Kid Peligro Jiu-Jitsu News . . . K1 Dynamite Field Notes and Paparazzi Gallery
Submitted by:Kid Peligro
Kid was fortunate enough to attend the K1 Dynamite show this past Saturday at the LA Coliseum. The event will have plenty of regular coverage so here are my field notes:
- Reaching the Coliseum was nuts, the last 1/2 mile took over 30 minutes because of the horrendous traffic jam.
- Upon entering the stadium, Kid received his press credentials. With all his connections etc, he ended up as "Bob Uecker" would put it: "In the front row!" NOT, I ended up assigned Uecker type seats at the press box, up high near the sky at the Coliseum. After much threatening (and much more pleading), I was able to get a floor pass, but since I didn't have a ring photo pass, I ended up getting more paparazzi type photos than fight photos except during Royce v Sakuraba's match, when I was able to sneak by and get up closer and snag a few better shots.
- Tons of celebrities were present including U.F.C. Champion Quinton Jackson, Mega Star Nicholas Cage, Olympic Gold Medalist Mo Green, NFL star Keyshawn Johnson, Joe Rogan, Denis Rodman, K1's Ray Sefo, other fighters galore Vitor "Shaolin, Murilo "Ninja", Frank Trigg, "Crazy Horse", "Big Daddy " Goodridge, Renato "Babalu", Marcelo Garcia and many others.
- "JZ" Cavalcante has some good hands and quickly destroyed Nam Phan
- Jake Shields was in form, it will be nice to see him against tougher opposition. He's one of the tops in his class!
- Former NFL receiver Johnny Morton was laid out by a right hand and stayed down for some time. I can just imagine the headache the next day. After seeing Morton KO'ed recently retired NFL star Keyshawn Johnson stated: "That's why I don't fight!" Morton is now probably considering a position similar to Johnson in the broadcast booth : )
- Stay away from "Mighty Mo" strikes, the man has dynamite in his fists especially the right. When he connects you go down!
- The Korean fans went wild when Korean fighter Don Sik Yoon reversed the course of the action and submitted Manhoef with a clean sweep to arm-bar. During the fight their cheering and striking with the inflatable props made it look and feel like a Soccer World Cup match. Yoon also demonstrated a great ground game with his Judo. He showed that World Class Judo medals don't come to just anyone, the skills that earned him a bronze medal in the World Championships and four gold medals in the Asian Championships are transferring well to MMA with each match.
- Hideo Tokoro is a really exciting fighter, his constant movement and attacks are something to watch. His opponent Pickett has great hands, look for big results when his ground game develops further
- Sakuraba is a great fighter. I've watched him fight 2 or 3 times and he never stops impressing me with his fight demeanor. He is calm at all times in the match and he never appears to be in trouble or breathing hard. He did appear frustrated by Royce's strategy. as he looked to his corner several times with an annoyed expression. Royce's front kicks seemed to take him off his game and cause him a lot of trouble
- Royce's game plan was very good, see above. Royce's conditioning was even better. At the end of the first round he appeared completely spent, then after the one minute rest, he was back to near 100%. He seemed to be gaining strength with each round as he looked fresher going into the third round than the second. Props to his conditioning coach James Strom
- K1 Dynamite had a large attendance, unofficial word from the promoters states it around 54,000 making it the largest MMA attendance in the USA to date. I cannot imagine there were less than 30,000 in attendance. Additionally, they seem to be capturing a new sector of public that was perhaps largely ignored by other fight promotions with the Korean and Japanese community in LA coming to see their stars.
- Brock Lesnar is the real deal. His wrestling skills unpeachable, his size and strength - off the chart. If he keeps training and fighting he could reach the top of the World quickly!
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