K-1 Olympia HERO's Korea Results
by Robert Sargent
The year of the upsets continued at K-1 HERO's in Seoul, with highly regarded middleweight Denis Kang falling victim to a first-round knockout at the hands of Yoshihiro Akiyama, and submission master Marcelo Garcia losing his debut MMA fight to Dae Won Kim.
Yoshihiro Akiyama vs Denis "Super Korean" Kang
Kang began the striking battle in this fight, landing stiff low kicks and a hard right hand. However, little else would go well for the Canadian, whose nose was badly broken moments later when Akiyama landed a lunging left punch, bloodying Kang and severely hindering his breathing.With blood covering his face, and later entering his eyes, Kang seemed to be in trouble. Sure enough, as Kang tried to blink the blood from his eyes, Akiyama backed him into a corner, faked a left and landed a solid right uppercut that dropped Kang and sent his mouthpiece flying. After a follow-up right from Akiyama, the fight was stopped at 4:45 of round one, giving Akiyama a tremendous victory in his career. Kang, who is one of the best middleweights in the world, falls to 27-9-1 (2 NC), while Akiyama improves to 10-1-0 (1 NC).
Dong Sik Yoon vs Fabio Silva
After beginning his MMA career 0-4 in PRIDE, Dong Sik Yoon made it three wins in a row (all by armbar in K-1 HERO's events) when he submitted Chute Boxe striker Fabio Silva in the middle of the first round.The fight was very much lopsided, with Yoon taking Silva down and freely passing his guard. After obtaining mount, Yoon locked in his trademark armbar and Silva tapped out at 6:12 of round one.
Zelg "Benkei" / "Little Cro Cop" Galesić vs Taiei Kin
Galesić finally got back on the winning track, albeit in disappointing fashion, as his battle with Kin was stopped after just 36 seconds when Galesić grazed Kin with a kick that sliced open Kin's eyelid, preventing him from continuing. The doctor stopped the fight, giving Galesić his first victory in Asia, and also his first victory in three fights.Min Soo "Mr. Shark" Kim vs Ikuhisa "The Punk" / "Minowaman" Minowa
After being completely destroyed by Brock Lesnar, Min Soo Kim won for the first time in five fights when he defeated former PRIDE star Ikuhisa Minowa by TKO in the first round.Kim, the much larger of the two, landed a series of unanswered punches on Minowa - who, ironically, was the fan favourite, despite the fact that Kim was the hometown fighter - and the referee stopped the fight at 3:46 of the first round. Kim improves to 4-6 while Minowa drops to 38-26-8.
Lee Tae-Hyun vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto
Tae-Hyun's training with Fedor Emelianenko and the rest of the Red Devils in Russia paid off, as he scored a TKO victory over Yoshihisa Yamamoto at just 1:03 of round one. Tae-Hyun improves to 1-1 while Yamamoto, having lost six straight fights, falls to 7-17-0.Marcelo Garcia vs Dae Won Kim
After losing his last fight to Joe Doerksen, Dae Won Kim rebounded in this fight, scoring a TKO victory over legendary Abu Dhabi submission fighter Marcelo Garcia early in the second round.After shadowboxing during the introductions, Garcia immediately abandoned any inclinations to strike and took Kim down with an early takedown. After moving from half-guard to mount, Garcia attempted an armbar before taking Kim's back and sinking in both hooks. However, Kim did a good job of defending the choke attempts, but Garcia eventually used his leg to trap Kim's arm, nearly securing the choke before the bell rang.
Having survived the submission onslaught, Kim came charging out to begin round two, landing a series of rights that rocked Garcia. As Garcia attempted a desperation takedown, Kim telegraphed it, landing a vicious knee to Garcia's head and forcing a doctor stoppage 20 seconds into the round. Kim improves to 4-3, while Garcia falls to 0-1 in MMA.
Shungo Oyama vs Carlos "The Ronin" Newton
After losing to Melvin Manhoef for the second consecutive time, Oyama bounced back with a victory over former UFC Welterweight Champion Carlos Newton.Newton, looking to be considerably out of shape fighting at 187 pounds, served largely as a punching bag for Oyama's left jab throughout the fight. To Newton's credit, he survived well into the third round, but a solid left from Oyama dropped Newton, who turtled up and offered little defence as Oyama unleashed a series of hammerfists, bloodying Newton and forcing him to submit due to strikes at 2:42 of the third round.
Other fights in the night saw Heo Min Seok, Magomed Sultanakhmedov and Ryo Kakigawa all win by TKO (strikes), and Daisuke Nakamura and Poai Suganuma both win by armbar submission.
