The K-1 World GP Japan 2017 Lightweight Championship Tournament went down last night in Tokyo’s Yoyogi National Stadium, and it was full of exciting fights, crazy knockouts, and several uniquely Japanese moments. The main tournament featured eight kickboxers battling it through three fights in one night, an impressive feat even before you consider K-1 has 10 counts that require you to knock your opponents senseless multiple times to win.
That didn’t stop the tournament from featuring lots of highlight reel finishes which most North Americans will never get to see because we’re sleeping on kickboxing like utter fools. Let’s get to some of those highlights, which include more shots of the very cuddly looking K-1 Pokemon creature, below.
An absolute beast of a knockout: Rukiya KOs Hiroshi Mizumachi with a jumping switch kick:
★K-1×Krushモバイルにて速報中！
初代ライト級王座決定T・リザーブファイト
瑠輝也衝撃のKO勝利！！
試合ダイジェスト詳細は⇒https://t.co/8iDDYID4R0#k1_wgp pic.twitter.com/H13LA9bsgt
— K-1【Official Account】 (@k1wgp_pr) February 25, 2017
Masaaki Noiri tenderizes Younes Smaili with knees, kicks, and punches to the head:
Beautiful high knee by Masaaki Noiri to end R3. #K1_WGP pic.twitter.com/TbbGMKwX2T
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) February 25, 2017
Katsuya Jinbo assaults Taketo with endless punches before putting him down with body shots:
https://twitter.com/Grabaka_Hitman/status/835382767957463040
The K-1 Pokemon!
https://twitter.com/Jolassanda/status/835425856616947712
And we have no idea what this is about:
城戸康裕(34) pic.twitter.com/z6Ng1xojdt
— K-1◪bot (@New_K1_bot) February 25, 2017
If you’re interested in seeing more combat sports highlights in your Twitter feed, follow Grabaka_Hitman and Jolassanda. For full videos from the K-1 World GP Lightweight Tournament, check out this YouTube channel.
Full results:
Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal:
Cristian Spetcu defeats Toshiki Taniyama by unanimous decision
Wei Rui defeats Daizo Sasaki by knockout (punch) in round 2
Gonnapar Weerasakreck defeats Koya Urabe by unanimous decision
Ren Hiramoto defeats Brice Delval by majority decision
Lightweight Tournament Semifinal:
Wei Rui defeats Cristian Spetcu by unanimous decision
Ren Hiramoto defeats Gonnapar Weerasakreck by knockout (punches) in round 1
Lightweight Tournament Final:
Wei Rui defeats Ren Hiramoto by split decision
Taiga defeats Hirotaka Urabe by unanimous decision (super featherweight title fight)
Hinata Watanabe defeats Shintaro Matsukura by unanimous decision
Masaaki Noiri defeats Younes Smaili by unanimous decision
Ibrahim El Bouni defeats Makoto Uehara by knockout (left hook) in round 2
Rukiya defeats Hiroshi Mizumachi by knockout (jumping switch roundhouse kick) in round 2
Katsuya Jinbo defeats Taketo by knockout (body punch) in round 1
Kensei Kondo vs. Atsuto Matsumoto ends in draw
Hiroto Ishizuka defeats Yuta Kuwata by unanimous decision
