Saturday, 25 May 2013 11:24

Alistair Overeem is a guy that is always full of surprises. First, he moved up to Heavyweight from Light Heavyweight and went from a very beatable fighter to an unstoppable freight train that is Ubereem. Just when it seemed like he would take the MMA world by storm, Overeem took to the K-1 ring where he saw some luck in his first year, and in his second year he went on to become the K-1 World Grand Prix Champion. So of course he made his return to MMA in the United States by defending his Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship against Brett Rogers then entered into the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix where he was able to defeat Fabricio Werdum in the first round of the tournament.

Fans have been fantasy booking Overeem's potential UFC run for a while now, with him either steamrolling the competition or being steamrolled himself, and in a recent interview he was asked what he would like to do after winning the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and the answer almost came out of nowhere; he wants to fight Vitali Klitschko, the Heavyweight boxer. Every shred of data that MMA fans and personalities have been pumping out into the public has declared Boxing as a dead sport, but Boxing still has a glamorous sheen that neither kickboxing or MMA present, with it questionable that they will ever catch up.

The logical move for Overeem would be to focus on the Heavyweight Grand Prix and not even imagine boxing, but the thought of one man winning a world championship in the three major combat sports is one that would make Alistair Overeem an instant legend unlike anything we've ever seen before. Vitali Klitschko began his fighting career as a kickboxer, with an apparent record of 34-1 to go with his impressive boxing record of 42-2. [source]

Saturday, 25 May 2013 11:24

Catalin Morosanu and Stefan Leko square off in the SuperKombat WGP event tomorrow in the main event in a bout that has seen Morosanu's opponent change multiple times. Finally the opponent landed on Stefan Leko, and Gladiatorium.ro caught up with him for some thoughts on the fight, and Leko sounds ready to take Morosanu's head off. [source]

Saturday, 25 May 2013 11:24

A new muay thai reality show is set to hit the airwaves on Sept. 15 across Asia. Being dubbed "The New Contender Asia," the show features 16 muay thai fighters from around the world, all vying for the title of Muay Thai World Champion and the grand prize of $100 000 USD.

Here's the official description:

Produced by the Imagine Group and The Group Entertainment, under supervision of the World Muaythai Council (WMC), the world’s governing body for the sport of muaythai, the reality competition series will be set and shot in Malaysia. Whether for glory or gain, 16 world-class fighters will fight it out to win the ultimate title of Muaythai World Champion and the grand prize of US$100,000! The fighters have been hand picked from a selection of international professional fighters from the WMC 128 member countries.

From Malaysia, Thailand, to Israel and South Africa, the motley crew of fighters trail blaze an impressive track record both in their countries and in the international arena, with numerous championship titles under their belts. With ages ranging from 18 to 35, the calibre of fighters is certainly unparalleled. Some have started their training since the tender age of seven, while others have fought The Contender Asia champion Yodsanklai and even won. With intimidating monikers like ‘The Cheetah’, ‘The Sniper’ and ‘Black Dynamite’, it is clear that the boys are not in town to play. With such high stakes, each and every fighter will not go down without a fight!

 Each week, the fighters will be subjected to a rigorous bout of training from their two trainers Hanarong and Nugget, revolving around the ‘weapon of the week’. These include spiritual ideals such as respect and fearlessness, as well as focusing on each component of their body, their natural weapon in the context of Muaythai.

Fighters:

Antoine Pinto (AKA Antuan Siangboxing)

Cedric Muller

Cyrus Washington

Fadi Merza

Frank Giorgi

Ilya Grad

Jason Woodham

Jesse Miles

Jordan Watson

Marco Pique

Mickael Chase Corley

Mohd Faizal Bin Ramli

Mostafa Abdollahi

Pidsanu Kunchat

Rhyse Saliba

Vuyisile Colossa

The show will features twelve episodes of one hour and the finale will be a two hour episode. It will be broadcasted on AXN, in primetime with two repeats a week.

Click here for the full press release.

Saturday, 25 May 2013 11:24

If you don't know Andy Hug, immediately go over to YouTube and search for his fights, that is really all that I can say to you. Andy Hug is one of the greatest kickboxers to ever grace the K-1 ring. Hug was a bit undersized to be fighting against the Heavyweights of the world but still not only held his own, but was successful. Love him or hate him, Bloodstain Lane's latest video does a great job of paying tribute to Andy Hug, who was diagnosed with acute leukemia in 2000, fell into a coma and passed away after multiple organ failure. [source]

Saturday, 25 May 2013 11:24

Generally speaking, when it comes to United States Muay Thai I leave it to great sites like MuayThaiAuthority.com to cover the latest news, but Clifton Brown and Warrior Caste Productions have a lot of interesting stuff planned. MuayThaiAuthority published this interview with figurehead Clifton Brown in June and most of us were just able to brush it off. American Muay Thai promotions have a certain stigma attached to them, as they mainly book the same talent and run in the same arenas. All of them start with big promises, talk of international talent and maybe for a show or two they will have some higher level international talent, but in the end the default seems to be the same group of twenty fighters spread out through certain regions competing against each other.

The MPL already has an incredible group of fighters announced, and there is a promise for more. All of the fields involve Muay Thai fighters, but also fighters who have participated in K-1 rules fight over the past few years, and I've been told of a few more names that the MPL are ready to drop as soon as things are settled, and kickboxing fans will have a lot to look forward to in the MPL. In some ways, it is like the ill-fated WCL, looking to make a huge, immediate impact and hope to be a success. The big difference is that the talent MPL has lined up and the classic league format (as opposed to WCL's team format) makes it accessible to all fans.