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Welcome to From the Vault - a new series here at Head Kick Legend focused on classic fights from kickboxing's past. With more and more fans discovering kickboxing every day, this series aims to revisit some of the sport's greatest fights.

MARK HUNT v. RAY SEFO
October 8, 2001
K-1 Fukuoka Grand Prix

There are a lot of great fights out there in the history banks of K-1. Often the very best of these fights are highly technical affairs, with both men showing superb defense, a variety of attacks, and well-executed strategy in order to best their opponent. This is not one of those fights.

On October 8, 2001, eight fighters stepped into the ring in Fukuoka, Japan for their final shot at the 2001 Grand Prix finals. The Fukuoka event was highlighted by two 4-man mini-tournaments, with the winner of each tournament advancing to the GP finals on December 8. As a result, the stakes for this show were extremely high, with every man knowing this night could effectively end his 2001 season. The last semi-final of the draw pitted two New Zealand countrymen at very different stages of their K-1 careers against one another.

On one side of the ring stood "Sugarfoot" Ray Sefo. One of the unofficial spokesmen of K-1, Sefo had been a fixture of the company since 1996 and had faced all the big names from Hoost to Aerts to LeBanner to Hug. In 2001, Sefo was coming off his greatest year, making it to the final fight of the 2000 Grand Prix, where he lost to the great Ernesto Hoost. Despite his 2000 successes, Sefo was coming in to this fight off of a loss to a little known fighter making his Japanese K-1 debut at the time by the name of Remy Bonjasky. A knockout machine with one of the highest KO ratios in K-1, Sefo was at the peak of his skills, and highly regarded.

His opponent was a relative newcomer to the sport of kickboxing. Mark Hunt had made his professional debut just two years earlier, and entered K-1 as a severe underdog in 2000 at the K-1 Oceania tournament. Hunt surprised fans in that tournament, coming out victorious and earning himself a shot on a main K-1 show. His K-1 debut came in July 2000, where he lost a decision to the man who would eventually become perhaps his greatest rival in Jerome Le Banner. After successfully defending his Oceania title in 2001, Hunt was now coming off back-to-back loses including a hard-fought decision loss to reigning champion Hoost (in one of those fight where the loser still walks away a winner), and to Peter Graham. Popular for his exciting style, Hunt was something of a wildcard in this tournament.

The stage was set. Two exciting, hard-hitting fighters, one known for his knockout power, one known for his resilience to being knocked out. Fans knew this one could be good.

Video and more after the jump.

To me, the sequence near the end of round 2 is everything great about combat sports. Both men have been throwing it all at each other, and seem to realize that their opponent is tough enough to absorb all their best shots. So what do they do? Smile, and just start throwing again. This is the kind of fight Dana White thinks he sees every week on TUF, but the reality is, while not an exceptionally technical fight, both men continue to use good technique and keep up the pace throughout, showing what sets them apart from your barroom brawlers of the world.

Of particular note here is the aftermath. Yes Sefo won, but he sustained injuries that caused him to drop out of the final match of the evening. Hunt stepped in, defeating Adam Watt to win a spot in the GP Finals where he pulled off the greatest upset in GP history, becoming the 2001 Grand Prix champion. For Sefo, this was perhaps his best shot at the title, as he has not made it back to the final match since. He will, in all likelihood, go down as one of the best K-1 fighters to never win a GP.