LAS VEGAS, August 7, 2004 -- Mighty Mo turned some heads when he upset Carter Williams back in April at the K-1 Battle at the Bellagio II. On this night, the Californian boxer and Muay Thai fighter pummeled some heads en route to total victory at Battle at the Bellagio III. With his win, Mighty Mo advances to the September 25 K-1 World Grand Prix Final Elimination and a shot at this year's World GP Tokyo Dome Final.

Held at the fabulous Bellagio Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, the Battle at the Bellagio III featured an eight-man attrition tournament stocked with accomplished fighters. Much of the tournament betting action went to K-1 USA 2003 Champion Carter William, who at 5/2, was the co-favorite on the Bellagio Sports Book's big odds board (the other 5/2 fighter was Sergei Gur). The longshot bet, at 13/1, was Brecht Wallis of Belgium, who happened to be Williams' opponent in the first quarterfinal.

Despite Wallis' poor showing on the odds board, at 194cm/116kg he had the size to do the job, and as K-1 Scandinavia 2004 Champion, he had the experience to boot.

Wallis stepped in unburdened by pressure, whereas Williams carried not only the wagers, but also a whole lot of expectations. Williams had told reporters beforehand that he would stick with what he does best, punching, and although he started the fight with a couple of low kicks, he soon got the right hook working against his southpaw opponent to score a down midway through the first. He connected a couple more times with the same punch to close out the round.

The second was slower, Williams stepping in a couple of times with the right hook, which Wallis was now blocking better. Wallis didn't put together much of an attack here -- save some feeble knees, he was defensive throughout.

But in the third, Vegas fans experienced firsthand just how quickly things can change in K-1. With Williams comfortably up on points and an apparent victory just 125 seconds away, Wallis suddenly snapped up a left kick to the side of his jaw, dropping Williams to the canvas in a heap. Veteran referee Cecil Peoples took one look at the downed fighter and immediately waved off the count, silencing the crowd and sending Wallis through to the semifinals.

Menacing Swede Jorgen Kruth won the K-1 Italy GP this year, and in the second Bellagio quarterfinal he met Rony Sefo, brother of K-1 superstar Ray. The Junior Sefo was a late substitute here, and there were concerns about his lack of preparation time.

Sefo didn't look sharp in the first, but a tentative Kruth was unable to turn this to his advantage. There were some good kicks here, but nothing damaging from ether side. There was more action in the second, Sefo starting with a flurry of punches, Kruth smart with combinations on the counter. Kruth got a straight left punch through, and launched a couple of flying knees here, but Sefo, in the family tradition, would not quit, and came back with some good attacks of his own, including a nice high kick.

In round three, Kruth began to chase Sefo, although Sefo reversed the momentum for a spell and moved in with some body blows. But here again, Kruth just had the better stuff, and Sefo looked fatigued. Throughout, Sefo seemed to be waiting for an opening, while Kruth just kept up the strikes, scoring enough in the process to take a unanimous decision.

The 211cm/147kg Jan "The Giant" Nortje of South Africa met K-1 Russia 2003 Champion Alexander Ustinov in the third quarterfinal matchup. Uncharacteristically light on his feet here, Nortje the southpaw took it to Ustinov in the first, stepping in nicely with the quick right jab, clocking his opponent good with the left late in the round. The second was flat, but for a brief period in the early going when the two traded punches.

Thing picked up in the third, Ustinov in with a good low kick and right straight punch early on, a now-bloodied Nortje getting the left hook in twice in the last half of the round. The few occasions when the Giant improvised and threw an extra punch or two were some of his best attacks, but he was mostly unable to follow up. Ustinov, who is something of a giant himself at 198sm/122kg, hung on to take a unanimous decision and earn a trip to the semis.

Mighty Mo's first-bout opponent was the compact but tough 26 year-old Sergei Gur of Belarus, who won the K-1 GP in Marseilles this January.

Gur, who fights bigger than his 184cm/99kg, came out with some hard low kicks to start the round, but Mo got inside and answered these with hooks. Mo kept bulldozing forward, and rarely let Gur set up his technical attacks. This was the easily most spirited of the quarterfinals -- both men were aggressive and ready to mix it up, and much of the action happened in close. The difference came in the second -- Mo and Gur were attacking at the same time, but Mo's fist connected, sending the Belorussian to the canvas, where he kneeled, shaking his head in frustration.

That was the turning point, but Mo certainly did not ride out the bout with his points advantage. He remained aggressive in the third, again and again preempting Gur's leg attacks with his quick punches. A solid right rattled Gur, who, it must be said, also kept on coming till the very end. A hard-fought battle, with Mo taking the well-deserved unanimous decision.

