The Shrine

.... But the biggest story comes in the form of Peter Aerts..... Being the youngest K-1 Champion in history at the age of 23; now at the age of 40, battled his way through the tournament; facing undefeated 4 time champion 7 foot tall Semmy Schilt in the Semi-finals. Tied at the end of the second round, and taking some serious damage... Peter Aerts dominated Semmy Schilt through the third round to a victory; the first time the former champion has ever lost a match in this tournament.


(Seriously, this picture is not too far off from what the two fighters actually look like, Schilt even had Dolph's hair colour and cut, just a little shorter)

Unfortunately, unlike Rocky, he had to face this guy an hour and a half later:



Who just came off fresh after breaking Gohkan Saki's arm early in the first round of his semi-final match.

The match was quick and deadly, and Overeem stood as champion over a KO'd Peter Aerts in under 1 minute into the first round.... Although it was clear that Aerts was the people's champion tonight.




One more tidbit, with the 17 times Aerts has competed in the annual tournament, he has competed in it more times than all the other 7 fighters combined (14, with Semmy Schilt's 5 making him the next most experienced competitor).

...And less than three weeks later he literally destroys the 265 pound Todd Duffee who has the fastest KO in UFC history, and wins his third championship (Dream).

Despite being considered to be the prime example of the "new breed" of heavyweight UFC fighters, Todd Duffee was kicked from the UFC because UFC President White claims he didn't like his attitude. That is how he managed to end up against Overeem.



Since moving up in weight, Overeem has proven to be nearly unstoppable. Right now the only one who I do think can beat him is a fresh Badr Hari in a K-1 rules match. He accomplished WAY more than anyone else in boxing, K-1, or MMA did this year by far. The next biggest accomplishments were Werdum defeating Fedor, and Velasquez defeating Lesnar is probably third.





Other notable fights include poor Sakuraba getting his ear punched off, OUCH.

Also this fight was awesome (Aoki = MMA Submission, Nagashima = K-1 Max fighter), it's really too bad the below video cut out the intro, Nagashima's intro was really.... interesting: Rules round 1 and 3 are K-1 and 2 and 4 are MMA. Aoki essentially kills the first K-1 round by cheating and acting like a coward; I hate him so much after this fight... The next round is a real spectacle though:

Let's be clear, that fastest win in UFC history was his first UFC fight, and then he got knocked out by a guy he was dominating for most of three rounds. Beating him does not improve Overeem's standing any.

Kupek could take em.

Actually, it did increase his standing. Alistair Overeem is now in the Guiness Book of World Records for being the only fighter to hold three belts in three major promotions at once.

As far as I am concerned, Overeem is #1 in the world of combat sports.

There is no one in MMA who can beat him. UFC's current top guy is slower, smaller, fights a less complex game, and WAY less experienced. Fedor is a few years past prime, and his decline has shown in his last three fights.

K-1, he has Badr to worry about; a full strength Saki could decision him, but I see Overeem KOing Saki most of the time. Schilt is someone I don't ever like to count out. Either way, currently Overeem is K-1 champ with only one guy who could beat him most of the time.

I could certainly see Overeem KOing Vitali or Vladimir, each before the end of the third round in boxing. Despite what boxing fans say, I don't think there's even much of a question. Overeem hits like a wrecking ball, and has demonstrated very solid hand work. In kickboxing, either would likely go down to a knee in the first.

I'm not saying Overeem is bad, just that beating Duffee does not improve his standing - I don't care about the belts he has, I mean his reputation as a fighter. As an analogy, if Stephen Hawkings aced the GRE subject test in physics - which is not an easy task for kids just graduating - it would not improve his standing as a physicist.

I'm also not convinced he would demolish the UFC competition, but I'd love to see those fights. He may, he may not - that's why the fights are actually fought.

I need to get back to watching more of this stuff. Probably the only sport I have any interest in.

Now is a fairly good time to get into it as well, especially with this tournament just announced:



This is perhaps the most stacked MMA tournament in North American history; although the winner will very likely be decided at the semi-final bout between Fedor and Overeem.

Kupek, I don't disagree if you are just looking at the fight as a win over Duffee; but in reality, it is a 19 second crushing victory over Duffee, which holds a lot more weight in my opinion.

Last I heard, it was unknown if Barnett was going to fight in the tournament because they were unsure if he could get a license in the states the fights are in.