The Good, The Bad and The Ugly : A K-1 Weekend Through the Eyes of an MMA Fan

Senegalese folk wrestling

I see what you did there.

"BE is the Fox News of MMA sites." - Teh Interwebz

"What pissed me off is that I’m Little Floyd’s father, They’re showing on TV him talking about this loyalty to Roger. F—- Roger! I’m his daddy. His loyalty should always be with me. I’m the reason he’s here today. I gave him life. Now he’s got Leonard Ellerbe and Roger sucking up to him. They’re just around to rip him off. He’s going to find out just like he did before."

by FloydJoyMayweatherSR on Oct 4, 2010 1:52 AM EDT reply actions

We need to get Papa Sow on a Dream card ASAP.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 2:21 AM EDT up reply actions

I kind of disagree on a few things..

Schiavello’s excitement and pure fandom makes him really fun to watch/listen to. Why? Because you know that he cares. This isn’t Gus Johnson or Mike Goldberg where you wonder if they really live/eat/breathe this stuff.

Schiavello truly loves this stuff and is a real fan. Every once in a while he goes crazy over a fight and it brings a different level to it.

The round length and the standing 8-counts and knockdowns all go together. In the actual tournaments the rules are altered as well.

Head Kick Legend
Twitter @HeadKickLegend

by Dave Walsh on Oct 4, 2010 2:00 AM EDT reply actions

I’m totally fine with Schiavello being excited. Heck, if I was sitting ring side for this stuff, I’d be excited too. I get excited and I’m half way across the world watching on my PC.

The problem is, he’s just recycling the same nonsense over and over again. How many times do we need to hear him scream “the big kibosh” in one night? EVERYTIME someone gets dropped, I have to hear Schiavello scream that garbage. It gets old after awhile.

I’m glad Shiavello is more passionette about the sport than Gus Johnson or Mike Goldberg, but it still doesn’t give him a pass for raping my ear with his nonsense.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 2:15 AM EDT up reply actions

3 Minute Rounds,The Standing Eight Count, and The Three Knockdown Rule are the only points I disagree with. You need to understand it’s a different sport. About the round length, it’s harder to fight for 5 minutes when you can’t grapple to slow the pace down. Also, alot of kickboxing fans can’t understand punching someone when he’s down, either. Different perspective. It’s about what you’re used to.

"BE is the Fox News of MMA sites." - Teh Interwebz

"What pissed me off is that I’m Little Floyd’s father, They’re showing on TV him talking about this loyalty to Roger. F—- Roger! I’m his daddy. His loyalty should always be with me. I’m the reason he’s here today. I gave him life. Now he’s got Leonard Ellerbe and Roger sucking up to him. They’re just around to rip him off. He’s going to find out just like he did before."

by FloydJoyMayweatherSR on Oct 4, 2010 2:03 AM EDT reply actions

Oh, I totally understand that it’s a different sport. It’s just a bit of a…….shock to me to see someone hurt so badly, and then allowed to get up and get knocked down again. But then, I’m an MMA fan. If I had started out watching K-1, and moved over to MMA, I’m sure I’d be appalled at guy’s getting punched on the ground. It’s all about perspective.

The round length just speaks more to me wanting to see these guy’s fight a little longer than 9 minutes.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 2:17 AM EDT up reply actions

It’s funny how what looks brutal to us changes after a long time as an MMA fan. Punching another man on the ground doesn’t look half as bad when you understand BJJ. Having a guy stumble around and be forced to remain upright or lose the round while trying to regain his mental faculties so he can take more full-power haymakers…now that’s scary to watch.

by gzl5000 on Oct 4, 2010 2:51 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Very good point my friend. Once you become used to something, it no longer seems “brutal”. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen an MMA fight where I felt uneasy watching someone get clobbered. But watching Kemayo stumble around with empty lost eyes as Saki finnished him off was difficult for me to watch.

It’s strange now that I think of it though – I’ve watched quite a bit of boxing over the years, and I’ve never got that feeling. That makes zero sense. I can think of a lot of brutal fights where guys got knocked down, then got back up and got dropped again, and it never bothered me all that much. I just kind of shrugged and went, “That’s boxing.”