And so Brecht Wallis and Jorgen Kruth stepped in for the first semifinal. These two met in April of last year, Wallis taking the decision at that time. Here, Wallis threw low kicks and moved in with straight punches, while Kruth tested with high kicks. The first round was even, neither man doing much damage. This was, by K-1 standards, a good technical bout, but by midway through the second, with the two fighters' similar styles interpreted as a stalemate, some boos were heard from the audience.

Aware of the disapproval, the pair picked things up in the third. Big-biceped-Wallis had the more powerful punches here, but both men got through frequently. Not an easy one to call, but judges liked Wallis and so he was on his way to the final.

With Ustinov unable to continue due to a leg injury, Scott Lighty, a 25 year-old Muay Thai fighter who had KO'd Frank Cota in the tournament reserve bout, was handed the chance of a lifetime when he was parachuted in for the semifinal against Mo.

Alas, the Cinderella story never materialized. Although Lighty looked fresh, fast and capable -- and threw a couple of good strikes -- Mo put a right punch over and in on his kisser a minute into the bout to turn out the Californian's lights and secure himself a date with Wallis in the final.

Healthy but hungry, Mighty Mo and Brecht Wallis were a good matchup for the final. During introductions the crowd put itself solidly behind Mo, although there was some scattered support for the Belgian.

From the first bell, both fighters stepped in repeatedly, Mo using his right to effect in the first round, getting it up and over Wallis' guard to rattle the Belgian, who was, however, firmly planted and absorbed the punishment with no apparent ill effects. Wallis worked the kicks, but was less than dominating with his attacks. Slowly but surely, Mo took control of this fight.

In the second Mo pushed in with the left and followed with his right. Wallis did not wield his left with the same expertise, even though Mo frequently carried his guard low. The attack impulse finally came to Wallis midway through the second, and he got through with a left punch that jolted Mo's head back. Wallis' left low kicks also seemed to be stinging Mo's lead leg as the round progressed. But whatever shift in momentum might have been developing here died when Mo got that big right through one more time to lay Wallis out flat for a KO win and the tournament Championship.

"Tonight was a great victory for me," said Mo from the winner's circle. "It was all about timing and power." Asked about his winning strategy against Wallis, Mo replied, "He wanted to kick, but I was able to get the better with my punches. That is my strategy, anytime -- I will gladly take a kick to throw a punch!"

There were three Superfights on the card.

The first came after the quarterfinals and featured K-1 superstar Ray Sefo of New Zealand and American Marvin Eastman. A wide-open brawler, Eastman lost in the semifinals to eventual Champion Michael McDonald at the Battle at the Bellagio II. Sefo, meanwhile, is a K-1 legend and Los Angeles resident who was lacing them up in Vegas for the first time. Sefo had predicted the contest would be all-out war: "My opponent and I play the same game, so it will be rough, we won't see the last bell." Sefo was right and then some. In fact, the end of this fight was unlike anything ever seen in K-1.

From the start this was a tough tango, the two men in quick and hard, throwing some kicks but for the most standing toe-to-toe, brutalizing one another with quick and wicked punches. The crowd was loving it.

Then, after a Sefo high kick apparently grazed Eastman's eye, the American fighter turned away and leaned over the ropes. A confused Sefo waited a moment, then made to move in on his opponent. At this point, referee Jon Schorle showed some confusion of his own, and called a time stop.

After a brief delay, with Eastman apparently recovered, the fight was resumed and Sefo rushed in with his fists blazing. Faster than you could say "Kiwi Amok," Eastman was hunched over and Sefo was raining blows down at will. The referee moved in, and decided to stop the fight and declare Sefo the winner. Only 1:32 of the first round had expired.

At first, Eastman and his cornermen were nonplussed. Next, they then erupted in protest. Then, things got really weird. When Sefo moved toward his opponent's corner to check on and thank him, as is the custom in K-1, Eastman answered the courtesy call with trash talk.

There were probably about a dozen people in the ring at the time: the two fighters, several cornermen and team members from each camp, a couple of ringside officials, an announcer and the referee. Sefo turned away and headed back through them and toward his corner, but Eastman followed, with more taunts.

Sefo had this to say later: "I am a fighter, if I am in a ring and someone screams, 'Let's fight!', then I fight."

