K-1 "Dynamite!" Card Finalised
by Robert Sargent
With health issues affecting Jerome LeBanner and Joachim Hansen, K-1 officials have announced the cancellation of Hansen's bout with Gesias Calvancante, while middleweight knockout artist Melvin Manhoef will replace LeBanner against Mark Hunt.
The annual event, which is undoubtedly the most prestigious MMA and kickboxing event of the year, also pits legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Kiyoshi Tamura against each other.
This year's "Premium Dynamite!" event also features a trio of intriguing bouts that see three of MMA's top stars competing against some of the best K-1 kickboxers in the world in kickboxing bouts.
DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi will take on Musashi, top DREAM lightweight contender Tatsuya Kawajiri will battle Kozo Takeda and DREAM heavyweight star and current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem will go to war with Badr Hari, who is widely recognised as one of the top three kickboxers in the world today.
In MMA bouts, the card shines brightly despite the losses of Hansen and LeBanner. After Fedor Emelianenko was crowned as the first YAMMA Unified Heavyweight Champion at Affliction: "Banned" in July, the first-ever YAMMA Unified Lightweight Champion will be determined when submission wizard Shinya Aoki faces highly-regarded striker Eddie Alvarez.
Elsewhere, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović returns to competition after his disastrous performance against Alistair Overeem at Olympia Dream.6, as he takes on Korean giant Hong Man Choi. Another behemoth, Bob "The Beast" Sapp, also returns to competition when he battles Japanese fan favourite Akihito Tanaka.
In other bouts, Hayato "Mach" Sakurai battles Katsuyori Shibata, Semmy "High Tower" Schilt takes on Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga, Andy Ologun faces Yukio Sakaguchi, Daisuke Nakamura squares off with Hideo Tokoro and Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa takes on rising kickboxing star Errol Zimmerman.
The night also features a Koshien Under-18 Kickboxing Tournament, which will see the winner having to defeat two opponents on the same night.
K-1 "Premium Dynamite!" takes place on New Year's Eve and should be one of the top events of 2008.
