Countdown to the K-1 World Grand Prix: Jerome Le Banner vs. Semmy Schilt

There aren't many men who can lay claim to having defeated Jerome Le Banner three times, actually there is one, Semmy Schilt. Jerome Le Banner and Semmy Schilt have met three times already, and all three times Schilt walked away with his hand raised. Not every time was it clear cut, though, so for a fourth time Jerome Le Banner and Semmy Schilt are set to face off, will it be a fourth win for Semmy Schilt?

Their first meeting was nothing short of unfortunate for Le Banner. Jerome was looking strong coming off of victories over Remy Bonjasky and Hong Man Choi, before he ran into another giant that happened to be a brick wall. Schilt on the other hand was in full on WAR mode. Schilt, after an embarrassing loss to the one man he didn't have a size advantage over, Hong Man Choi came back to annihilate Bjorn Bregy and his next obstacle was Le Banner. Schilt returned to what he does best and used his size and strength to keep the fight slow, plodding and wherever he wanted it to be.

Their meeting in the 2007 World Grand Prix was a bittersweet one, Le Banner having learned his lesson from before, came at Schilt full force this time around, throwing everything he had at the giant. Outside of a tremendous high knee that Schilt threw that wobbled Le Banner, Le Banner looked to be on fire, until he came out for the second round. The fire was gone and he was limping. There weren't any truly notable leg kicks from Schilt, so Le Banner's injury was a mystery at the time. As he limped out to answer the bell his corner had the towel ready. It took Schilt about a minute before he decided to leg kick Le Banner, who went over in a heap. He answered the count but his corner thought he was insane, throwing in the towel for him as he looked on, stunned, as he was ready to keep fighting through his injury.

While Le Banner healed up, Schilt went on to capture the 2007 World Grand Prix title with a win over Peter Aerts, followed by a win in early 2008 over Mark Hunt. This set Le Banner and Schilt on a collision course with each other again. Le Banner tried to start out fast and heavy, but Semmy kept distancing himself with leg kicks as well as setting the slow, plodding pace with his clinch work. The rest of the fight played out much of the same. What it came down to was Le Banner had no way to respond to the size advantage Semmy had, and the fight easily went the way of the giant. It was Peter Aerts who did the fans a favor, taking Schilt out of the 2008 World Grand Prix with a tight gameplan.

2009 has been a year for Schilt to get back on track, but also was a year that saw his greatest weakness exposed by Badr Hari; rush in, swarm him, knock him out. Schilt was knocked out in 45 seconds by Badr Hari, who showed the rest of the elite heavyweights how you do it; you don't let him keep his distance, control the pace or clinch you. You hit Semmy Schilt and he goes down. Le Banner on the other hand was given a second chance after having a rough start to the year, losing to Ewerton Teixeira. Le Banner beat the pulp out of Musashi, but Musashi who is often-criticized looked good, which could reflect poorly on Le Banner. Le Banner's prep for his upcoming bout was a bit different, too, as he took a boxing match last week. When it comes time for the bell to ring on their fourth meeting, Le Banner's only hope is to rush in and unload on Semmy, because if Semmy slows things down, we might be in for another long night for Jerome Le Banner.

SBN coverage of K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Finals