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 4:32 AM EDT up reply actions

While I disagree with many of the points (The whole round length thing is way off, and THE VOICE will always have my support), it is nice to read an article from this perspective.

by Gerrymanderer on Oct 4, 2010 2:05 AM EDT reply actions

>Let these guys fight three 5 minute rounds

Ew. Better five 3 minute rounds (but only for superfights). They hardly have the time to do 15 minutes per fight for a Final 16 event anyhows (much less a tournament).

by Karaev_fan on Oct 4, 2010 2:07 AM EDT reply actions

Obviously in the confines of a tournament, fights need to be shorter. But I could get behind five 3 minute rounds. Anything would beat the three 3 minute rounds they’ve got going right now. Anything to give these guys more time in the ring is good by me.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 2:20 AM EDT up reply actions

the rounds are perfect length. if they were 5 minutes it would be ridiculous. Even in MMA 5 minutes drags out. During the one MMA fight on the MAX card last night, i went to take a poo. It was too long. 3 minutes a round nearly guarantee’s high paced, action packed rounds, throughout. The Japanese do anything possible to make exciting kickboxing and it works!

by jauncey93 on Oct 4, 2010 2:30 AM EDT up reply actions

This is exactly what happens if a pure MMA fan without any prior knowledge of standup fighting (having seen Mike Tyson in ‘The Hangover‘ does not suffice) writes an article about K-1.

Five minute rounds? …

by starglide on Oct 4, 2010 2:47 AM EDT reply actions

I think the 3 minute rounds work well for K1…but why is what he said so terrible that you have to insult him?

by gzl5000 on Oct 4, 2010 2:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Apparantly the suggestion that elite level fighters should have more time to flex their skills is a bridge too far for some people.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 4:02 AM EDT up reply actions

The clinch rule…the clinch rule. I hate it, and I’ve been whining about it everywhere.

Whatever they were trying to stop by creating this rule has just been made worse by the continual breaks in action to warn the fighters about it.

They were trying to stop Thai fighters like Buakaw from beating up their precious hometown talent with his just-so-unfair knees from the clinch. It’s xenophobia, pure and simple, and it worked. Buakaw chose not to even participate this year. They started changing the clinch rules right around 2006 when Buakaw and Semmy were dominating. Both had dominating clinch games. Not a coincidence.

by gzl5000 on Oct 4, 2010 2:55 AM EDT reply actions

I really should have put it in “The Ugly” category. I literally wanted to throw something at the screen a few times, it was so ridiculous. We can banter back and forth about 5 minute rounds vs. 3 minute rounds, but I’ll be damned if anyone can give me a good concrete reason for this rule to stick around. There is NO reason why a fighter can’t at least hold onto a two handed clinch long enough to throw a knee.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 4:08 AM EDT up reply actions

No Double Hand Clinch = No Murderknee.

There’s a reason they are being so hard line about it now. They don’t want Overeem using that knee, for whatever reason. Perhaps they fear someone will die from it at some point.

by Hawk52 on Oct 4, 2010 4:28 AM EDT up reply actions

Even though i find clinching to be pretty boring, i agree, i think they are being a little toooo strict with this stuff. The reason for not letting them clinch is because they want to keep the excitement happening. if you notice u can hear the little nip saying “FIGHT!” if they arent throwing for a second. i think the old rule of clinch and one knee should stick. i dont think it is to put anyone at a disadvantage though. Japanese kickboxing never really had proper clinching.

by jauncey93 on Oct 5, 2010 1:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Buakaw didn’t choose, he wasn’t invited.

And the new rules were hardly there to prevent Buakaw (more for Semmy/Reem).

by Karaev_fan on Oct 4, 2010 4:27 AM EDT up reply actions

So it’s more to specifically limit the skill set of specific fighters, rather than to make the show more exciting or whatever?

Wow. I hate the rule even more now.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 4:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Not really.

I believe it was more for the sake of flow. The whole “limit skill set” argument worked when they limited it to 1 knee per clinch (with the knee-hell that Semmy was putting on), but not in this case.

There’s always a bunch of people who get their panties up in their bunch over the smallest perceived slights.

by Karaev_fan on Oct 4, 2010 4:58 AM EDT up reply actions

I think the rule actually hurts the flow. I’d rather see someone getting kneed in the face that watching the ref warn someone for attempting the clinch in the first place.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 5:11 AM EDT up reply actions

The sake of "flow?"

The rules already limited clinch strikes to one, and then you had to let go. How will this improve flow in any way? Clinching is a part of any standup fight, when fighters are tired or hurt, or just get tangled in boxing range. Taking away the ability to attack from that position hurts flow, not helps.

