K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Finals

The buildup has been a year in the making, from the moment that Badr Hari swept Remy Bonjasky onto his back and smashed his heel into his face. Badr Hari was then introduced to the Demolition Man, Alistair Overeem on New Year's Eve. These events set the stage for K-1 this year, and every moment has led up to tonight, where 8 men will vie for kickboxing's most prestigious crown; the K-1 World Grand Prix Championship. 

K-1 World Grand Prix

Reserve: Peter Aerts vs. Gokhan Saki
Quarter-Finals: Ruslan Karaev vs. Badr Hari
Quarter-Finals: Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira
Quarter-Finals: Jerome Le Banner vs. Semmy Schilt
Quarter-Finals: Errol Zimmerman vs. Remy Bonjasky
Reserve: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Daniel Ghita
Semi-Final 1: Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem
Semi-Final 2: Semmy Schilt vs. Remy Bonjasky
Super Fight: Kyotaro vs. Tyrone Spong
FINALS: Badr Hari vs. Semmy Schilt

SBN coverage of K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Finals

We are ready to go, Michael Schiavello welcomes us to the 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix, alongside Ray Sefo and Mike Kogan. Schiavello points out that Badr Hari is the favorite now according to the bookmakers, at +175 to win the tournament. Apparently LeBanner didn't get into Japan until 7pm the night before, very, very bad idea. Maybe he knows his days are numbered?

Kogan picks Badr Hari
Sefo picks Semmy Schilt
Schiavello picks Badr Hari

Results after the jump.

Peter Aerts vs. Gokhan Saki
R1. Aerts comes out to "Welcome to the Jungle" and is in fantastic shape. Saki we haven't seen in ages and looks a little pudgy. That'd be fine against anybody else, but its Peter Aerts. Aerts picking him apart with leg kicks, Saki is being out-reached. Saki with some nice punch combos while Aerts focuses on Saki's bad knee. Mr. K1 is always thinking. Aerts is piecing together a lot of good combos while Saki is just whiffing. Aerts is just peppering Saki with round kicks and this round was for Aerts in my opinion. Judges are 1 for Aerts, 1 draw and 1 for SAki.

R2. Aerts comes out again with combos, Saki blocking a lot of it and landing some counter shots. Aerts threw a spinning backfist? Ok. More of the same, Saki finally getting a leg kick and hard left hook. Aerts kicks Saki and he slips on the ropes, then Aerts goes back to the round kicks to the ribs. SAKI GOES DOWN! Aerts connects and connects hard! Saki barely up at 9. Aerts won this round, duh. 10-8 for Peter.

R3. Aerts is on the offensive now, very aggressive and Saki won't go down without a fight! This is what we come to expect from the World Grand Prix! Aerts slowing the pace down and allowing himself to score round kicks and leg kicks. Savate kick from Saki connects hard! Aerts back up the center with the hands, then back to the kicks. Saki goes for another back savate kick. Saki is in hulk up mode, absorbing shots and just trying to counterpunch and go for a knockout. Close round, but this fight is for Aerts.

HKL calls this fight for Peter Aerts. The judges agree!

Ruslan Karaev vs. Badr Hari
R1. Nobody is expecting this to go long, and Hari is in amazing shape. Karaev tries to come in fast. Karaev catches Badr! Badr comes right back and drops him! Awesome! Badr has claimed he wants to beat the record Aerts set. They are checking a cut on Karaev and back to action. Badr destroying Karaev with lefts and rights and BOOM! He goes down, TKO. OVER.

Badr Hari by TKO, R1.

Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira
R1. Kogan is already losing his voice, third fight hasn't even started. That is the kind of show this is. Teixeira has a wide open stance, honestly, not good against a guy like Overeem. Grappling early on, go figure. Overeem clinches, two knees and Teixeira is out cold, like wow. WOW. The first knee to the ribs, second to the face and that was it.

Overeem, KO, R1.

Jerome LeBanner vs. Semmy Schilt
R1. This might be where we get to catch our breath for a minute, because this show has given us no chance to do so. JLB mentions in a pre-fight interview that this is his last GP. LeBanner knows Semmy well and knows you have to rush in and you need to use angles, but just like their other meetings, he backs off and Semmy keeps pushing him away. LeBanner takes a knee after a shot in the midsection. JLB back up, then a kick to the midsection and JLB takes another knee and bows out from the WGP.

Semmy Schilt, TKO, R1.

Remy Bonjasky vs. Errol Zimmerman
R1. Brawler vs. Careful yet explosive fighter. The other favorites in the tournament will move on without a scratch on them, which means Bonjasky is at a severe disadvantage if he doesn't pull this off. Fight starts out like expected, Remy defending everything Zimmerman has to offer. Jumping knee from Zimmerman just makes Remy take to the sky on his own. Errol lands a body shot and kinda falls over. Giant right hand by Remy! He goes down! Zim back up, but he lost this round. 10 - 8 for Remy.

