K-1 MAX Crowns New Champion

The K-1 MAX Grand Prix 2009 is over and a new MAX champion has been crowned. For the complete news, plus news on this weekend’s big K-1 ColliZion and It’s Showtime cards, check our new site at HeadKickLegend.com – providing you the same great coverage you expect from the team at K-1 Legend.

Photos from Ultimate Glory

Golden Glory has posted a huge gallery of great pictures from their Ultimate Glory event. Lots of great stuff. Check out all the pictures at mixfight.nl here.

Video: Yuya Yamamoto Promo

Next up in the MAX finalist promo videos: Yuya Yamamoto. Be sure to turn on English subtitles, as he has some great things to say.

HDNet to air K-1 MAX Final on one week delay

Bad news for US fight fans – HDNet will not air the MAX finals until Saturday, October 31 at 11:00 pm EST, almost 1 week after they take place. As their website makes clear, this delayed presentation will be the premiere airing of the show.

Sadly, this kind of move shows that while K-1 gains traction in the US, it is a long way from MMA levels of popularity, and MAX faces an even steeper uphill battle. We’ll have results here before it airs.

Video: Morosanu v. Junichi Sawayashiki

A great destruction by Morosanu here. If he gets in this groove this weekend, Mo is in big trouble:

In the aftermath of the Kin fight, it’s also interesting to watch how close Morosanu comes to late hits in this fight. He really needs to get that under control.

Video: Mighty Mo v. Hong Man Choi

Our preview of K-1 ColliZion continues with main eventer Mighty Mo in, arguably, his finest hour. Any newer fans who may not know Mo so well are well served to check this one out:

Preview of K-1 ColliZion

This is a jam packed weekend for kickboxing fans, with big shows from It’s Showtime, K-1 ColliZion, and the K-1 MAX Finals on Monday. All week we will preview the weekend’s events, starting with ColliZion today.

This Saturday’s K-1 ColliZion card is an interesting beast. What started off looking like something of a freakshow card has evolved into one of the most exciting smaller shows of the year, with a couple of highly competitive and interesting fights. While the undercard features some notable fighters (mainly Petr Vondracek and Freddy Kemayo), we’ll focus on the top three fights of the night, as these are the draws that make this card.

ALEXANDRU LUNGU v. JUSTICE SMITH (MMA rules)

This is one of two fights ColliZion determined by fan voting, as it was going to be either Lungu v. Smith or Lungu v. Butterbean. Justice Smith won by a narrow margin, and now looks to follow in Gina Carano’s footsteps by making the transition from American Gladiator to combat MMA fighter. Smith does have limited experience in MMA and kickboxing, including an MMA loss to UFC #1 contender Shane Carwin, and a kickboxing loss to Mighty Mo, but make no mistake, it is not his ring experience that gets him this spot, it is his high profile role as American Gladiator Justice. As a bonus for pro wrestling fans, Smith may also be recognizable as one of the contestants on WWE’s Tough Enough, losing to fellow MMA fighter Daniel Puder.

Buakaw Promo Video

Great video of Buakaw training and a reminder of just how vicious he can be.

Contender Asia Season 2 Postponed Again, Bang Ludwig Pulls Out

The news surrounding the upcoming second season of The Contender Asia has been pretty grim this week as rumors persist that the show will not take place at all. Those who have followed The Contender Asia have been frustrated to see the second season postponed time and again for everything from holidays to construction delays to fog. Now, fighters are beginning to share that frustration, including announced participant and UFC veteran Duane “Bang” Ludwig:

After multiple postponments, I’ve decided to pull off the Contender Asia 2 to refocus on MMA. I want to fight, and was forced to pull off the show while they sort out some things. Check back often for an announcement of my next MMA fight.

This is a notable blow to the show, not because Ludwig is essential to the production, but because it shows how little confidence those directly involved have in the show. As rumors of financial problems and other unknown delays persist, it’s beginning to look like we may never see season 2.

Check back later this week as we will have more coverage on the long, bumpy road for The Contender Asia Season 2.

K-1 LEGEND Interviews It’s Showtime’s Simon Rutz

Europe’s It’s Showtime promotion is a company that has achieved great growth over the past 10 years, and today stands tall as the top kickboxing organization in Europe. With a number of anticipated upcoming shows and fights, there is growing interest in the company on an international level. K-1 Legend recently had a chance to interview It’s Showtime founder and CEO Simon Rutz to get his thoughts on the past, present, and future of the company.

K-1 Legend: It’s Showtime has come a long way since it first opened ten years ago, with 2009 looking to be a particularly strong year. How do you feel as you look back on the company’s progress?

Simon Rutz: I started my company in 1998 and organized my first event in 1999. In the beginning people where laughing about our formula, which put sport and entertainment together. Now, people like this formula and almost every event is sold out. Especially in the last 2 years we’re growing very fast with events in the Netherlands, Belguim, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, Greece, etc.

K-1 Legend: How about the future – where do you see It’s Showtime in 5 years?

SR: In 5 years the situation will be totally different than now. Next year we are organizing 9 events, but I think that in 5 years we’ll be organizing between 15 and 20 events a year. Also our management is growing very fast, from 50 fighters now to maybe 100 in the future. But our main business is and shall be the organization of fighting events. Also, in 2011 we will introduce something new for our organization, but for now I can say nothing about that.