This rule certainly unfairly penalizes fighters from an MMA-type background (Sower, Overeem), tall fighters (Schilt) and thai fighter (Buakaw), and has the happy coincidence of making things easier for kickboxing and karate stylists, which most Japanese fighters are. Don’t tell me FEG was happy seeing Buakaw win the Max WGP twice. This was absolutely targeted at taking away weapons from fighters the promotion doesn’t want to see dominate.

by gzl5000 on Oct 4, 2010 4:29 PM EDT up reply actions

Japanese kickboxing allows full thai clinch and elbows.

by Karaev_fan on Oct 4, 2010 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Which still doesn’t describe the style of most Japanese fighters in K1.

by gzl5000 on Oct 5, 2010 4:23 AM EDT up reply actions

Like who? Sato, Kido, Hinata, all rangy fighters who like to use knees. Yuya is the only fighter who’s from a “karate” background, and he’s been an AJKF champ (with elbows and MT clinch).

by Karaev_fan on Oct 5, 2010 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

The three minute rounds are a 100% intentional effort to keep fights interesting.

And it works.

In addition. K-1 scores draw rounds for anything remotely close. No one ever “Squeaks” a K-1 victory. By the time a deciding decision has been rendered it is clear one man has won and one man has lost. Atleast the majority of the time.

What that means is you have very little time and a curve to overcome in beating the opponent and winning a fight. You must be proactive. You must attack. You must use every ability you have to win that round. And if it’s a tournament, you have to hold back just enough to have something for the next round. Once you add more minutes, suddenly fighters aren’t fighting as hard. They have more time. Fights become more boring. The show drags down a little. If you liked the “pace”, why would you want to alter the timing?

Also, the three knockdown rule is lax. You don’t even have to be “knocked down” to have it called. You just have to be rocked or have no defense at the moment. In that way it’s far more lenient and safe then boxing’s same rule. If you hate boxing for much of the same reason, then I understand, but you can’t approve of one sport doing it and the other not. Also, do you have a problem with MMA using it? Historically it has been used.

The commentators are personal preference. I’m not a big Kogan fan. I love Schiavello and Sefo as a duo though. Schiavello loses something when doing MMA, but in K-1 he’s firmly in his element.

K-1 is just MMA without the grappling. In terms of hierarchy it goes MMA > Shoot Boxing > Kickboxing > Boxing. I just see it as MMA with different rules. Makes sense to me.

by Hawk52 on Oct 4, 2010 4:23 AM EDT reply actions

Thank you for taking the time to write.

I understand that the 3 minute rounds are for more excitement – but is it all about excitement, or is it about the sport? As for the pace of the show – I was reffering more to the fact that they move swiftly from one fight to the next, without a lot of lag time inbetween, but I understand your point. K-1 is definetly entertaining, and I enjoy watching the guys push a ferocious pace. And it’s true, if you extend the round to 5 minutes, the action would no doubt slow a bit. But do we really want to see these guys just going out there and throwing tons of offense and trying to score as many points as possible in 3 minutes, or would we rather see them being more tactical, more thoughtful, taking their time and putting on great battles of skill and technique? With the 3 minute rounds, it seems like it turns into more of a rockem sockem robots routine in an effort to win over the judges. I don’t blame them either – that’s not much time to work a technical game out there and pick your shots. Look at what was going on in the Ben Edwards vs. Alistair Overeem fight – Edwards was all over him, and Overeem was sitting back and waiting for his opening. That would have been a bit of a risky proposition for anyone other than Overeem, who is a one hitter quitter.

I do though like that K-1 scores 10-10 rounds, something that we should see more in MMA. And it’s funny, but if I had my choice I’d rather hear Kogan and Sefo in the booth than any combonation involving Schiavello. I think Kogan is an honest cat who just isn’t the best at talking on the air. Schiavello just grates my nerves at this point.

Oh, and I mentioned above that I’ve watched boxing for years, and never really had a problem with the three knockdown rule or the standing eight count. I think it’s more perception that anything – I watched boxing before I ever watched MMA, and I always understood that it was just a part of boxing. I saw George Foreman and Ron Lyle falling all over the ring and never once did I think “this is brutal, someone has to stop this”. I just went, “oh, those silly boxers.”

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 4, 2010 4:53 AM EDT up reply actions

3 minute rounds

There have been fights that were five 3 minutes rounds (Petrosyan-Buakaw) which is equivalent to three 5 minutes rounds. Most fights are only 3 rounds since these fighters expend a lot of energy and take a lot of damage. Throwing punches and kicks and receiving damage from head to toe for 15 minutes a fight is going to shorten these fighters’ careers.

by someguy22 on Oct 4, 2010 5:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Five Rounds

Just to add this in: Traditional Muay Thai fights (such as Petro v. Buakaw) are 5 × 5 minute rounds. Also, a lot of kickboxing organizations (It’s Showtime for example) take the UFC model and go up to 5 rounds for title fights. K-1 used to do 5 rounds for non-tournament fights, but they dropped down to 3 years ago.

