K-1 'Dynamite 2009' Preview

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hiroshi Izumi

The Storyline: Izumi is another highly accomplished judo player that Sengoku was looking to promote heavily. Among other titles, he won the men's -90kg category silver medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 and the gold medal at the World Judo Championship Games in Cairo, Egypt, one year later. However, it all went bad when the 27-year-old was knocked out by fellow MMA rookie Antz Nansen in the main event of Sengoku 10 in September. Against the frequently unsuccessful yet always entertaining Shibata, Dream wants to show its rival promotion how to set up a win properly. Or do they really?

Shibata passed through the Japanese amateur wrestling system as a teenager and made the switch to pro wrestling at age 20. For the next five years, he worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling and also challenged for the IWGP junior heavyweight title once. Always employing a very realistic style, he also tried his luck in K-1 and MMA bouts. From 2007 on, he concentrated on MMA full time but with little success. Pitted against much more experienced opponents, he remained without a win in seven straight bouts. This year, he finally ended that pitiful series with back-to-back wins over fellow pro-wrestlers Minowa and Ishizawa.

The Breakdown: The game plan for both fighters is easy: Shibata will look for control from the top or even to stand up and bang, and Izumi will want to play on the bottom. Shibata lasted more than six minutes with seasoned pros like Sakuraba, Akiyama and Sakurai; that’s why he will certainly be no pushover for Izumi. Quite the contrary, he presents a nasty matchup for the judoka, as everybody expects the pro wrestler to lose, but Shibata’s confidence will be at an all-time high following the two good wins, which are a clear sign of improvement.

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The Prediction: Unless Izumi has worked his butt off in the gym for the past three months, he should have his work cut out for him on Dec. 31. Go with Shibata to score another first-round referee stoppage by way of ground-and-pound en route to deserving the award for most improved fighter of the year.