Michael Schiavello's Fanhouse Preview: Ruslan Karaev

If you enjoyed HDNet announcer Michael Schiavello's piece on Badr Hari, look no further than today's look into Ruslan Karaev, who will meet Badr Hari yet again, this time in the K-1 World Grand Prix. Both men have a rich history together, and Ruslan has a history of his own.

On December 5 Karaev once again finds himself against his arch-nemesis Badr Hari, who deliberately chose to face off against the Russian for a third time instead of moving to the open second side of the tournament draw. 

"I beat him last time and I will beat him again," commented Hari as to why he chose to fight Karaev in the first quarter final. 

"We have had two of the most exciting matches ever," said Karaev, "and it looks like we will do it again." 

Last time the two fought, Karaev received the worst knockout of his career courtesy of a Hari right hand that had him laid out cold for five minutes. My inside sources have informed me that Hari was the opponent Karaev least wanted to fight and that behind the Russian's jovial smile he has voiced some grave concerns to his training crew about fighting Hari for a third time, especially since Hari's marked improvements in sheer in-ring brutality since their last encounter in March 2007. 

Come December 5 it looks as if the Grand Prix quarterfinal curse could again befall Karaev. Even with the genius of Golden Glory (Cor Hemmers, Ramon Dekker) in his corner, you have to wonder what sort of gameplan Karaev could possibly employ to beat an opponent at the peak of his extraordinary powers.

SBN coverage of K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Finals