Several sites, including Shoto.com , are reporting that Josh Barnett will face Rene Rooze on the K-1 MMA card "Romanex" , which will be held on 5/22 in Japan.
It is reported to be an MMA fight.
Rooze won his last match in December 03, via KO over Tadao Yashuda.
Barnett's last fight was a win over Semmy Schilt.
Gotta go with Josh.
Rene can throw down however, and he has a reputation of being a somewhat "dirty" fighter. He was dq'd against Heat Herring for excessive fouling. His style is Muay Thai.
Yup - Rooze is tough as nails, but when shit hits the fan he's a little like Yvel and will bite and gouge.
What's the deal with the dutch fighters being so notorious for that stuff?
Yvel, Bob Schreiber and Rene definately have the rep of being dirty. Gerard Gordeau as well.
I don't know ? Maybe a win at all costs attitude.
Yvel dug his own grave after the Frye spectacle. You have'nt seen him invited back to Pride after that.
Here's the latest.
Theme will be K-1 vs. Team Inoki.
So far, Sapp will fight Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura will fight Alexey Ignashov, and Barnett vs. Rooze. BJ Penn vs. Duane Ludwig was reported earlier as a possibility. I've read nothing positively confirming that fight. I hope it happens.
others mentioned:
Team Inoki will be from these names:
Fujita, Shinsuke Nakamura, Blue Wolf, Josh Barnett, Lyoto Machida, Masayuki Naruse, Kazunari Murikami, Dolgosuren Sumiyabazul, Sylvester Terkey, and Tom Howard.
Team K-1 will be from these names:
Sapp, Alexey Ignashov, Michael McDonald, Sam Greco, Genki Sudo, Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, Jerome LeBanner, and at least two others, possibly Peter Aerts and Francisco Filho.
another top-notch opponent for Barnett. didn't Rooze lose to Sakuraba?
Rizzo was reportedly fighting a K1 MMA match, what a wasted opportunity they should have put together Rizzo-Barnett 2. Their first encounter was one of the greatest fights of all time
I find it sad that Barnett is taking fights like this...he should be in there against the ELITE heavyweights. He should have been in the Grand Prix, that was a huge opportunity for him.
A win over Schilt, sure that was great, but he had already done that. There was no need for the rematch. The win over Ambriz was decent too. But other than that he's fighting guys like Kondo (way too small) and Rooze (who?...yes I've heard of him, but he's hardly an elite heavy.)
Even though Barnett's suspension is over and he is back now, as long as he's not taking on the elite guys, he's just sorta stagnant...not gonna move up in the rankings, and probably eventually gonna move down, even if he keeps winning.
This card is one day before Pride "Bushido" 3. I would expect a full card to be announced shortly.
Could be a few surprise entries - Ludwig vs. Penn would be one of them. Another name mentioned as a possibility has been Royler Gracie. Both "Kid" Yamamoto and Genki Sudo have been rumored as possible opponents.
Also - a "hot" rumor in Japan right now is that former WWE star Brock Lesnar is being "pursued" by K-1 FEG for future appearences. Don't be surprised if he shows up at the card and does some "mic work".
K-1 is paying "handsomely"
Yawn.
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