Hesdy Gerges with trainer Thom Harinck

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Though not yet officially announced by It's Showtime, it appears Hesdy Gerges's opponent has been set for this weekend's Milan show.  Gerges will be facing French fighter Brice Guidon.

A training partner of Jerome Le Banner, Guidon may be familiar to K-1 fans for his appearance in last year's Tokyo GP (the event won by Daniel Ghita).  There, Guidon defeated Rico Verhoeven via decision in the quarterfinals before losing to Sergei Lascenko in the semis.  He comes in to this fight off a win over Chris Knowles at the UKC France event on February 6 where he won by TKO in round 1 due to cuts. 

At 6'6", Guidon brings in the size needed to fight with some of the bigger heavyweights, and with a 19-5 record he definitely is a fighter to watch.  Still, taking a fight against Gerges on such short notice is a tough call, and he'll have to come in with a strong gameplan if he hopes to score the upset win on Saturday.

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Reports out of the Golden Glory camp indicate that Nieky Holzken will no longer be participating in the big May It's Showtime show coming from the Amsterdam ArenA.  Holzken was scheduled to face MAX champion Giorgio Petrosyan, however due to some contractual disputes, it appears Holzken has opted out of the fight.  It's Showtime has yet to make it official, so details and specifics remain uncertain at this point.

This is an unfortunate turn of events for Holzken, who quietly snuck into the top 10 with solid performances throughout 2009.  Undoubtedly Petrosyan reprsents a huge challenge, and Holzken would have been considered a massive underdog, but fighting an athlete of Petrosyan's caliber can only help your career, and it is a shame to see that opportunity disappear for Holzken.

Holzken is very popular in Amsterdam, and many fans are upset to see him removed.  In addition, this is the second recent change to the May card to cause some irritation among fans, coming fast on the heels of Khalid Bourdif being pulled from Rayen Simson's retirement fight.  Considering how early It's Showtime announced these match-ups, some shuffling of the card was inevitable, though that is little consolation to fans who wanted to see their hometown star take on the best in the world.

UPDATE: New word is that Holzken and It's Showtime management have worked things out and Holzken v. Petrosyan is still set for May 29.

Giorgio Petrosyan, back in action in Milan

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We're a little over a week away from the second It's Showtime card of 2010 and the first real blockbuster fight of the year.  On March 13, It's Showtime comes from Milan with a strong card headlined by #1 fighter Giorgio Petrosyan v. Khem Sitsongpeenong.  As we've said before, Khem provides a nice challenge for the unstoppable-looking Petrosyan, and this is a main event many are looking forward to.

In addition to this fight, It's Showtime has finalized the rest of the card, adding in a fight with K-1's Chahild Oulad El Hadj.  Chahid will meet Thai fighter Sudsakorn sor Klinmee.  For Chahid, this is a must win as his career has been on a massive slide in the past year.  Once pegged as a potential breakout star of 2009, Chahid has gone 1-5 in his last 6, including a current 3 fight losing streak to Murat Direkci, Chris Ngimbi, and Hafid el Boustati.  He desperately needs to turn it around and get back to winning here.  His opponent, Sudsakorn, is a 23 year old traditional Thai fighter, whose biggest fight to date was a loss to Khem at Lumpinee Stadium last year.  He'll bring a strong Muay Thai game to the table, and it will be interesting to see how he does in a featured bout.

The main card also includes Hesdy Gerges facing an opponent yet to be announced.  Gerges comes in off his win over Ashwin Balrak last weekend and looks to continue building momentum before his May showdown with Badr Hari. Dmitry Shakuta defends his It's Showtime 77kg title against Cosmo Alexandre, who comes in off a pair of impressive tournament victories in 2009.   Armen Petrosyan, brother to Giorgio, faces the man Giorgio defeated in his K-1 debut, Dzhabar Askerov.  And Hicham Bettani faces Yavuz Kayabasi.  The undercard includes an additional five fights featuring Wendell Roche and Orono vor Petchpoon among others. 

Look for more from us next week in anticipation of this event.

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Is Khalid Bourdif (right) being unfairly punished by It's Showtime?

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There's an interesting story making the rounds in European kickboxing circles regarding the big It's Showtime Amsterdam ArenA show in May.  One of the original scheduled fights was Rayen Simson v. Khalid Bourdif in Simson's retirement fight.  Now, It's Showtime has announced that Bourdif is off the card and instead it will be Simson v. Sahin "Kass" Yakut.  Here's the official statement on the switch:

Rayen Simson will face a new opponent in the Amsterdam ArenA on May 29. The reason is that the opponent he was supposed to fight, Khalid Bourdif, accepted a fight which will take place 4 weeks before his match in the Amsterdam ArenA. We at IT’S SHOWTIME always agree that a fighter can’t/won’t fight at another event minimal 5 or 6 weeks prior to the ArenA event, this to prevent injuries. Exceptions will be made for K-1 fighters but this will always be discussed first, and put in a contract. Regarding the management of Bourdif, we at IT’S SHOWTIME find this not professional and we have expressed we will not use Khalid Bourdif’s services.