It is not clear exactly what the instigating Eastman said to Sefo, but it was swiftly answered with a fight, and Eastman went down. People from both camps then jumped in -- some desperate to make peace, others keen to make war. There was screaming, grabbing, punching and kicking, and the testosterone-charged melee was only contained when armed Las Vegas Metropolitan police officers raided then emptied the ring. A terrible scene.

A second Superfight saw former Sumo Grand Champion Akebono (203cm/215kg) step in against American legend and six-time world kickboxing champion Rick "The Jet" Roufus, who came out of retirement for the bout. Akebono had dropped his first three K-1 starts, but was nonetheless well regarded by Vegas betters -- odds on the big guy opened at 4/1 but had dropped to just 2/1 on fight day.

There was a deafening fan reaction at the sight of Akebono, and a loud cheer when his weight, "474 pounds!", was announced ("Hey, he's heavier than me!"). This was an entertaining bout, Akebono ever moving slowly forward, Roufus ducking and dodging to keep from being corralled into the corner. Akebono's defenses seem to have improved, Roufus tried a bit of everything -- low and high and spinning and ax kicks -- but could not get through with his legs. When Roufus switched to body blows, Akebono's vast and amorphous stomach swallowed these up and neutralized them

Roufus did not look sharp in general. Akebono, meanwhile, was only rarely able to get at The Jet, and was penalized a point when he resorted to Sumo-style pushing to force his opponent into the corner. When the referee later tried to warn Akebono a second time, the big guy lost another point for brusquely brushing him off.

But the crowd loved this dance, loudly cheering both fighters throughout. Roufus took the unanimous decision.

"It was an honor to fight Akebono," said Roufus in his post-bout interview. "Honestly, based on the tapes we saw, my game plan was to tire him out, but he just kept on coming. He is a powerful fighter, I take my hat off to him."

The final Superfight was a classic power versus speed matchup -- Trinidadian-Canadian brawler Gary Goodridge taking on the smallish but speedy American Dewey Cooper, who went all the way to the final at the Battle at the Bellagio II this April.

After instigating a nose-to-nose staredown during the referee's instructions, Goodridge charged forward from the bell, intent on outmuscling his opponent. But Cooper was deft with his lateral movement, and quickly scurried away, crab-like. This resulted in an almost comical scene: Goodridge chasing, Cooper keeping the distance by scurrying sideways, the referee in synchronous motion, all three spiraling round the ring. Had they circled a couple more times it is likely the backpedaling referee who would have fainted first from dizziness.

But things settled down, Goodridge moving to a meat-and-potatoes punching attack. It looked like Cooper would have a tough time hurting his opponent -- at the clapper to end the first, Goodridge dropped his guard and absorbed a dozen punches, then followed Cooper back toward his corner with an "Is that all you've got?" attitude. The psyche-out cost Goodridge the round on scorecards, of course, but he made up for that in the second and third.

Here, Goodridge again dropped his guard and invited Cooper to mix it up, but the fit American elected instead to answer with front kicks. Cooper's best chance came after he threw a high Kung Fu kick -- Goodridge countered with a high kick, which was countered with a flying knee. But as Cooper began to work the knee from in close, the referee stepped in for a break to put a quick end to the attack.

Goodridge earned a down late in the second when the two made contact in the center of the ring. Cooper protested that he was executing a kicking attack at the time Goodridge punched him, and so the call should have been a slip not a down, but the referee was not persuaded. In the third, Cooper willingly put himself in the corner, desperate to make up points with his knees. He worked his legs valiantly, but fell just shy of what he needed. Cooper was up on one card, but Goodridge took the others for a split decision.

There was other action on the Bellagio card -- the crowd particularly enjoyed a female fighters' matchup that saw former Playboy magazine bombshell LaTasha Marzolla brutalize Nikki Darham of England. In other undercard action, Anthony Brown beat Brian Warren, and an aggressive Raul Romero of Mexico overwhelmed Las Vegas native Tommy Glanville. In a K-1 World Max matchup, James Martinez looked vicious in dispatching Rob McCullough.

As always, Scott Coker's K-1 USA team pulled put together a tight, top-flight show. In the absence of ringside pyrotechnics (hey, the State of Nevada had to ban something), there was fire lining the fighters' walkway, and a superior light and music show throughout. The ageless Michael Buffer leant a touch of class when took center ring to bellow the five-word phrase that has earned him fame and fortune.

The K-1 Battle at the Bellagio III attracted a sellout crowd of 4,930 to the Bellagio's Grand Ballroom and was broadcast on the inDemand Pay-Per-View network in the United States; and on the Fuji TV network nationwide in Japan.