HeadKickLegend.com

by Fraser Coffeen on Oct 4, 2010 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions

Part of the reason for 3 minute rounds is because in the final someone may have to fight 3 times.
Standing 8 and 3 knockdown rules are common in standup fighting. Imagine Schilt landing a round kick to a downed fighter…Ugg

The Voice….ahh people love hime or hate him……but you can not deny his love for kickboxing

by Cdn Mongoose on Oct 4, 2010 9:29 AM EDT reply actions

Rounds

Some interesting points here, but at the risk of just piling on what’s already been said, I have some more thoughts on the round length issue.

Your basic argument for longer rounds seems to be that “elite level fighters should have more time to flex their skills.” Which sounds good in theory, but in reality, there needs to be some sort of limit in order to keep fights focused. If you truly think elite fighters should have more time to show their skill, why keep it at 5 minute rounds? Why not 10 minute rounds? Why not 10 rounds? Heck, why not go back to the old Gracie model and have no time limit at all? The idea of changing to a 5 minute time limit is arbitrarily giving 2 extra minutes just because that’s what you are used to as an MMA fan – but there’s nothing that makes 5 minutes a magic number. It’s a comfortable number for you, an MMA fan. For me, 3 rounds works better, as a boring MMA fight feels interminably long to me because of the extra round length. And, given how often people talk about the problem with decisions in MMA, I don’t think I’m alone there. That’s a complaint you never hear in kickboxing, although the decision rate is actually much higher on most kickboxing shows.

One other point you make here is “With the 3 minute rounds, it seems like it turns into more of a rockem sockem robots routine in an effort to win over the judges.” There’s two things worth pointing out.

First, like any sport, kickboxing goes through waves of different styles. And at the moment, there is somewhat of an emphasis on this kind of all action style. But that hasn’t always been the case, and it has nothing to do with 3 minute rounds. There’s just a lot of fighters right now who use a more aggressive, high output style, so you end up with things like Zambidis v. Chahid. But how anyone could interpret that fight as a sign that anything needs to be changed in kickboxing is a mystery to me.

Second, you want to see fighters “being more tactical, more thoughtful, taking their time and putting on great battles of skill and technique.” Which is great. The thing is, all of those things were on display this weekend. But it takes some time to recognize technique in a sport that’s new to you. People who watch a great jiu jitsu ground game and don’t understand it say “they’re just laying there”. But as an MMA fan, you know that what looks small is actually a complex tactical war. What you’re doing here is, in some ways, the same. You did watch fighters being tactical, thoughtful, and engaging in battles of technique, even if some of it was not as obvious. For examples I’d point you to Schilt and Petrosyan’s performances, Aerts v. Teixiera, and Pajonsuk. There’s nothing wrong with watching and learning to get more of a sense of the technique on display. But it seems weird to call for changes without fully grasping those techniques.

HeadKickLegend.com

by Fraser Coffeen on Oct 4, 2010 11:01 AM EDT reply actions

Fraser,
Thanks for taking the time to write such a well thought out response.

Your argument can go both ways. You say that a 3 minute round makes the fighters more focused, and hence more exciting. In that case, why not have one minute rounds? One would think that would force guys to come in and try to take their opponent’s heads off.

I don’t understand how people can think that fighters are suddenly going to become lethargic and boring simply because a round is two minutes longer. But then, you’re talking to someone who thinks all high level MMA fights should be 5 rounds and championship fights should be 7 rounds, so what do I know? ;~)

Oh, and I know that I watched some amazing tactical battles this past weekend. I thought Pajonsuk fought very intelligently, and he was a pleasure to watch. And I even though Alistair Overeem’s performance was very cerebral – he weathered the storm, held back, and waited for the precise moment to land his right hands. That’s some beautiful stuff right there.

I hope this article didn’t come off as me roasting K-1 or the sport of kickboxing, or that I want to have some sort of grand changes. It’s not meant that way. This weekend actually made me into a big fan. I was just expressing my views as a relatively new viewer coming over from a different sport, and thought folks here might find my views interesting.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 5, 2010 12:04 AM EDT up reply actions

the voice is TERRIBLE. he’s like this small child with terets screaming into the mic, and it’s distracting due to his desire to inject himself into the drama with his “voice”.

i put it on mute whenever he’s providing commentary on an event.

Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei. Basillio. Harry Greb.

by theworldsoldestsport on Oct 4, 2010 11:13 AM EDT reply actions

WTF is a terets?

I believe you are referring to Tourette’s Syndrome.

by Polyhedron on Oct 4, 2010 3:45 PM EDT up reply actions

You have to understand that the three minute rounds work in favor of the shows pace. 5 minute rounds are simply too long for a match of striking. The standing 8 count is just a part of the sport.

Schiavello is a bit over the top, okay he is very over the top. What I love though is his fandom. He loves the sport and his enthusiasm is easy to relate to.

Good article and your views are definitely from an interesting perspective. I think this weekend was definitely good enough to keep you and any other casual fans watching.

by Johnny Awesome on Oct 4, 2010 12:43 PM EDT reply actions

This weekend was wonderful. I really enjoyed the fights and I can’t wait for the finals of both tournaments. And I’m glad you enjoyed the article, thanks for reading.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 5, 2010 12:05 AM EDT up reply actions

GREAT ARTICLE!!

this was perfect for me because I am pretty much in the same boat as you, this being my first live events of K-1 that i’d seen (though i am familiar with a lot of the fighters). great analysis too: GOOD i couldn’t agree with you more on these points BAD completely agree except the 3 min rounds, I feel it helps make their careers longer…. and the UGLY i actually like the standing 8 count and knockdowns because it’s so different from MMA. Schiavello makes me want to rip my eyes out and Kogan has the personality of a blanket… just add Mauro and it’ll complete the worst commentator team ever.

we mutha fuckin thug life riders westsiiiide till we die

by cosmic fist technique on Oct 4, 2010 5:05 PM EDT reply actions

Schiavello and Mauro doing a call together would cause me to instantly hit the mute button.

Glad you liked the article, thanks for reading.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 5, 2010 12:07 AM EDT up reply actions

you guys are doing a great job on here, it’s my pleasure

we mutha fuckin thug life riders westsiiiide till we die

by cosmic fist technique on Oct 11, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

With this statement...

I first saw Schiavello a year or two back, when he was commentating a Dream card. I thought he was different and sort of funny at the time. My oh my, how the times have changed. In the last week, I have watched three cards that Schiavello called (Dream 16 and both K-1 cards), and after this I don’t know if I can sit through one more with the sound on ever again. It’s not so much that he says the same exact thing for every single fight – it’s that he’s starting to take away from the fights themselves.

You’ve summed up my entire opinion of Mike Schev…….

Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Oct 4, 2010 7:26 PM EDT reply actions

For once I’d like to just enjoy the dramatic ending of a fight without hearing Schiavello scream “the big kibosh! the big kibosh! GOODNIGHT IRENE!”.

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

by Brian Mayes on Oct 5, 2010 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions

I mute the TV at that point.

If Schev and Trigg are on at the same time, I shoot myself in the dick.

Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...

by RolloTomasi on Oct 5, 2010 11:13 AM EDT up reply actions

The Standing Eight Count?

or do you mean Mandatory eight-count? The Standing Eight Count is when the ref breaks the action because the fighter is dazed, mandatory eight-count is when the fighter is knocked down and they have 10 seconds (the ref always counts to 8 even if the fighters gets up faster) to recover, K-1 uses both.

I hate the STANDING eight count, it prevents knockdowns and gives the hurt fighter a timeout. A mandatory eight count is just part of the stand-up game and its what makes kickboxing/boxing more exciting then MMA, you do need good referees to save a fighter even if they get up and want to continue, some of those decisions to let the fight go on were border line criminal.

-3 knockdown rule is silly, if a fighter can continue safely they should be allowed that chance. This rule should only take place in one night tournaments (they should make it 3 instead of 2).

-The new clinch rule is ridiculous.

-Has there ever been 5 minute rounds in any form of kickboxing? This is just stupid, fighters would gas badly. 3 minutes works fine for all forms of striking. What you probably meant to say is that the fights are way to short, and they are. We need 5 rounds for all the big fights (outside of one night tournaments) and 7 rounds or so for championship matches, Souwer vs Masato should have been 7 rounds.

-Kogan is garbage, worst commentator in combat sports and that is really saying a lot with all the trash out there.

by John L Sullivan on Oct 5, 2010 5:22 PM EDT reply actions