This was followed by the announcement that Yakut would indeed take Bourdif's spot.  This news has been met by some harsh criticism of It's Showtime, and has caused some to raise questions about this policy.

To give some background, Simson v. Bourdif was first discussed late last year as an option for Slamm VI, but was then pushed back to this show.  Simson, a Muay Thai legend in Amsterdam, hand-picked Bourdif as his final opponent for a number of reasons, including their history as training partners, personal friendship, and his belief that Bourdif was the best fighter in his weight class.  There is no doubt this is the fight Simson wanted to go out on, and for many fans, It's Showtime is acting disrespectfully by not honoring his wishes in his final fight.  To further complicate matters, there are accusations from Bourdif's camp that It's Showtime has not handled this properly, refusing to discuss options with them before removing Bourdif from the event.

For It's Showtime and matchmaker Simon Rutz, the argument is that this is a question of practicality.  If Bourdif is hurt in his earlier fight (against Ali Gunyar in a main event fight on May 2) he could be forced to drop out of the Simson fight, forcing a late change to the card.  As Rutz states, this is the It's Showtime policy, and it is one you can see the rationale behind.  Where things get murky and somewhat controversial are in regards to the exceptions to the rule, and the choice of Yakut to replace Bourdif.

As their statement says, It's Showtime is willing to bend their rule for K-1 fighters.  Why then would they not make such a concession for Bourdif?  The obvious answer is that he does not have the same star power as a K-1 fighter and, like it or not, being an in demand fighter allows you to have more pull in your contract negotiations.  But the real trouble comes in the fact that their replacement opponent, Sahin Yakut, is a fighter represented by It's Showtime management, leading some to argue that Rutz and company have used Bourdif's May 2 fight as an excuse to drop him and move their own fighter into a higher profile fight.

The question then becomes, is it a conflict of interest for a matchmaker and promoter to also manage his own stable of fighters?  Looking specifically at Yakut, he has not been given a tremendous amount of high profile fights by It's Showtime, and this will be his biggest fight in quite some time, maybe ever.  So you can't say that the company has been giving a huge advantage to Yakut previously.  Still, the potential conflict of interest is enough to make many fans cry foul. 

So far, Rutz has not officially addressed this controversy, and he may not.  They've made their policy clear, and Bourdif violated that policy, so for them, there's not much else to say.  I can see why some disagree with this move, but provided this policy was made clear in Bourdif's contract, I don't see It's Showtime acting in an unfair manner here.

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After a long process that saw both Ernesto Hoost and Remy Bonjasky courted, It's Showtime has finally landed on an opponent for Badr Hari for their huge Amsterdam show.  On May 29, it will be Badr Hari v. Hesdy Gerges. Gerges was rumored as the opponent a few weeks ago, but this finally makes it official. 

While this may lack a bit of the punch of either Hoost or Bonjasky, this is still a tremendous fight.  Gerges is on a huge roll, defeating Karaev and Slowinski among others and looking very strong as of late.  He's training with Thom Harinck these days and has all the tools to become a major player.  He's already seen competition at this level, having faced Semmy Schilt last year for K-1, but Hari will clearly pose a very stiff challenge for the rising star.  There's no denying that Hari is the favorite here, but this is not the mismatch Hari v. Bouzidi was - Gerges is a true threat and if he comes in with a flawless game plan and executes it perfectly, a win is not out of the question.

Gerges was originally set to face Daniel Ghita at this card - Ghita's opponent now moves to the elusive "TBA".

Badr Hari, victorious in Prague

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Results are in from last night's It's Showtime card in Prague, and for the most part, things went as expected.

In the main event, Badr Hari had little trouble controlling Mourad Bouzidi.  Badr took control at the end of the first round, hitting a nice combination on Bouzidi just as the bell rang.  Bouzidi staggered back to his corner, looking like he just barely made it through.  From there, Badr had no trouble, scoring a pair of knockdowns in round 2 before putting his opponent away with a nice uppercut for the KO victory.

Fellow K-1 star Daniel Ghita also walked away a winner as he avenged his 2008 loss to Dzevad Poturak.  Described by many as the fight of the night, the two men had a very entertaining battle, but despite his showboating, Poturak could not overcome Ghita, as he fell via decision.

