been dying to see; a rubber match with Ruslan Karaev.

The first bout ended in controversy, with Badr being aggressive with his kicks, but getting backed into a corner. He was caught by a few solid shots and crumpled to the a crouching position, which the ref did not rule as being down yet, where he was kicked in the head by Ruslan Karaev. Badr was in shock and simply did not want to get up, thinking a foul would be called. The foul was never called and the fight was ruled in Karaev's favor.

When they met again it was an all-out war. Badr Hari does not like to lose, so if anything was going to inspire him to go all-out, a loss to a man he considers a lesser fighter would be just that. Karaev proved that he was a formidable opponent, scoring some knockdowns on the Golden Boy, but like a scene out of a movie he knocks Badr down in the second round with a looping left, Badr simply stands up, ducks another, and like a sniper lands a perfect straight right, knocking Karaev clean out.

This rematch will be the first fight of the night for one of these fighters, there is a chance the winner will go into the next fight pretty banged up, and a chance that we'll get another awesome war.