R2. Close round in the fist minute, both guys throwing combos and landing. Who ever wins this fight is at a disadvantage for this tournament. Zimmerman is doing a great job countering Remy and connecting a lot. Remy looks good, but Zimmerman is keeping the pressure like we knew he would. HKL gives this round to Zimmerman, 10-9. Judges have Remy faaaar ahead.

R3. Zimmerman goes for a knee and gets tagged. More exchanges and Remy blocking most of the shots still. Remy is a very frustrating guy to fight, but he is putting himself at a disadvantage. Remy snaps Zim's head back with a jab only for Zimmerman to come back with a few nice shots. Bonjasky actually stats unloading in the corner. Zimmeman needs a knockdown to put this into an extension round, but it just isn't happening. Remy will barely squeak out this win for that knockdown.

HKL calls it for Remy Bonjasky. The judges agree.

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Daniel Ghita
R1. Sergei doesn't really look that good, while Ghita looks ready to go. SK goes for a clinch right away and its broken up. Ghita now going to work with his kicks. Ghita with an awesome knee that stuns Kharitonov, then back to the leg kicks. Kharitonov's lead leg is already red. The formula seems to be clinch knee and leg kicks while Kharitonov has no response. We might get a leg kick knockout tonight! Kharitonov makes a bit of a comeback, but this is Ghita's round.

R2. Ghita changes up his formula to use the old 1-2 and then the leg kick. There is action but it really isn't woth writing about, its just Kharitonov throwing some weak shots and getting leg kicked. Kharitonov goes for a takedown, you can just tell he can barely stand anymore. Ghita just keeps kicking him annnnnd a takedown from Kharitonov. Ghita goes for a high kick but gets tripped. More leg kicks. Another Ghita round.

R3. Ghita comes out strong with a round kick, then back to the legs annnnd here is the down. KO by leg kicks.

Daniel Ghita, R3, KO.

Badr Hari vs. Alistair Overeem
R1. This is the fight that we all wanted. Its happening! Badr goes in close and Overeem takes him down! Clinch knee by Overeem and Badr lands a hard right. Tension. Overeem goes for a clinch and gets a backfist. Seriously, this is so tense. Badr with wild looping shots, then body shots. Overeeem throws Badr into the coner! BADR WITH A BIG RIGHT! OVEREEM GOES DOWN!! Overeem back up. Oveeem in trouble. Overeem takes him back down. Badr is going nuts. High kick lands! Overeem holding himself up in the ropes, he is down! TKO! Schiavello, Sefo and Kogan are celebrating. Amazing fight.

Badr Hari, R1, TKO.

Semmy Schilt vs. Remy Bonjasky
R1. Remy drops the giant right away! Remy is going nuts here! This is amazing! Semmy getting this back to his pace now, which is slow, plodding, pushing Remy around. High knee from Semmy and then another. Semmy drops Bonjasky! He looks HURT. He pulls himself back up and Semmy with a knee, but uh, they call it a slip. Semmy leg kicks and then hooks him to the mat. TKO.

Semmy Schilt, R1, TKO.

Kyotaro vs. Tyrone Spong
R1. Fight starts off like your average Kyotaro fight with a slow feeling out process. Not much of a round, I'd score it a draw. 

R2. Kyotaro keeps the same pace while Spong is stalking. Kyotaro is sticking to the 'stick and move' strategy with a lot of running. Kyotaro lands a nice combo before going back to the defensive. Spong could take that round, but it could easily be another draw round.

R3. Spong finally taking the offensive against Kyotaro and pushing a lot, actually landing as well. Double jab snaps Kyotaro's head back. Spong dominating but not landing anything with any power to it, sadly. Spong takes this.

HKL scores the fight for Spong. Judges agree.

Official K-1 Twitter is saying attendance is 17,626, possibly? I don't have time to translate.

FINAL: Badr Hari vs. Semmy Schilt
R1: Buffer is back for the finals, the talk is Badr could set a new time record tonight. Badr looks intense. Semmy tying to keep distance like he always does. Badr goes for the rush but Semmy survives. High kick from Semmy and Badr sweeps him. Badr is chasing Semmy into the corner grazing him. SEMMY KNOCKS BADR DOWN! Badr up. Head kick from Semmy sends him down! One more down and Badr is gone. LEFT HAND. BADR DOWN! 

Semmy Schilt has captured his fourth K-1 World Grand Prix Crown!

Semmy Schilt, R1, TKO.

Semmy wins the K-1 World Grand Prix in 5:52, beating the record Aerts held of 6:43.