Shane Del Rosario might be USA's bigger hope. He's the current WBC MT heavyweight champ.
Carter Williams? (What's the coke story about? I haven't heard it)
Only 1 Thai champ prolly because K-1 doesn't like the Thais much (I've heard that said more than once from people who worl for K-1) That's the main reason you don't see Yod in MAX.
Almanac - Shane Del Rosario?
^^^^^This. He is a stud.
SILK - Shane Del Rosario might be USA's bigger hope. He's the current WBC MT heavyweight champ.
Carter Williams? (What's the coke story about? I haven't heard it)
Only 1 Thai champ prolly because K-1 doesn't like the Thais much (I've heard that said more than once from people who worl for K-1) That's the main reason you don't see Yod in MAX.
him or Steven "Wonderboy " Thompson!
How good is this Steven "Wonderboy " Thompson?
Almanac - How good is this Steven "Wonderboy " Thompson?
Wonderboy is good, but has only fought FC rules. He's a bit small to compete with the big guys in K-1 and has been out for the last 2 years? with a bad knee injury. He's making a comeback in a couple of months.
I'd love to see an American K-1 champ, but with the sport as dead as it is here now, the competition just isn't there. The depth of talent is too shallow. Maybe one of the good MMA guys can pull it off, but he needs to get some time in the K-1 ring.
Clip of Stephen Wonderboy Thompson. The same goes for him and Raymond Daniels bulk up or cut weight and fight K-1..
Dewey Cooper never really delivered in K1
Wonderboy, i'm pretty sure, has yet to lose in any kickboxing competition.
he's like 98-0 with 50+ somethin KO's
yeah he's too small to bang with the heavyweights but could prob make some noise in the lighter divs.
the best he's done is FC and WCL
also lives/trains like 5 mins down the road from me
ttt
Chike Lindsay- Could be a problem in K-1 MAX
we'll see an american k-1 champ about the same time the US wins a world cup...not likely
Almanac - Rick Roufus- passed his prime
What? What'chu talkin' bout, Willis?
Dude, he was WAAAAY passed his prime 10 years ago when he started K-1, which made it all the more impressive.
And I gotta say, I give Roufus all the respect in the world for fighting in K-1, especially at that point in his career. It totally made me eat crow at the time. I had a friend who basically seemed to have some kind of fixation on how Roufus, Alexio, good god even Don Wilson, would completely murder Hoost, Aerts, etc, and of course we got into ridiculous fanboy cat fights all the time.
When he lost to Le Banner the first time my friend was acting like I had the last laugh for being right, but as far as I was concerned Roufus kinda won just for having the balls to do it. (Good LORD did he eat Le Banner's low kicks extra hard...)
He could have ridden on his own coattails from all of his Full Contact style wins and talked smack about K-1 and anything with low kicks...ya know, like like Dennis Alexio did for the last half of his career? :P
But the man DIDN'T...too bad he didn't get in sooner. And too bad his fight with Andy Hugh back in 98 fell apart at the last second...I had a feeling that was gonna be a barn burner.
Don't even get me started on that Alexio/Roufus fight that fell through...Oh god, was Alexio gonna get hurt.
Carter Williams- cocaine
Is that what his problem is? I've been out of the loop for a long time and I always wondered WTF was up with him. He's one of the most technical fighters I've ever seen, period, which is kinda odd considering he's such a big dude. Oh yeah, he's freakishly fast for a huge freak of nature.
Plus he's young and should have plenty of miles left. If coke is the case, I hope he gets it under control. I remember around 95-96 I heard all sorts of crazy shit about Peter Aerts having a sick drug problem, all of it first hand. (you'll notice Aerts LOOKED like a crackhead around that time and got KTFO against Bernardo like I would against Bernardo) I heard people say coke a lot, others said heroin (which, as any of us who've been SO LUCKY to have had a friend or loved one with a wicked drug problem knows...that usually means both at the same time! And I so don't get the appeal of that...), but he he came back like a demon in 97 and 98.
Mighty Mo- The last USA man in the tourny
I love Mighty Mo. Problem is he's hot or cold: NOT a good thing for tournaments. He does great in single fights though. His win over Bonjasky is a seriously underrated piece of subtle K-1 genius. I could watch him time his psycho overhand right of death (TM) with Remy's flying knee all day...Remy's REAL lucky that he saw that at the last nanosecond. If Fedor Nelmarked Arlovski like that, I'd hate to think what would happen if Bonjasky jumped face first and practically on purpose into Mo's fist.
Patrick Barry- signed to UFC
Rick Cheek- ?
Raymond Daniels- MMA career sucks
Duane Ludwig- I wish
Ludwig is bad ass at both but it seems like he can't make up his mind, and you REALLY DO have to make up your mind between the two, even if you're a 1 in 50 billion gifted athlete, someone with a fraction of your ability but concentrates on one will catch you slackin'.
