Kyotaro, Japan's new hero, via www.k-1.co.jp

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Kyotaro did what many deemed the absolutely impossible on a Saturday evening in Japan; he knocked out Mr. K-1, Peter Aerts, something no Japanese fighter had ever been able to do. Only Musashi had defeated Aerts in 2003, and that by decision. This was different in the eyes of the Japanese press; the words I've seen associated with Kyotaro are quite unexpected, from "Ace" to "superstar" while previously he had been sort of an afterthought. 

Now, of course, the criticism from most free-thinking fans will be Aerts is an aging competitor who came in smaller than he ever has before (of course he had to meet the weight limit of under 100kg) and looked a bit slower in his last few fights. The truth of the matter is, we don't really know where Aerts stands until he fights a few more times, and the same applies for Kyotaro.

Kyotaro was coming off of two tough losses, the first to Ruslan Karaev in the Final 16, effectively dashing his hopes of the World Grand Prix in 2009, then to Tyrone Spong in a superfight at the World Grand Prix Finals in December. This fight with Aerts lit a fire under Kyotaro, who felt it was do-or-die time for him (pretty much correct) in the eyes of the fans and his bosses; if he put forth another dull loss against Aerts, how much longer could he expect K-1 to support him? Kyotaro has the same problem that a lot of Japanese K-1 fighters have; outside of K-1 shows, there is very little room for them to compete in the rest of the world. Your average European fighter will fight on average 5 - 6 times a year, while Japanese fighters 3 - 4, only on K-1 shows. Kyotaro made a plea to Tanikawa that he could compete in May in the Romanian Eastern European GP, as his next chance to compete for K-1 wouldn't be until September in the Final 16.

I, for one, applaud this, as he has never fought anywhere other than Japan or Seoul (home of the Final 16).

SBN coverage of FieLDS K-1 World Grand Prix 2010