K1 Gladiators 2001 Report, 3/17/2001 Yokohama, Japan

Report by Steve Mayer.

Cyril Abidi vs. The Great Kusatsu.

Round 1: Abidi comes out aggressively and it looks as if Kusatsu is going to fight defensively like most of the Japanese fighters. Kusatsu does try and counter occasionally but mostly it is Abidi chopping away Kusatsu's legs. The Japanese fighter does try a few things such as a spinning back punch which gets the crowd behind him despite not doing any damage. Abidi appears to take this round rather easily.

Round 2: Abidi backs Kusatsu into the corner and really picks his shots, alternating with leg kicks to put his opponent off balance and then going to the head with punches. Unfortunately for Abidi, while hammering away he slips and falls off balance. Kusatsu seizes this opportunity to rally and swarm Abidi with a flurry of punches that sends the Frenchman reeling across the ring. Abidi even turns his back on Kusatsu and he gets kicked from behind. He regains his composure, however, and ends the round by backing Kusatsu into the ropes yet again and peppering him with shots. Most likely an even round but Kusatsu's flurry was rather dramatic and might sway some of the judges (who usually tend to be inclined towards their home fighters anyway).

Round 3: Abidi once again is doing well until he loses concentration and turns his back on Kusatsu again while moving. He did the same thing in last year's Grand Prix and it shows really poor judgment. Kusatsu makes him pay by attacking him from behind. Abidi fights defensively for a moment and they exchange leg kicks with Abidi appearing to get the better of things yet again. However, by giving Kusatsu free shots he gets the crowd into the match and Kusatsu appears to gain confidence. Realistically an Abidi round but once again Kusatsu's brief flurry could sway some judges to pull out an even round.

Round 4: More of the same but to a greater extreme. After shaking off the effects of a low blow, Abidi really works Kusatsu over in the corner. Despite bloodying his nose, Abidi never really rocks Kusatsu, but the Japanese fighter is clearly tiring from the beating. Some fairly good defence from Kusatsu but nothing effective in the way of countering. Clearly an Abidi round, possibly a 10-8 one at that.

Round 5: Kusatsu realizes that he has to be aggressive here to pull anything out. They trade some good shots in the centre of the ring, but Kusatsu appears to tire and it ends with Abidi backing him into the ropes yet again. Should be another round for Abidi.

The Judges decision: The first score is 50-48 for Abidi. This sounds about right, as Abidi never lost a round. Perhaps a bit generous on Kusatsu's end. The next judge's score is announced as 50-49 for Kusatsu!!! Unbelievable ! K1 is notorious for homer judges favouring the Japanese fighter, but this is just ridiculous. This guy had Kusatsu not losing a single round, when you could argue that he lost 4, and he was clearly dominated in 2 of the 5. Abidi looks ticked off, and rightfully so. Luckily for him, justice is served when the final judge scores it 50-47 for him. Abidi takes the 2-1 split decision.

Glaube Feitosa vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako.

Round 1: Good even round as both guys spend the entire fight in the centre of the ring boxing and alternating leg kicks. As even a round as you are going to get.

Round 2: Again things are looking very even when Glaube catches Nakasako with a left-footed Brazilian Kick which slides just over Nakasako's glove and catches him on the top of the head. Nakasako crumples but staggers up to his feet before the 10 count. The ref. checks him and appears to be about to let him continue before changing his mind and calling it. The wobbly Nakasako makes a feeble protest but it appears to be a warranted stoppage.

Stefan Leko vs. Jurgen Krut.

Round 1: Leko shows why he is one of my favourite fighters by bounding forward and pushing the action despite the substantial size advantage of his opponent. Leko throws hard punches and lands some good shots but as he gets in close, Krut grapples with him and tries to pull his head down for a knee. Krut really wants to land a knee, and Leko seems to realize that he is in dangerous territory in close so he modifies his style somewhat by sticking and then dancing out of range rather than constantly rushing in. The round ends and is probably an even one, but if forced to chose, a slight edge to Leko.

Round 2: Leko again throws some hard straight punches, while Krut's technique doesn't seem as crisp. Krut does have a reach advantage though, and while his blows look clumsy he does land them with some regularity. Krut ties up Leko once more and when Leko pulls away to avoid a knee, Krut catches him with a right hand that drops him. Leko immediately pops up and tries to wave it off as a slip but it was a legitimate knockdown. Leko looks fine, but must still be feeling the effects as Krut rushes him and physically bowls him over with a flurry of blows. This counts as the second knockdown, though no one single punch was all that damaging. Leko has about a minute to kill if he wants to escape the danger of the 3 knockdown rule.

He doesn't make it, though. Leko throws a punch while moving backwards just as Krut's unleashes a big right hand. Krut's punch finds the mark and Leko goes flying backward and lands flat on his back. It looks spectacular and it earns Krut the victory. Leko sits up and is okay and seems more mad at himself than hurt.

Ray Sefo vs. Michael MacDonald.

Round 1: MacDonald starts strong and smacks Sefo with a nice punch-high kick combination. Ray responds with his trademark smirk which opponents just have to hate. MacDonald lands another good shot and this time Sefo forgoes the smirk and responds with leather instead. He rocks the Canadian with a right hand and than a punch rush forces MacDonald to the canvas. MacDonald gets up only to be swarmed again. Sefo throws three big overhand rights, all of which just barely miss the fleeing MacDonald. Sefo bulls Macdonald into the ropes and unleashes some more punches and MacDonald goes down again. Replay doesn't reveal any of the shots actually landing, however. MacDonald seems completely aware but waits out the 10 count on the mat before getting up. This looked really strange. There probably was a punch that the camera missed, but it looked like MacDonald just gave up and decided to call it a night before getting really caught with one of Sefo's bombs.

