MMHK 4/11 to 4/17: Krush Pushes 70 KG. Tournament, K-1 Looks to Return Soon

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

This week's edition of Monday Morning Head Kicks is here. You'll notice a few changes. The title has been reworked as of last week and I'm going to try to incorporate sections in the post; interviews, fight videos, my own personal musings, maybe a fight of the week type deal, we'll see what all happens.

Most importantly, I would love to see more direct participation from everybody out there reading. As always, my focus here will be kickboxing and Muay Thai (I'll still throw my two cents in on MMA). Those sports have a global presence but remain underreported, so if you have news related to fighters and events from your part of the world, chime in. Use the fanpost function on the frong page; I'd like to feature some of our reader's thoughts here but they need to shown first.

I would also like to get some more feedback about what other things should be incorporated in this series specifically. Any ideas for improvement, gripes about omissions or stories being underreported, and general statements on how things look can be left in the comments, emailed to me, or communicated any other way you see fit. Also, since Twitter is what the kids are doing, here you go: @thedutchbaby.

Stories of the Week

Nathan Corbett Knocks Out Another Opponent: In a relatively quiet week, Australian Muay Thai standout Nathan Corbett defeated opponent Piotr Lepich by first round knockout in Perth on Saturday. The man known to many fans as 'Carnage' hasn't lost a bout since 2006, when he was knocked out by American heavyweight Alex Roberts. A sampling of Corbett's record since then shows victories over fighters such as Steve McKinnon, Ashwin Balrak, Thai standouts Kaoklai Kaennorsing and Wehas Kingsboxing, Thor Hoopman, Pavel Zhuravlev, and Chakuriki Gym fighter Frank Munoz.

Would it be fair to say that Nathan Corbett is one of the more underrated fighters in the world? Yes, I think so. Most of his career accomplishments have come in the veiled world of Muay Thai. He's also best suited to fighting at or below the 95 kg. mark and started his career well below that. He's only competed in one K-1 tournament, the K-1 Scandinavia GP 2007, which he won handily.

K-1 Looks to 63 kg. for Return: DREAM rather than K-1 was at the center of this week's announcements from FEG. Though we'll have to wait until the first week of May to learn much more about K-1's future, it is known that the organization will look to return with a 63 kg. tournament of sorts, while Krush - an organization which is also among the collective behind the "Fight for Japan" campaign - will have their 70 kg. tournament in full-swing.

Krush tournaments are filled with domestic Japanese talent. K-1 choosing to return with a tournament at 63 kg., where Krush will be wrapping up a tournament late this month, points to the fact that we'll be seeing at least a couple Japan tournaments out of K-1. As far as 63 kg. goes, I can only hope that we'll get to see a rematch of Koya Urabe and Sung Hyun Lee (still fight of the year for me thus far).

Krush 70 kg. Tournament: While much of the focus on kickboxing in Japan has been on what the return of K-1 will look like, Krush has quietly put together a 70 kg. tournament which is set to begin May 29th. They are yet to reveal all eight of the tournament competitors, but the big name thus far is definitely Hiroki Nakajima.

Nakajima has hit a rough spot with some losses over guys he just isn't ready for, but he's young and talented. He won the appropriately named Krush Road to MAX tournament back in 2009, thereby qualifying for the K-1 World MAX 2010 Japan tournament. Wins over Tatsuji and Hinata took Nakajima to the finals of that tournament, where he was knocked out by Yuichiro Nagashima, thereby beginning his current three fight slide.

Bellator Event Brings Question to MMA Judging, Again: If you watched Saturday night's Bellator event, you probably saw the unfortunate ending to promotional featherweight champion Joe Warren's bout with Marcos Galvao. What was most obviously a 29-28 win for Galvao turned into a unanimous decision for Warren, including an absolutely heinous 30-27 card.

