Daily Fights: Tetsuya Yamato v. Yuta Kubo

What else could we look at today but the historic crowning of the first ever K-1 63kg Grand Prix champion?  Here is the finals between Tetsuya Yamato and Yuta Kubo.  Kubo came into this fight after a decision victory over Keiji Ozaki and a round 1 KO of Yoshimichi Matsumoto that really needs to be seen.  Yamato had scored the round 1 KO of Yuki, followed by a round 2 KO of Kizaemon Saiga.

GREAT fight here, probably the K-1 fight of the year so far.  Kubo's really good at seeing openings and capitalizing on them, and he uses that skill here to get the surprising knockdown in round 1.  Yamato looks to be in trouble, but pushes through it, and by the midway point of round 2 has really begun applying the pressure to Kubo.  There are some fantastic exchanges late in the 2nd as both men just go for it. 

As the 3rd starts, it's clear Yamato's strikes have taken their toll on Kubo, who is wobbly and has lost the power.  Yamato gets the knockdown, leading to a classic moment of Kubo gamely regaining his feet while Yamato watches, blood streaming down his face.  That right there is beautiful stuff.  The final sequence is epic, with Kubo pushing forward and Yamato landing a series of shots, finishing with a short left you can barely even see that puts Kubo down cold.

Great work from both men, and a fitting end to an action packed tournament.