MMHK 5/16 to 5/22: It's Showtime Shines at The Sand; Kraus Bounces Back in Romania

by Brent Ducharme on May 23, 2011 6:00 AM EDT in Monday Morning Head Kicks

Banner image provided by Anton Tabuena

There was a decent amount of action this week, as It's Showtime led the way once again with their first effort at The Sand in Amsterdam since last December. Promotional heavyweight champion Hesdy Gerges headlined the card, while Sahak Parparyan and Amir Zeyada met for the vacant It's Showtime 85 kg. MAX title. Additionally, Mohammed Khamal and Robin van Roosmalen squared off in a bout with some pretty big implications at 70 kg. The other major event this past weekend came from Romania, as SuperKombat kicked off their World Grand Prix series with a four-man heavyweight tournament and non-tournament bouts featuring the likes of Albert Kraus and Bogdan Stoica.

As always, my focus here will be kickboxing and Muay Thai (MMA will surely pop up now and then). 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 front page; I'd like to feature some of our reader's thoughts here but they need to be 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

Gerges Returns, Parparyan Wins Title at It's Showtime The Sand: Pretty straight-forward here, Hesdy Gerges got out of jail and won a fight just a matter of days later... for the second time this year.

Sahak Parparyan topped Amir Zeyada to win the promotional 85 kg. title, while Mohammed Khamal came out ahead of Robin van Roosmalen in a major contest between top 70 kg. prospects. Elsewhere on the card, Georgian fighter Giga Chikadze surpassed the expectations of most and took out Evgeniy Kurovskoy.

SuperKombat Sets Tone with Four-Man HW Tourney: A look at the event can be found here. Sergei Lascenko ultimately came away with the tournament win, topping Roman Kleibl in the final bout. Rico Verhoeven scored a knockout victory in a reserve bout, Albert Kraus came away with a big knockout victory.

Fight videos after the jump.

Fight Videos

Albert Kraus vs. Marius Tita - SuperKombat World Grand Prix I, May 21st in Bucharest, Romania

Why you should watch: Albert Kraus was in need of an impressive win following his March loss to Russian fighter Batu Khasikov. Well, Kraus came away with such a win here. True dominance, great finish.

Hesdy Gerges vs. Chris Knowles - It's Showtime Amsterdam The Sand 2011, May 21st in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Why you should watch: Look, Chris Knowles is a solid Muay Thai fighter. He really is. Now is this level of competition really going to raise Hesdy Gerges' stock? No. Be that as it may, the manner in which he wins is big. Big knockouts have appeal. There you go.

Sahak Parparyan vs. Amir Zeyada - It's Showtime Amsterdam The Sand 2011, May 21st in Amstredam, Netherlands

Why you should watch: This bout was for the It's Showtime 85 kg. MAX title which was vacated by Melvin Manhoef recently. Parparyan was moving down in weight while Zeyada was moving up after a decent layoff. Title implications didn't end up being the full story in this bout though; it really is just a must-see.

Mohammed Khamal vs. Robin van Roosmalen - It's Showtime Amsterdam The Sand 2011, May 21st in Amsterdam, Netherlands

Why you should watch: As I stated in the lead up to this event, the rematch between Khamal and van Roosmalen really was a battle of top prospects at 70 kg. When they took to the ring, they delivered.

Bogdan Stoica vs. Pacome Assi - SuperKombat World Grand Prix I, May 21st in Bucharest, Romania

Why you should watch: Bogdan Stoica remains one of the brightest prospect in kickboxing. It takes him a while to get the stoppage here, but he puts on a dominant performance.