I wish that I could tell you how much of a shame it is that a great event was overshadowed by the negligence of mixed martial arts judges. I can't though, because I would be lying. Nothing against the fighters on the evening, they showed up and did what they were supposed to do. The truth is that the decision in the main event merely took away from the attention that might have been paid to Bellator's mismanagement of their bantamweight champion, Zach Makovsky. Non-title bout or not, placing a divisional champion in the middle of a fight card is a questionable choice and that's all that really needs to be said.

Fight Announcements

Mosab Amrani vs. Houcine Bennoui - This 65 kg. Muay Thai bout will take plae on the undercard of the It's Showtime Lyon event on May 14th. Mosab Amrani has already made quite the name for himself inside the promotion as an action fighter, while Houcine Bennoui is an unknown commodity to many fans. While Houcine has found success in the sprawling French Muay Thai scene, his older brother Karim Bennoui was recently crowned It's Showtime 61 kg. MAX champion in a breakout fight against Sergio Wielzen.

William Diender vs. Rafi Zouheir - A 70 kg. kickboxing bout set for the It's Showtime Madrid card on June 18th, this bout will give fans an excellent chance to see what Rafi Zouheir can do against yet another solid veteran opponent. Zouheir topped the field at the K-1 MAX Madrid tournament this past January. Diender, who last appeared for It's Showtime in victory over rival Rachid Belaini, recently dropped a decision to Dzhabar Askerov in the preliminary round of the four-man W5 Grand Prix KO tournament in Moscow.

Ondrej Hutnik vs. Dzenan Poturak - Set to be fought at the 91 kg. weight limit, this Muay Thai bout will take place in Chomutov, Czech Republic on May 27th. Ondrej Hutnik is one of the better fighters in the world just south of the heavyweight limit. Dzenan Poturak hasn't had the same sort of career as his brother Dzevad, but he is still one of the top fighters out of Bosnia. Poturak was recently outsized and outgunned in a bout against Romania's Benjamin Adegbuyi.

Saiyok Pumpanmuang vs. Andrei Kulebin - Muay Thai bout to take place on May 31st in Hong Kong. Saiyok Pumpanmuang is in the discussion for the best 70 kg. Thai fighter in Thailand, while Andrei Kulebin has had a successful career as one of the more successful Muay Thai fighters in Europe. Kulebin holds career victories over Nopparat Kiatgamthorn and Mosab Amrani and has fought Sudsakorn Sor. Klinmee on two occasions. The Belarusian fighter lost against Kaoponlek at Thai Boxe Mania 2011 in January and finished Angelo Campoli at the Fight Code: Oktagon 2011 event in March.

Chalid Arrab vs. Zabit Samedov - Two K-1 veterans in a light heavyweight mixed martial arts bout at the Ultimate Glory World Series final on May 28th? Why not. Arrab has never had a great deal of success at the highest level of kickboxing, but he does have a 7-3 MMA record. Samedov has never competed in MMA, but the Azerbaijani fighter has beaten Sergei Lascenko, Sebastian Ciobanu, and a host of solid veterans in K-1 competition.

Yasuhiro Kido vs. Sergey Golyaev - An interesting 70 kg. kickboxing bout to be held at the Big Bang 5 event on May 15th in Japan. Yasuhiro Kido is a veteran fighter whose success has been limited mostly to domestic competition, although he has appeared in a number of bouts under the K-1 banner since 2008, posting victories over Chi Bin Lim and Leroy Kaestner along the way. Sergey Golyaev is best known as the Russian mixed martial artist who upset Takanori Gomi in late 2008. He has shown solid striking in his mixed martial arts career and had some success in Russia as a Muay Thai fighter.

Fight videos, results from the week and more after the jump.

Fight Videos

Ismael Londt vs. Patrick Schmitt - Almere's Finest 1, April 10th in Almere, Netherlands

Why you should watch: Ismael Londt is not a name that lot of casual kickboxing fans are familiar with, but with victories over the likes of Rico Verhoeven, Brian Douwes, and a number of other solid fighters, Londt is about as good a heavyweight prospect as you'll find around.