Will there ever be a K-1 champion from the United States?, I mean Brazil might get a K-1 champ before the USA does. I think its very important for an American to win the K-1 and carve a niche in Martial Arts history.. Thoughts?
Of course Brazil will have a K-1 champ before the US. Glaube. Duh...
I think most up and comin' guys/kids in the US are gonna go into MMA. Not just vs. K-1, vs. boxing and probably even mainstream sports like football and basketball. Ever since UFC took off you hardly ever hear about K-1 (and THAT'S opposed to before, when you'd hear about it every other fucking blue moon!) Hell, I've been a hardcore fan since 94 or 95 (when I was a pimply ass teenager) and even I have slacked on keeping up with it. Thank god for HDnet...
Thaiboxing/muay Thai is just a lot more popular in Europe and the old colonies. If there's gonna be a American GP champ, he's gonna be a bad ass MMA striker like Arlovski who always comes within an inch of the title but can't close the deal--kinda like a reverse Crocop, if that makes sense.
Anyway, who cares if its an American? I'm American as they come (well, without owning a Budweiser/American flag bandanna...) and I could care less where the champ's from as long as they're worthy. I mean, I kinda grew up on K-1 and I think one of the main things that drew me to it was watching all of the weird, awkward (even kinda prissy) European guys like Ernesto Hoost just MURDERING big scary looking freaks.
I just wanna see Semmy Schilt get low kicked to death in the finals before he retires. (Preferably by my man Glaube, though I did like the non-tournament ass kicking Aerts gave em...) If only that kid from Chakuriki he just fought had more experience...I thought he really had the right idea how to fight Schilt but couldn't stick to the game plan.
MAN am I sick of Schilt and his freak ass knees and inhumanly powerful front kick that actually finishes people...it's not even fair. He might as well be psychic.
OK, I've been up all night doing research and barely remember my name, so I apologize for answering a question by almost typing up War and Peace...
Mad Xyientist - Brandon Vera would be a good candidate if he eventually gets cut from the UFC.
Hell YEAH he would...I've never really thought about that for some reason. Speaking of all of this K-1/MMA overlap...
It's funny. I just remembered a few years back, when Crocop was the angel of death in MMA, and there were rumors of him fighting Tim Sylvia. Lots of people on here laughed when I said that, because of Crocop's unique striking weaknesses and Sylvia's unique (not to mention mysteriously effective...) striking strengths, and how odd their styles would match up, I wouldn't be surprised to see Crocop KTFO by a typical Sylvia right hand down the middle. (Oh! I was also teased, playground style, when I predicted Fedor was gonna be beating the crap outta Crocop if it was a long fight)
Anyhow, I rewatched Crocop/Kongo the other night...couldn't help feeling this sense of deja vu...as if I'd...I'd...never mind. I should stop this smarmy post before sleep deprivation catches up with me and I'll start cranking out even more ridiculous typos...)
Chitat -Almanac - How good is this Steven "Wonderboy " Thompson?
Wonderboy is good, but has only fought FC rules.
Oh good lord. Am I THAT out of it? Does that actually say that they still have FC rules kickboxing somewhere besides Bill Wallace's guest house? Am I losing it?
Linkage -Chitat -Almanac - How good is this Steven "Wonderboy " Thompson?
Wonderboy is good, but has only fought FC rules.
Oh good lord. Am I THAT out of it? Does that actually say that they still have FC rules kickboxing somewhere besides Bill Wallace's guest house? Am I losing it?
nah you read right. despite that, Wonderboy is no joke. i think it was GSP's trainer Firas(sp?) that said Wonderboy is, in their opinion, the greatest kickboxer alive.
Thanks for the input Linkage..
Linkage - Oh! I was also teased, playground style, when I predicted Fedor was gonna be beating the crap outta Crocop if it was a long fight
Belated congratulations on your half-correct prediction that the Pride Grand Prix and Heavyweight Champion would win a fight, Wankage! ;)
TTT
Shane Del Rosario-WBC Muay Thai heavyweight champ. Probably the best bet because of his youth and size alone. Has shifted his gears towards MMA the last year or so. DelRosario just won by ko at the recent M1 match.
Patrick Barry- another heavyweight kickboxer that just started setting his sights on MMA for bigger money
Mighty Mo ,Rick Cheek ,Scott Lighty & Dewey Cooper I believe will never win the GP. Like its been said in this thread, these guys want the bigger & brighter lights in MMA rather then kickboxing.
Raymond Daniels- (another Strikeforce fighter along with Del Rosario) if he could cut to 154lb he could represent America in K-1 MAX.
Stephen Thompson- all the hype on this kid he should ditch the pussy FC rules cut weight and fight K-1 MAX
Chike Lindsay- Undefeated 154lber from the USA.. This kid is a BEAST!!
If you guys know any up & coming Kickboxers, Thai boxers from the USA please post
Doubtful, if they have that kind of talent they'll be in boxing or MMA making a lot more money.