How to watch old K-1 Max?

Worked my way through the 2005 and 2006 finals as well. I thought 2005 was certainly less exciting than the amazing 2002, 2003, and 2004 events, but nevertheless I still thoroughly enjoyed it. Wasn't sure about that decision going against Buakaw in the final, though...

2006 was just epic. The first two quarter finals were great fights, the semi-final war between Masato and Souwer was sensational, and then Buakaw left no doubt whatsoever in the final. Souwer was exhausted by the Masato fight and took his eye off Buakaw twice. Big mistake. Interestingly, I noticed how Buakaw seemed to fight at a more measured, economical, and slower pace than he did in his previous two appearances in the GP. He really picked his spots all night.

One last point. It's noticeable that on these broadcasts, Buakaw fights are typically the ones selected to be edited down to highlights. It's happened three times so far. I managed to find the full bouts elsewhere, but it's definitely noteworthy.
 
Just finished the 2007 GP. Epic from start to finish. Really thought Masato was going to win after his performance in the quarter-final, beating Buakaw, and then winning the semi-final by KO. But Souwer chopped his leg to pieces in the second round of the final, and made him quit on the stool! Really didn't see that one coming. Brilliant bouts, a metric ton of action and technique, and the pace of every fight was absolutely relentless.
 
You get Masato, Souwer, Buakaw, Zambidis, Krause and Schiavello - of whom I think I said on here about a decade ago, is the best commentator outside of Richie Benaud.

You're in for plenty of treats, TS.

Also, the 2008 tournament is a favourite for the drama.
 
Mob69 said:
You're the famous Shunsuke! I've heard of you. Only just realised. Good to know you.
Click to expand...
Good to know you ! I wish you a pleasant Kickboxing viewing journey. you're in for a treat with the 2008 Finals.

pupil said:
shunK-1fan,
who would be in your top 5 kickboxers list of all time ?
Click to expand...
Ernesto Hoost
Petrosyan
Peter Aerts
Buakaw
Masato

it's hard to pick 5.
 
shunK-1fan said:
Good to know you ! I wish you a pleasant Kickboxing viewing journey. you're in for a treat with the 2008 Finals.


Ernesto Hoost
Petrosyan
Peter Aerts
Buakaw
Masato

it's hard to pick 5.
Click to expand...

2008 was epic. Simply epic. The quarter-finals may well have been the best four-fight sequence I’ve ever seen. Just incredible. Overall the pace was absolutely relentless. And great boxing by Masato to take the GP.
 
I've just finished the 2009 and 2010 WGPs so thought I would post a few observations...

Zambidi vs Chahid was utterly insane. Michael Schiavello's call on that fight may be the best I've ever heard. Glorious stuff!

Those K-1 judges really hate Buakaw, don't they?

Petrosyan is a technical marvel. So precise and fundamentally sound. Genuinely great fighters could do almost nothing against him.

That said, the atmosphere for both the 2009 and, particularly, the 2010 events wasn't at the fever pitch of the period 2002-08. Those events featured constant and really intense crowd heat. This was more muted in 2009, and radically more so in 2010 - particularly when Petrosyan himself was in the ring. The 2010 final between Petrosyan and Sato had no atmosphere whatsoever. Part of what made the earlier WGPs so enjoyable to watch was the extraordinary atmosphere in those arenas!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my journey through the MAX WGPs. The 2002-2008 events are certainly the best and most exciting combat sports tournaments I've ever seen.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone in the community who posted links and offered advice in this thread! I'm very grateful.

So, to the future - what should I look for in the post-2010 world of the lighter weight classes? More Petrosyan? Tournaments in other organisations?
 
Mob69 said:
I've just finished the 2009 and 2010 WGPs so thought I would post a few observations...

Zambidi vs Chahid was utterly insane. Michael Schiavello's call on that fight may be the best I've ever heard. Glorious stuff!

Those K-1 judges really hate Buakaw, don't they?

Petrosyan is a technical marvel. So precise and fundamentally sound. Genuinely great fighters could do almost nothing against him.

That said, the atmosphere for both the 2009 and, particularly, the 2010 events wasn't at the fever pitch of the period 2002-08. Those events featured constant and really intense crowd heat. This was more muted in 2009, and radically more so in 2010 - particularly when Petrosyan himself was in the ring. The 2010 final between Petrosyan and Sato had no atmosphere whatsoever. Part of what made the earlier WGPs so enjoyable to watch was the extraordinary atmosphere in those arenas!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my journey through the MAX WGPs. The 2002-2008 events are certainly the best and most exciting combat sports tournaments I've ever seen.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone in the community who posted links and offered advice in this thread! I'm very grateful.