Nicholas Petas vs. Peter Varga.

Round 1: Petas is a crowd favourite due to his Kyokushin background and the fact that he speaks Japanese. He also plays to the crowd with some of the flashier kicks the fans like to see. Varga, however, doesn't care about flash and is all business landing a number of good punches. Left and right hooks back Petas up and have him in some trouble before the bell sounds.


Round 2: It looks like a two round sweep as Varga once again blocks the spinning kicks of Pettas and fires back with basic but effective punches. Pettas gets swarmed and takes a fairly substantial beating before landing a big high kick. Varga is unfazed by the head kick, however, and fights on to carry the round.

Round 3: Petas senses the need to turn things up and he rushes Varga with a flurry of punches. Varga weathers the onrush and fights off Petas. Varga seems to be ready to take command yet again when a Petas low kick catches him right above the left ankle. Varga buckles a bit and then Petas kicks him again in the exact same spot and he goes down. Varga is hurt and doesn't answer the bell. Petas pulls out the timely K.O. despite being on the losing end of 2 1/2 rounds of action.

Mirko Cro Cop vs. Peter Aerts.

Round 1: Mirko is an exciting fighter when he fights aggressively but too often in these big bouts he fights not to be knocked out. He is very cautious here and ties up whenever Aerts gets in close. Mirko does have the quicker hands, though, and catches Aerts with a number of shots before these clinches.

Round 2: Mirko pulls out both opening rounds by effectively smothering Aerts whenever he gets in close and by getting off first with extremely quick kicks and punches. He never really strings any combinations together, but one punch here and one kick there before tying up are enough to get the job done on the scorecard considering that Aerts can't seem to find the range on anything.

Round 3: Aerts looks really slow and gets hit a lot. Moreover, he can't seem to get his shots off without being tied up by Mirko. The fight looks really sloppy but Mirko is effectively keeping Aerts from doing anything with his wrestling tactics while slowly accumulating points.

Round 4: Aerts goes hunting here, chasing Mirko around the ring. He seems to realize that he needs one big shot to turn this fight around. Mirko seems content to sit on his lead and doesn't take any chances. This round probably goes to Aerts based on aggression but he really didn't land any significant blows that I can recall.

Round 5: Aerts is aggressive yet again, but despite his intentions he can't corner Mirko. Mirko ties up and actually gets a warning for his holding and stalling tactics. Another ugly round with Aerts looking slow and ineffective and Mirko looking passive.

A disappointing fight because both have exciting offensive arsenals when matched against the right opponent. These styles clashed here, however, and didn't produce much in the way of fan enjoyment.

The Judges' decision: 49-49, 50-48 for Mirko, and 50-48 for Mirko. The Cro Cop takes the majority decision. He earned the victory by doing what he had to early and then coasting for the rest of the fight. I would rather he fought differently but I guess he got the result he wanted, so who am I to complain.

Mike Bernardo vs. Jerome LeBanner.

Round 1: This is the fight I really wanted to see. I think either one of these guys would have won the Grand Prix last year had they not both been sick-injured. LeBanner comes in with his awesome Conan entrance and looks as if is going to an execution (someone else's). Bernardo looks just as serious, though somewhat less menacing due to all the religious imagery associated with his camp.

I give LeBanner a ton of credit for not pulling out of this fight, seeing as how he injured his left leg earlier this month. In the pre-fight show we got a good look at his stitched up left shin, and he fights tonight with his leg heavily bandaged.

There is a palpable feeling of anticipation as the ring introductions are conducted. Everyone in the arena knows someone is going to get knocked out. It is just a question of who.

Neither man disappoints at the opening bell as they go right at each other. Le Banner thumps Bernardo with a number of leg kicks and Bernardo fires back with a kick of his own which lands low. LeBanner isn't too shaken up, though, and they touch gloves and go right back at it. LeBanner's punches are so hard they knock Bernardo backwards despite getting his gloves up to block them. LeBanner wades forward and both guys land solid shots to the head but neither man gives the slightest indication that they hurt.

Bernardo eventually gives ground to LeBanner's onslaught and finds himself backed into a corner. LeBanner just unloads on Bernardo but Mike stays calm and blocks most of the incoming bombs. Bernardo fights his way out of the corner but keeps on taking abuse but at only one point in the round has he shown visible effects of the damage; his legs buckling briefly after a particularly hard shot.

With less than 10 seconds left it looks like a clear LeBanner round, when all of a sudden a huge uppercut changes everything. LeBanner's head snaps back and Bernardo is all over him. About a dozen punches go unanswered as left-right-left-right all find the mark on LeBanner's head. The ref. steps in between them at the bell just as a crushing right hand drops LeBanner. The ref also goes down from the force of the blow and confusion sets in.

The round is clearly over, but LeBanner is down for the count. Bernardo celebrates, spiking his mouthpiece and climbing the turnbuckle to scream to his fans. LeBanner is up now, however, and his corner are complaining that the round was over before the K.O. The officials meet and rule that, indeed, LeBanner was saved by the bell and that there will be a round 2.

Bernardo has to come down off his high and get ready for another war because LeBanner is now up and seems fine and ready to go. As the time ticks on between rounds Bernardo and his camp look visibly peeved as it appears LeBanner's corner is stalling. LeBanner's trainer is trying to remove LeBanner's gloves under some pretense or other. It looks as if he is just trying to buy time for his fighter to recover. Even LeBanner is getting pissed as he wants to fight now and is resisting his cornerman's antics. Then just as suddenly LeBanner's corner throws in the towel and the fight is over.


A muddled ending but just an incredible round of action. In less than 10 seconds Bernardo turned the entire fight around, landing a dozen punches and taking a victory in impressive fashion. Despite just being one round, this was as good a K1 fight as anything that took place in all of last year. A great finale to an excellent show.