Anthony Kane vs. Hubert Romankiewick - Almere's Finest 1, April 10th in Almere, Netherlands

Why you should watch: Ireland's Anthony Kane is another Team SLAMM member. He's a talented kickboxer with international credentials and he'll be taking on Faldir Chahbari at the Beast of the East 2011 event in Zutphen, Netherlands on April 23rd.

Nathan Corbett vs. Piotr Lepich - Domination 6, April 16th in Perth, Australia

Why you should watch: Nathan Corbett is a world class talent. Fighting exclusively in Australia since his 2009 bout with Tyrone Spong was declared a no contest, Corbett flies under the radar for a lot of fans.

Khem Sitsongpeenong vs. Prakaisaeng Sit Or. - Isuzu Cup 21, April 16th in Bangkok, Thailand

Why you should watch: The winner of this bout moves on to the tournament final bout against Nopparat, which will decide Thailand's 67 kg. representative in the upcoming Thai Fight 2011 tournament. Considering the talent included here, whoever walks away from the Isuzu Cup qualifier victorious will definitely be one of the favorites going in to Thai Fight later this year.

Rafi Zouheir vs. Warren Stevelmans - K-1 MAX Madrid, January 8th in Madrid, Spain

Why you should watch: Kickboxing being what it is, sometimes you have to wait months for good quality video to show up online. Rafi Zouheir will be getting a shot on the big stage when It's Showtime comes to Madrid on June 18th. This bout shows him against a veteran fighter in Warren Stevelmans. What's more, some have questioned the judging of Zouheir's bouts in this tournament.

Interviews

Abraham Roqueni talks with Siam Fight Mag: A victory over Andy Souwer in February introduced Abraham Roqueni to a number of kickboxing fans. He looks ahead to a bout with Gago Drago under the It's Showtime banner when the promotion comes to Madrid on June 18th. This interview talks a lot about Roqueni's history with other regionally known fighters and might be educational for a lot of fans wondering who some of the regional names are in places like Spain, France, and even the Netherlands.

Ky Hollenbeck talks with Muay Thai Authority: American Muay Thai fighter Ky Hollenbeck will be facting Vuyisile Colossa on April 23rd. Hollenbeck talks about that bout, his bout against Gregory Choplin scheduled for the Lion Fight Promotions card on May 14th, and his potential to cut weight to find more high-profile fights.

Features Around the Net

Boxing Gets its Due: This has been an insane few weeks in the boxing world. Bad Left Hook has you covered with weekend resuts in the sweet science. Meanwhile, in the face of one of the worst decisions of the year in mixed martial arts, Brent Brookhouse over at Bloody Elbow offers a piece focusing on the brilliant action seen in boxing over the weekend.

Yamato-Damashii Diaries: Our own Tim Burke has already written about this, but Dan Herbertson has an excellent ongoing feature at MMAFighting.com documenting his movement around Japan with Enson Inoue. There's really nothing that can be said other than it's intelligent work and deserves a lot of respect.

MMA Results

Bellator Fighting Championships 41 - Saturday, April 16th, in Yuma, Arizona

• Joe Warren UD Marcos Galvao
• Zach Makovsky TKO-3 Chad Robichaux
• Patricio Freire KO-3 Wilson Reis
• Daniel Straus SUB-3 Kenny Foster
• Other results: Carlos Flores TKO-1 Rudy Aguilar, Anthony Birchak SUB-1 Tyler Bialecki, Nick Piedmont SD Michael Parker, Brendan Tierney SUB-1 Dano Moore
  

Muay Thai Results

Isuzu Cup 21 - Saturday, April 16th, in Bangkok, Thailand

• Khem Sitsongpeenong TKO-3 Prakaisaeng Sit Or.

Domination 6 - Saturday, April 16th, in Perth, Australia

• Nathan Corbett KO-1 Piotr Lepich