TOKYO, Sept. 7 — Ariake Coliseum on the artificial islands of Odaiba played host to the quarterfinals and semifinals of the K-1 HERO’s tournament, which determined the two fighters who would gain entry into the finals of the 154-pound tournament.
In the finals of the B bracket, Yamamoto took on former SHOOTO welterweight champion Caol Uno (Pictures). Uno entered the ring and did his pre-fight trademark by lying down stretched out on the mat, while “Kid” Yamamoto came down the ramp followed by a small army of what seemed like every member of the Killer Bee dojo.
Not much happened in the first round. The fighters mostly shadowed each other around the ring. Yamamoto threw some vicious bombs, but Uno, who had a good attempt at a takedown by trying to catch a kick, was able to dodge most of them.
Round two was much more active than the first. Uno continued his takedown strategy, grabbing one of Yamamoto’s kicks and tripping him to the mat. Just as “Kid” struggled back to his feet, Uno managed to get around behind him and within a blink of an eye the two fighters fell through the ropes and almost right out of the ring.
Upon returning to the squared circle Yamamoto stalked, always looking to unload heavy bombs for a one-punch knockout. It seemed like Yamamoto wanted to keep this one standing, while Uno, despite always having his eyes open for the takedown, was willing to trade with his dangerous challenger.
Often after his shots Uno ended up in a clinch. On his way out from a takedown attempt, Yamamoto, standing next to the ropes, nailed Uno with a right. Uno sustained a cut from this strike and the fight was paused for a doctor check.
After a few nervous moments Uno made his way back to the center of the ring and the fight continued, but not for long. Uno went in for a shot and the two fighters ended up in a clinch. Blood started to pour from the cut, which was located next to his eye, and the referee opted to stop the fight. Yamamoto was declared the winner.
It’s always a real disappointment whenever a fight ends this way, especially when this one was really heating up in the second round. To his credit, Yamamoto had some excellent takedown defense. Unfortunately, we never really got to see the Uno display much of the brilliant ground game for which he is renowned for.
After the fight, Yamamoto said that the only damage he had suffered was to his lip and that he doesn’t expect to have any trouble with Sudo in December. He further stated that he doesn’t think Sudo is that good on the ground.
In the finals of the A bracket, the always entertaining Sudo took on tough SHOOTO fighter Hiroyuki Takuya. Sudo spent a lot of time circling the ring, dodging punches and spinning out of his opponent’s way. However, this theatrics sometimes got him in trouble, as Takaya was able to land some solid kicks and punches while Sudo moved around.
Sudo totally dominated the wrestling portion of this match. You can never tell when he’s coming in for a takedown — he’s lightning quick and never telegraphs his shots. In fact, he was often faking his opponent out, looking up as if he was going to through a punch, and then driving in for the takedown.
In the second, Sudo had a nice leg submission attempt from the guard. After some more running around the ring, Sudo fired a punch that caused Takaya to slip. A brief scramble ensued, with Sudo eventually taking Takaya’s back. From here Sudo made a beautiful transition to an armbar. Takuya struggled a bit, was able to roll with it, only to fall into textbook triangle. It wasn’t long before Takuya was tapping.
HERO’s promoter Akira Maeda had some comments that I found to be rather shocking during his interview at the end of the event. He said that he was not impressed by Sudo’s performance on this night and that his style was too sneaky. He further stated that he prefers somebody who fights like a man. I’ll let the readers make up their own minds on this one.
In his quarterfinal bout, “Kid” took the lead in the “Knockout of the Year” race. On the receiving end of this was Royler Gracie (Pictures). Both of these fighters came to the ring with a small army of people behind them; there was barely enough room to fit everybody in the corners.
Not much happened in the first round of this one. Both fighters were being extremely cautious, circling each other around the ring. The Brazilian threw some fairly feeble looking kicks while Yamamoto looked for that one-punch knockout. Towards the end of the first, Gracie jumped up on his standing opponent and apply a guillotine choke, but to no avail.
In the second, it wasn’t very long till Yamamoto found the punch he was looking for. Gracie had his head up as he was coming in for a knee and Yamamoto threw a beautifully timed right hook that caught Royler on the chin. The Brazilian collapsed backwards and landed flat on the mat.
This was a truly vicious punch. Gracie was out before he hit the floor. The doctors immediately jumped into the ring and the stretcher was brought out from underneath the ring apron, but in the end he awoke and was able to leave the ring under his own power.
Unfortunately, dear readers, this reporter had to work today, so I missed the quarterfinal match-up between Sudo and Kazuyuki Miyata. Just as I entered the arena I could hear the crowd roaring with cheers and applause. I managed to catch the final few seconds of this one on a TV monitor near the press check-in area.
My Sherdog.com teammate Stephen Martinez was able to fill me in on how this one went. Apparently, Miyata completely dominated the wrestling end of the first round, taking Sudo down at will. Keep in mind that Sudo is an incredible wrestler, so that tells you just how freakishly talented a wrestler Miyata is. From here, Miyata pounded Sudo on the ground.
Miyata was winning this match then, in a heartbeat, Sudo took his opponent’s back. From here, Sudo executed a beautiful transition right into a textbook armbar. Miyata had no choice but to tap.