K-1 World Grand Prix Final Recap & Results

Recap of the K-1 World Grand Prix which took place on December 5, 2009 in Yokohama, Japan

The 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix Final took place December 5 th, 2009 live from the Yokohama Arena in Japan. The event was broadcasted live on HDNet. It was one of the greatest events in K-1 history and in combat sports history. Semmy Schilt won the GP with a record time of 5 minutes 52 seconds. This broke the record set by Peter Aerts in 1998. With his win, Schilt also ties ‘‘Mr.Perfect” Ernesto Hoost for most K-1 WGP Championships with four. For full results scroll down to the bottom of the page and be sure to check out the recap below.

Peter Aerts vs. Gokhan Saki

One of two reserve bouts for the Grand Prix and the first televised bout matched “Mr.K-1” Peter Aerts with Golden Glory’s Gokhan Saki. This was a very entertaining bout and one of the few that did not end in a knockout. The first round was close. As expected each man threw their share of leg kicks. Saki was mixing up the combinations early. It was in the second round that the pace was set for the rest of the fight. Aerts caught Saki with a big punch and Saki nearly did not make the count. Aerts kept his work rate up in the last round and earned himself a unanimous judge’s call. Saki stays on the losing track after returning from a groin injury he obtained in his last fight with Pavel Zhuravlev. Aerts proves he can still hang with and get the better of the big boys in K-1. Both of these men could have used a win here but Aerts is the one who gets it. Saki will just be hurting for a win even more in his next bout.

Badr Hari vs. Ruslan Karaev

Quarterfinal one saw a rubber match between “Machine Gun” Ruslan Karaev and fan favorite “Golden Boy” Badr Hari. These two men came out very fast. No surprises there. The fight did not last long. Hari flurried and caught Ruslan sending him to the canvas. Hari pounced on Ruslan after he got up. Hari landed another strong punch putting Karaev down ending the fight in about 38 seconds. Hari made quick work of Ruslan and now is best in their series at 2-1. Hari advanced to the semi-finals with this KO win. The consensus was it would end quickly with someone going down. The fight lived up to the hype. Karaev again takes a beating in his second fight in a row. This one not a prolonged beating as it was against Gerges.

Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira

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Semmy Schilt vs. Jerome Le Banner

One of the strangest bouts on the card saw Jerome Le Banner oppose the towering Semmy Schilt in the third quarterfinal. This could have been the last tournament bout in Jerome Le Banner’s career. JLB started off looking like he wanted to take Semmy’s head off but quickly faded. Schilt landed a kick that dropped Jerome but he rose very quickly. Another kick from Semmy dropped Jerome again and the fight was called.. No one at this point can question JLB’s heart as he is one of the legends of K-1. Schilt makes quick work of this fight and advances to the semis. It remains to be seen if Jerome will keep fighting in K-1 either in tourneys or at all.

Errol Zimmerman vs. Remy Bonjasky

The fourth and last quarterfinal pitted “The Bonecrusher” Errol Zimmerman against “The Flying Gentlemen” Remy Bonjasky. Errol had a lot of trouble getting through Remy’s defense in this fight. It was known that Remy had one of the best defenses in K-1 and it was the story of this match. Errol was very active throwing a lot of shots but most of them were deflected or missed. Remy on the other hand was throwing his trademark timely kicks and knees. The most important strike of the match was a punch late in the first that dropped Errol. Remy takes a unanimous decision; Errol is booted out of the tourney this year in the quarters as opposed to the semis where he was booted out last year. Remy, as many thought he would, advances to the semi-finals to face off with Schilt.

Sergei Kharitonov vs. Daniel Ghita

The other reserve bout involved former PRIDE and DREAM fighter Sergei Kharitonov taking on one of the best kickers in K-1 Daniel Ghita. Ghita’s legkicks were the telling factor here. Sergei’s lead leg took an ungodly amount of kicks from a very strong kicker in Ghita this entire fight. Sergei did not go down easy. He was throwing some punches in combinations here and there but it was a one sided fight. The punishment Sergei took in his legs was making him obviously less mobile throughout the fight allowing for Ghita to try landing his knees as well. Sergei was comically trying for some single leg takedowns in this fight going back to his mixed martial arts instincts. Finally in the third round Sergei drops from the accumulation of kicks and he does not make the count.  Ghita handles his business in this bout. A good comeback fight for Ghita in K-1 after being decimated by Schilt. Sergei is a great MMA fighter and displayed that in PRIDE. With that said, Ghita is not someone you fight in your K-1 debut. Sergei loses in his first K-1 match, who really knows if we will see him again in the K-1 arena.

