The Kid and Genki Sudo will face each other in the finals of the K-1 Hero’s 154-pound tournament at the K-1 Dynamite show on New Year’s Eve.
Such was the conclusion at the third-ever Hero’s show Wednesday night where Sudo and Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto were both successful in their two respective fights in order to advance to the finals of a tournament that began in July.
Sudo overcame Kazuyki Miyata with an armbar submission before submitting Hiroyuki Takaya with a triangle choke later in the night in order to secure his spot. Yamamoto beat Royler Gracie by knockout and then Caol Uno by stoppage due to a cut.
The show, which was broadcasted from 9 to 11 pm on the Tokyo Broadcasting System Wednesday, was a humongous ratings success. This was expected due in large part to the superstardom of the Kid in Japan. The show did a 17 rating with a 20 share with Kid’s match against Gracie scoring a 22.1 quarter hour rating. The show ended up beating PRIDE, which scored a 13.1 on Tuesday, August 30 with perhaps the deepest card, in terms of talent, ever. Yamamoto’s victories only will be helpful to K-1 on the hotly contested ratings battle for New Year’s Eve, when their Dynamite show will likely be opposed seriously by both PRIDE and an annual concert head-to-head.
The show took place at the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo with an announced crowd of 9,950 people. PRIDE begins their “Bushido” series tournaments in lightweight and welterweight divisions on September 25 in the same arena.
In the war between the two companies, K-1 seems the best prepared. Yamamoto has anchored Hero’s, Masato has done the same with K-1 Max (until an injury earlier this year), and Bob Sapp, who remains a star. PRIDE’s main stars—Cro Cop and Kazushi Sakuraba—have suffered bad losses. Hidehiko Yoshida has limited possibilities. Fedor Emelianenko leads an amazingly talented roster but that includes no major Japanese stars.
1. Atsushi Yamamoto defeated Katsuya Toida by unanimous decision in five minutes of round two.
2. Koutetsu Boku defeated Hermes Franca by majority decision in five minutes of round two.
3. Yoshihiro Nakao defeated Fai Falamoe by submission with an armbar in two minutes and 35 seconds of round one.
4. Genki Sudo defeated Kazuyki Miyata by submission with an armbar in four minutes and 45 seconds of round two.
5. Hiroyuki Takaya defeated Remigijus Morkevicius by TKO at four minutes and 16 seconds of round two.
6. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto defeated Royler Gracie by KO in 38 seconds of round two.
7. Caol Uno defeated Hideo Tokoro by unanimous decision in five minutes of round two.
8. Akira Kikuchi defeated Kiuma Kunioku by unanimous decision in five minutes of round three.
9. Sam Greco defeated Shungo Oyama by KO in two minutes and 37 seconds of round one.
10. Genki Sudo defeated Hiroyuki Takaya by submission with a triangle choke in three minutes and 47 seconds of round two.
11. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto defeated Caol Uno by TKO in four minutes and four seconds of round two.
