Kazuyuki Miyata Replies to Mike Kogan and Michael Schiavello's HDNet Commentary

Don't let the language barrier ever stop you, that is the lesson that Kazuyuki Miyata took away from this weekend's broadcast of the K-1 -63kgs Grand Prix on HDNet. During that event, the HDNet/K-1 announce crew of Michael Schiavello (HDNet) and Mike Kogan (K-1 USA) went on a bit of a tangent about the reserve bout between Kazuyuki Miyata and Kazuhisa Watanabe.

"Don't get me started," Kogan replied. "I might get fired for this, but no, of course not. It's ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. This fight is ridiculous."

Miyata won the fight by unanimous decision, but Schiavello made sure the fans watching at home didn't believe they were watching a high-quality kickboxing match, saying, "Miyata has no place in a K-1 ring."

Said Kogan, "He sucks. Honestly, he sucks. ... He has no business here. ... It's insulting. This is K-1. Don't come here if you don't know what the hell you're doing."

Brutally honest commentating is quite refreshing in the world of commentators simply looking to put the sport and their company over as opposed to telling it like it is. Kogan and Schiavello have never been reserved with their opinions, as many will remember during the Grand Prix last year and their celebration when Badr Hari defeated Alistair Overeem. But that isn't the story here, the story is that Kazuyuki Miyata got word of this and mustered up a reply to this (translation via Skill MMA).

"K-1 USA's commentary man Mike Kogan was insulting me.

"He knows me but he's still saying things like that? I have confidence at 63kg. Of course, I have confidence in K-1 too. I have many weapons. I can win with my body strength alone at that div. I'm so pissed off that I'll fight in the next K-1 as well. I'll even fight anybody.

"I really want to kick someone's ass. It's been a long time since I've felt that way."

Apparently, Miyata is going to use this insult as motivation, which hopefully means his next performance in a K-1 ring is a bit more impressive, which would mean Mike Kogan wouldn't have to be brutally honest about him. For what it's worth, I'm not sure the complaint was aimed at Miyata, a wrestler-turned-MMA fighter as much as it was with K-1's booking of that fight.

SBN coverage of K-1 MAX -63kgs Final/70kgs Final 16