Badr Hari vs Alistair Overeem

This fight was the most eagerly anticipated bout of the tournament. Most fans knew this match would come to fruition. The fighters knew this fight would happen as well. This was a much anticipated rematch from their 2008 Dynamite match where Hari was KO’ed quickly by Overeem. This time they met amidst the middle of the biggest K-1 event of the year. One fighter looking for vengeance (Hari) and one looking to add an exclamation point to the first fight (Alistair). The tension was high for this one. Even though Alistair was tossing Hari around the ring when they tied up, Hari remained focused. Hari flurried and caught Alistair sending him to taste the canvas. Once Alistair got up a barrage ensued from the “Bad Boy”. Badr Hari ended the fight with a headkick that made Overeem do the chicken dance. Hari gets his much needed revenge and gets a chance at the final for the second year in a row. Alistair gave this a valiant effort but he came up short. Alistair still had a very good win in the quarters, a scary KO over Tex. It is not all bad for him. 

Semmy Schilt vs. Remy Bonjasky

Here was another bout that offered some strange occurrences. This was of course the second semi-final of the night. Opening up the fight Remy came out uncharacteristically hard and fast. Remy managed to drop Schilt with a punch catching Schilt and everyone watching off guard. Remy seemed to give up on this plan of attack. After a storm of action when Schilt got up from the knockdown Remy seemed to slow down and go back to his old ways. Remy was then dropped by Schilt amidst the momentum shift and he barely made the count. After he rose it was more strikes from Schilt. Remy dropped again after a kick from Schilt and the fight was over inside one round. Remy just does not match well against Semmy. Remy tried to bring the fight to Schilt but that’s not his game. The defending champion Remy Bonjasky is eliminated. Schilt rematches Badr Hari in the final.

Kyotaro vs. Tyrone Spong

The superfight on the card saw “King of the Ring” Tyrone Spong lock horns with Japan’s Kyotaro. Kyotaro started fairly slowly as usual in this bout. During the course of the bout Spong’s jab really impressed, he was snapping it all over Kyotaro’s face. He was also working the body very nicely throughout. More importantly when it came down to round three Kyotaro did not take control as is his usual plan. In the third round it was Spong that turned up the pressure and definitively won the round. Spong started putting together punches and knees of course working behind a stiff jab. Kyotaro did land some nice kicks throughout the fight and did a good job of keeping the first few rounds close as he always seems to do. Spong’s defense especially in the last round was too good, not much getting through for Kyotaro. Spong gets a good win in K-1 hopefully leading to more success. Spong has a highly anticipated bout with Melvin Manhoef upcoming as well on the stacked 2010 May Its Showtime card. For Kyotaro it was another slow performance. Kyotaro looked great winning the K-1 Heavyweight belt and in KO’ing Kyokushin fighter Jan Soukup. Since then he now has two losses to Spong and Karaev. It will be interesting to see who Kyotaro is matched up with now and how he fairs against whoever that may be.

Badr Hari vs. Semmy Schilt

This was the moment of truth for both of these men, the chance to be crowned the best of K-1. This was a rematch of earlier this May’s Its Showtime bout, where Hari knocked Schilt out in less than one minute. The question was can Hari duplicate that or is Schilt too refocused and too aware. Also looming above both men was Peter Aerts Grand Prix record time, which they both were so close to breaking they could almost taste it. Hari was much too overanxious in this bout. He was very focused going in to the tournament and even during his first two bouts but watching this fight unfold it was hard not to feel like Hari was a bit too reckless. Maybe the omnipresent thought of Aert’s record and getting three KO’s in one night had an effect on Hari. Schilt did what he had to. Schilt dodged Hari’s assaults and capitalized on his wild aggression getting three knockdowns in round one. Hari constantly got up from each knockdown showing off his heart. Hari went into hyper attack mode after he rose each time. Schilt did a good job of remaining composed under the artillery of Hari. Schilt wins the 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix setting a new record time of 5 minutes 52 seconds. Schilt also ties Ernesto Hoost for most career K-1 WGP Championships. For Hari it is the second year in a row that he falls in the final. Next year he will surely be back hungrier.

Full 2009 K-1 World Grand Prix Results:

• Peter Aerts defeats Gokhan Saki by Unaimous Decision
• Badr Hari defeats Ruslan karaev by TKO (punches) in Round One
• Alistair Overeem defeats Ewerton Teixeira by KO (knee) in Round One
• Semmy Schilt defeats Jerome Le Banner by TKO (kicks) in Round One
• Remy Bonjasky defeats Errol Zimmerman by Unanimous Decision
• Daniel Ghita defeats Sergei Kharitonov by TKO (leg kicks) in Round Three
• Badr Hari defeats Alistair Overeem by TKO (head kick) in Round One
• Semmy Schilt defeats Remy Bonjasky by TKO (kicks) in Round One
• Tyrone Spong defeats Kyotaro by Unanimous Decision
• Semmy Schilt defeats Badr Hari by TKO (Kicks) in Round One

By Curt Meyer
ProFighting-fans.com MMA Staff Writer