[Fantasy Man]

With two of its more profiled participants Royce Gracie and Morton in his MMA debut....big name in Japan and former NFL standout......,(THREE if you include Hung Choi) failing their drug tests, K-1's brand of MMA has already tarnished its image.

Some additional things to consider............

I.) Lackluster main event, featuring two of the most revered legends in the sport in what was supposed to be a continuation of one of the most storied fights in MMA hx. Not only did Sakuraba fail to showcase all that which made him the supposed MMA "God" being marketed to the N. American fanbase, but with Royce testing positive for steroids, a highly anticipated (for the Japanese at least) MEGA rubber-match (No way Saku was going to get the decision) is now up in the air......An event which was sure to be a huge cash cow for K-1.

II.) Co-main event debut of Lesnar was a joke, where his opponent clearly wanted nothing to do with the fight. Appeared as though half the fans left before this fight even began, as if they forgot about it following the Sak-Royce fight.

ETC......ETC......

Although the whole hip-hop flava atmosphere (DJ and all), was a refreshing change and concept; seemed to have gone over very well based on crowd response (can't believe someone hadn't tried these things before), these things alone couldn't make up for the rest of the event.

Seems as though K-1 dropped the ball with what was supposed to be their coming out party to the US MMA market.


Though all is not lost for K-1 America.......despite recently reported to be broke, there are rumors that former NBA/WCW legend Dennis Rodman has reported a vested interest into purchasing the company in hopes of restoring some credibility for the US MMA fanbase.....






......Somewhere Uncle Fester is smiling!

[Travis_K]

I was in attendence and I had a super fun night, although the dj was annoying and the production was a little over the top. but hey, it was their first event so cut them some slack.