So, to the future - what should I look for in the post-2010 world of the lighter weight classes? More Petrosyan? Tournaments in other organisations?
Click to expand...
thats why a lot of k-1 Max fans consider that the event died without masato in 2008, or in 2010 when Buakaw and Souwer were not invited to participate.

For me, K-1 max goes until 2008, 2009 is a tough year but didnt have the same aura.
 
Mob69 said:
I've just finished the 2009 and 2010 WGPs so thought I would post a few observations...

Zambidi vs Chahid was utterly insane. Michael Schiavello's call on that fight may be the best I've ever heard. Glorious stuff!

Those K-1 judges really hate Buakaw, don't they?

Petrosyan is a technical marvel. So precise and fundamentally sound. Genuinely great fighters could do almost nothing against him.

That said, the atmosphere for both the 2009 and, particularly, the 2010 events wasn't at the fever pitch of the period 2002-08. Those events featured constant and really intense crowd heat. This was more muted in 2009, and radically more so in 2010 - particularly when Petrosyan himself was in the ring. The 2010 final between Petrosyan and Sato had no atmosphere whatsoever. Part of what made the earlier WGPs so enjoyable to watch was the extraordinary atmosphere in those arenas!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my journey through the MAX WGPs. The 2002-2008 events are certainly the best and most exciting combat sports tournaments I've ever seen.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone in the community who posted links and offered advice in this thread! I'm very grateful.

So, to the future - what should I look for in the post-2010 world of the lighter weight classes? More Petrosyan? Tournaments in other organisations?
Click to expand...


in 2011, theres its showtime tournament "fast and fury", and in 2012 there is "k-1 max" but waaay to soft compared to the great years

2012 also haves the glory Grand prix for 70kg
 
Mafanofe said:
thats why a lot of k-1 Max fans consider that the event died without masato in 2008, or in 2010 when Buakaw and Souwer were not invited to participate.

For me, K-1 max goes until 2008, 2009 is a tough year but didnt have the same aura.
Click to expand...

Yes the audience reaction was very different in 2009, and even more so in 2010. It just didn’t feel the same.
 
Last edited:
Mob69 said:
Yes the audience reaction was very different in 2009, and even more soon 2010. It just didn’t feel the same.
Click to expand...

MAsato back in his fight days, he was a superstar in japan, a lot of fans and histeric girls used to fill the stadium just to watch him fight, masato retired early, with 30yo( in 2009 New years eve)

Guys like Buakaw, Sato and Souwer were also big in japan, but nowhere near to Masato´s fame
 
Mike Schiavello said:
Nice THANK YOU!
I haven't seen some of these shows since I commentated them.
Click to expand...

Nice to have you here @Mike Schiavello ! I'm a big fan of your commentary since back to the K-1 days and happy to have you commentate fights in on One FC now :)

Your passion and excitement comes across in your commentary and you have some quite iconic quotes, big respect!
 
Mob69 said:
I've just finished the 2009 and 2010 WGPs so thought I would post a few observations...

Zambidi vs Chahid was utterly insane. Michael Schiavello's call on that fight may be the best I've ever heard. Glorious stuff!

Those K-1 judges really hate Buakaw, don't they?

Petrosyan is a technical marvel. So precise and fundamentally sound. Genuinely great fighters could do almost nothing against him.

That said, the atmosphere for both the 2009 and, particularly, the 2010 events wasn't at the fever pitch of the period 2002-08. Those events featured constant and really intense crowd heat. This was more muted in 2009, and radically more so in 2010 - particularly when Petrosyan himself was in the ring. The 2010 final between Petrosyan and Sato had no atmosphere whatsoever. Part of what made the earlier WGPs so enjoyable to watch was the extraordinary atmosphere in those arenas!

I've thoroughly enjoyed my journey through the MAX WGPs. The 2002-2008 events are certainly the best and most exciting combat sports tournaments I've ever seen.

I'd just like to say thank you to everyone in the community who posted links and offered advice in this thread! I'm very grateful.

So, to the future - what should I look for in the post-2010 world of the lighter weight classes? More Petrosyan? Tournaments in other organisations?
Click to expand...

There's the "It's Showtime" events which are on UFC fight pass which was pretty much the organization in-between peak K-1 and peak Glory, then after that the early Glory events which were stacked. The first few cards if I remember correctly Glory 1 in Stockholm was great, Glory 3 in Rome had a 70kg tournament with a lot of the K-1 names, also Glory 4 Tokyo with the heavyweight tournament, I was personally in attendance of Glory 5 London and it was also a good card, Glory 9 New York had the LHW tournament where Spong really shined.

So yeah if you want to continue in your Kickboxing watching, especially smaller weight classes, check out It's Showtime on UFC Fight Pass (there might be some events on youtube but not many), and then the Glory events.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,237,817
Messages
55,518,639
Members
174,807
Latest member
Mapichtli

Share this page

Back
Top