This is an exciting prospect as many of the more aggressive fighters in K-1 find themselves with an ever-growing fan base in part due to the fact that they are willing to go that extra yard to make sure those fans stay satisfied. Even when that means taking the odd hard knock or occasional unnecessary risk. Some fighters are just naturals at minimizing damage to themselves, and they make brilliant tournament fighters. Others manage to get the fans off their seats due to the sheer entertainment value of watching them give everything they have to ensure the fight is decided by the fighters, and not those pesky judges. This latter category of fighters has finally been given their chance to shine.
 
So, the big question most people are asking is why? Why have K-1 introduced these weight classes now? Many of the more jaded fans have taken a quick glance at this announcement by K-1 and immediately thought the introduction of these belts is nothing more than a desperate attempt to finally get their local fighter a title of some sort. It is true that Musashi was the benefactor of a large number of the jaw-dropping judges’ decisions in years past. But looking at the match ups announced for his weight class (heavyweight), as well as that for the super heavyweight class, I think a more obvious reason stands out rather clearly.

It is a fact that the last Grand Prix had the worst live attendance of the past several years, and the same attitude seems to have been reflected with home viewers. The last two years have seen a list of names almost identical to one another compete. Though last years event enjoyed the addition of the only four-time champion to compete in K-1, Ernesto Hoost, in his retirement fight as well as an under card of 3 fights made up to showcase some new local talent. Last years event should have done far better than it did. K-1 was left with an event which had an attendance of approximately 4000 less than the prior year (and 10,000 less than 2004) and all important FujiTV viewer ratings that averaged 5.9% less than those for 2005. Worse still, they peaked at 0.2% less than the average for 2005.

It looks to me like K-1 have resigned themselves to the fact they have a Grand Prix champion the fans have a difficult time relating to on any level, and that he could well be here for a very long time. Executives at FujiTV will no doubt have been demanding something be done about this, and I suspect the introduction of these weight classes is the answer K-1 has come up with.

Semmy Schilt is the only man in K-1 right now that could legitimately take Ernesto Hoost’s record; perhaps with ease. He won the belt for the second time in a row last year, beating three of the biggest names in K-1. It was an eye-opening display of domination by a great fighter who also happens to be a very humble person. When not in the ring this giant (212cm, 130kg) teaches karate to children and looks after his pet snakes. So, what’s the problem? Quite frankly, he considered boring.  You may wonder how the destruction of previous champions can be boring but I challenge you to sit through one of his press conferences and come away with a more suitable adjective. He gives such short and predictable answers in these press conferences that even fellow countrymen like Peter Aerts tease him in front of the media. And to a large extent, Japanese fans are drawn to fighters by what they do out of the ring as much, if not more than what goes on between the four corner posts. On top of this, his way of fighting is rather robotic and many fans seem to feel the fact he towers over most of his opposition gives him an unfair advantage. He has knocked down or knocked out over 65% of his opponents in the Grand Prix’s but it doesn’t seem to impress the local fans when he has been significantly bigger than all of them. Traditionally K-1 put a lot of effort into marketing their champion, but they seem to have almost given up here. Instead they are trying to get one or two other belt holders so they can take the focus off Semmy and get the public excited about the sport again.

Semmy’s opposition in March is his polar-opposite. Ray Sefo is a charismatic and exciting fighter that is as famous for his ring antics as he is for putting his opponents to sleep. He is one of the two or three most popular fighters in K-1 and his special “Sefo Fan” seating at any event he fights at sells out, and does so very quickly. His fight against Mark Hunt way back in 2001 still has people talking, and it was voted as the best bout by local fans for two or three years in a row. He is friendly with the media and jokes around with them during interviews, and manages to do so in their native lingo (Japanese) as well as in English. He is one of he smaller fighters in K-1. And nothing impresses the locals more than a David tearing apart a Goliath. It is not at all hard to see why K-1 and perhaps FujiTV chose Ray as Semmy’s opponent for this title fight.

The other belt up for grabs will be decided between one of the only two currently competitive local natives; and one of two of the more impressive newcomers in recent times. K-1 has set the two Japanese fighters against each other in the semi finals not only to see if Musashi has slipped to the point that he is ready to pass the torch on to Yusuke Fujimoto, but what is far more important is that it ensures at least one of those that progress to the title fight in Hawaii on April 28th will be a Japanese fighter. The foreign half will be the winner between the sometimes-Moroccan sometimes-Dutch loudmouth, Badr Hari and the ever-feisty Japanese speaking always-Russian, Ruslan Karaev.

Musashi has been in the worst slump of his career for a little over a year now. So unless his trainer and former WBA World Boxing Champion Frankie Liles can really work some magic with him, his chances of being crowned are no higher than any of the other three fighters. I seriously doubt he will be getting any of the help from officials he has sadly become famous for. In fact, the actual title fight will be held on US soil where some of worst K-1 judges’ decisions in the history of the sport have occurred, but never in favor of a non-American.

At the end of the day K-1 are not nearly as naive as most followers will have you believe. They are not going to go to all the trouble of introducing these titles with the sole expectation that Musashi will suddenly hit form and beat not just one, but two dangerous fighters. They would be ecstatic if it was to happen, but they’ll have no trouble marketing whichever one of these four fighters becomes the Heavyweight Champion. They all offer something interesting both in and out of the ring.

Which brings us back to Semmy. After the pressure is off him to perform out of the ring he might even decide to share some of the character and humour he reportedly shows in his Dutch interviews. Even if that doesn’t happen, the very least we can expect is some of the most exciting match ups we can imagine taking place, and them taking place regularly. Along with these new belts come contender fights and title defences. So when we finally do get to the see the match up we have been calling for, the fighters involved will be at peak condition. They won’t be meeting in the second or third fight of a Grand Prix where they have picked up injuries and are possibly already exhausted. I for one won’t be complaining about that, and I suspect those FujiTV executives will be happy with the ensuing ratings.

Feel free to discuss this here. Anyone interest can also enter our Champion Prediction competition here.