In the most unexpected outcome of the night, the favored Pajonsuk did indeed defeat MMA fighter Chan Sung Jung, though not in the manner most expected.  Pajonsuk started strong, using Muay Thai techniques to hurt Jung throughout round 1.  With the round coming to a close, Jung trapped Pajonsuk against the ropes.  As the Thai fighter pushed clear, Jung drilled him with a clean spinning back fist, knocking Pajonsuk down and out.  Unfortuantely for the Korean Zombie, the spinning backfist is illegal under It's Showtime rules, so when Pajonsuk was unable to continue, he was given the win via DQ.  This is clearly not a helpful decision for anyone, as Jung was beaten for the entire fight, while Pajonsuk showed a questionable chin.  Neither man comes out looking great here.

In a mild upset, Anderson "Braddock" Silva lost his fight to Adnan Redzovic via decision.  This will certainly set Silva back a few steps and drop him out of the top 20.  Finally, Gago Drago defeated Yataru Yamauchi via decision.

Artiom Vachitov def. Tomas Senkyr (DEC)
Tomas Hron def. Andonias Tzoros (TKO R2)
Gago Drago def. Yutaro Yamauchi (DEC)
Pajonsuk def. Chan Sung Jung (DQ)
Adnan Redzovic def. Anderson Silva (DEC)
Ondrej Hutnik def. Hakan Aksoy (DEC
Daniel Ghita def. Dzevad Poturak (DEC)
It's Showtime World Title Heavy Weight:
Badr Hari def. Mourad Bouzidi (KO R2)

via www.itsshowtime.nl

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This weekend marks the biggest kickboxing card to date of 2010 as It's Showtime hosts an event Saturday night in Prague. Click here for a nice hype video, and check back tomorrow for results.

In easily the biggest fight of the card, Badr Hari will return to action for the first time since losing in the GP finals to Semmy Schilt.  Last year, Hari returned from his GP loss on an absolute rampage, knocking out Freddy Sinestra and Semmy Schilt in the first half of the year.  I expect to see him bring that same intensity tomorrow as he defends the It's Showtime HW title against Mourad Bouzidi.  While he is definitely overmatched, Bouzidi is no can, as he holds wins over Errol Zimmerman and Hesdy Gerges.  Still, while Bouzidi does pose more of a threat that many other opponents, I can't see him scoring the upset here and taking out Hari.  I anticipate a big KO from Badr in the 1st.

The #2 fight on the card is a rematch that European fans have been looking forward to, as Daniel Ghita faces Dzevad Poturak.  Ghita of course made a huge name for himself in 2009 with a record-setting tournament win in Tokyo, followed by a gutsy performance against Schilt in the Final 16.  Coming in off a strong win over Sergei Kharitonov, Ghita has already been labeled as the next big thing in K-1 by many fans and experts, and for good reason - his crushing leg kicks are among the best in the game.  That said, this is no gimme fight.  While not as widely known, Poturak is a tough fighter who should never be counted out.  The last time these two men fought it was November 2008, and Poturak pulled off the decision victory.  Since that fight, Poturak has been somewhat inconsistent, going 2-3, including a show-stealing fight with Raul Catinas for K-1 ColliZion in October.  Look for Poturak to make try and make this a brawl.  In the end, I see Poturak making it interesting, but Ghita should pull it out.

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Khem Sitsongpeenong strikes with the great Lucien Carbin

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With only one month to go before meeting arguably the best fighter in the world in Giorgio Petrosyan, Muay Thai champion Khem Sitsongpeenong is expanding his training.  Normally training out of Thailand, Khem is currently spending time in Amsterdam training with the legendary Lucien Carbin.  Carbin has had a hand in making many big names out of The Netherlands, including Alistair Overeem, Gilbert Yvel, and Tyrone Spong among others.

An extensive photo galley can be seen here, and click here for a video of Khem and Carbin working the pads.

For Khem, this is an interesting change.  He's has already made a recent move, publicly switching from the Fairtex gym not long ago.  There's no indication that this time with Carbin is anything other than a temporary move, but it is intriguing to see Khem expanding his repertoire in preparation for the biggest international fight of his career.

Despite being a decorated veteran, this is probably a good move for Khem, who has gained the majority of his experience in Thailand.  While Petrosyan also brings a style chiefly based on Muay Thai, he does possess more of a European based style to complement his Muay Thai skills.  Perhaps some time training with one of the best in Europe will better help Khem prepare for Petrosyan.

Khem Sitsongpeenong v. Giorgio Petrosyan takes place March 13 in Milan, Italy for It's Showtime.  This is quickly shaping up to be the first huge fight of 2010, and the first test of Petrosyan's new status as perhaps the #1 pound for pound kickboxer in the world.