Press photo's K-1 Netherlands

[Wheelie]

We are here live and doing interviews for my website www.mixfight.nl

Maybe somebody can translate the interviews for kakutougi.

Drago:

http://i29.tinypic.com/muy2z5.jpg

Simon Rutz

http://i30.tinypic.com/b4tjqp.jpg

Bojnjasky

http://i30.tinypic.com/nbua02.jpg


More pics will come

[Wheelie]

http://i31.tinypic.com/54hfnd.jpg

[Wheelie]

Errol Zimmerman

http://i27.tinypic.com/wqzbza.jpg

[Wheelie]

Gohkan Saki

http://i27.tinypic.com/jrpjwx.jpg

[K1power]

Great pics, Wheelie! Thanks and keep em coming!

[Wheelie]

Joerie Mes

http://i30.tinypic.com/k13yav.jpg

[Wheelie]

Me and Buakaw

http://i30.tinypic.com/2zoi5xh.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i29.tinypic.com/2nattmo.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i30.tinypic.com/2naiomg.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i31.tinypic.com/2lux7yh.jpg

[Wheelie]

Slowinsky

http://i31.tinypic.com/2v864jo.jpg

[Anjew]

LOL, Pawel looks really tired...

[Wheelie]

a few pics of the weigh-in

http://i30.tinypic.com/2pt2eio.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/2qt8rq1.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i29.tinypic.com/2irq2gw.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i32.tinypic.com/21508au.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i26.tinypic.com/rt0sck.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i25.tinypic.com/14jxn2s.jpg

[Wheelie]

http://i26.tinypic.com/zusf95.jpg

[regan]

holy god, alistair is turning into a real monster. i hope he can become a real contender at hw soon

[Blindo]

Slowinski => Badass => Hero !!!!

WAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wheelie]

http://i30.tinypic.com/9gzdrl.jpg

[Lawrence Tierney]

Is it just the photo, or does anyone else think it looks like Bregy has a left black eye.?

[K1power]

Is it just the photo, or does anyone else think it looks like Bregy has a left black eye.?

Yes, probably from sparring ;)

[Mago]

C'mon man, who is the nice guy who's going to translate those interviews for all of us whose dutch is a little rusty??? Would really like to know what some of those guys had to say...

[loreia]

http://i30.tinypic.com/9gzdrl.jpg

LOL, is this Danny Glover

[K1power]

LOL, is this Danny Glover

Please no Lethal Weapon 5: resurrection, lol

[loreia]

Please no Lethal Weapon 5: resurrection, lol

After seeing this picture, I think Lethal Weapon 5, 6 and 7 are coming soon...

The quote should be:
I guess I am NOT getting too old for this shit !!!

:-)

[Bon-2]

Ok I'll translate some things from the fighters I know hehe :D
It can take a while because I broke my left wrist..

Gago Drago meets Warren Stevelmans. Drago was supposed to fight Kraus, but Kraus got injured during the eliminationround a couple of weeks ago

What do you think of the fact that K-1 Japan had their own tournament that short before this one?
Well, what can you say. I'm not happy with it. There are chances to get injured. My original opponent also got injured which sucks.

What do you expect from Warren Stevelmans?
A tough match. He wants to prove himself, he is 'new' in K-1. He's also a complete fighter.

[Jofeljoh!]

By the way the fight of Alistair is now called off. They really tried to get Crocop, money wasn't the problem, it just was the management of Crocop who didn't want to risk another loss going in as a replacement, not optimally prepared and fit. Especially after his recent losses.

[K1power]

Too bad, but a smart decision from CroCop. The only bad thing is that we have a full fight less on the card...

[Bon-2]

Remy Bonjasky
You already fought against Manhoef once and won. What do you expect this time?
I think it will be a hard match. Melvin doesn't come to play, he's here for revenge. Seven years ago we had the last match. We both came to win, so it'll be a tough match.

Two to three weeks this match was offered to you?
Three weeks ago I heard it was definitely going to happen. I (always) had the feeling that Peter Aerts wasn't fully fit, so I quietly started training and three weeks ago I started training really hard, and it worked.

Talks about that he saw Aerts in Hungary and that Aerts wasn't 100%. Aerts told Remy that he could only do boxing and barely do any kicks. That's when Remy started training, because you never know...

Who did you prepare with?
Gilbert Yvel.

You and Gilbert Yvel train together and you are both familiar with the flying knees. Who jumps the highest? Do you guys test that?
We never tested it, but I have the feeling that I can jump higher than Gilbert. I'm a bit taller, but it's close.

I also trained with Crocop, we sparred together and it went well. So I prepared with both. I think Crocop is about 6'0 1/2 (1.83m), I think Melvin is a little bit shorter (laughs). But I expect that their punching power will be equal.

He's going to come forward like a bull. I'm positive, because that's his fighting style. I don't expect that he will fight any different. Of course I'm going to stop him from going forward, because if I will wait he will become stronger.

Manhoef hits very hard.
He can probably hit harder now than in our last fight. Not that it matters. Look, I'm up against guys who maybe can punch even harder, like Mighty Mo or Ray Sefo, those kind of guys. So I'm used to it. He is shorter than I am, but I'll take my advantage here and there.

I don't think it's going to happen, but you never know. I'll do my best. I also don't know if Melvin will walk into a knee, but you never know. I'll do my best not to get hit with his right hook.

Will we see the knees again?
Definitely, definitely. I'm going to use them, because it's about time that I use them again now.

Badr Hari is the -100kg champ. Are we going to see you for the title against him?
They approached me, last year, but I can't do that. There's not much on it even now and everything I take off from here is solely strength.
Let's see who's next on mixfight :)

[Mago]

Hey Bon, thanks a LOT for this, specially with the injury problem, great effort mate, we appreciate it.

[sparkles]

Oh man ... why didn't they get Sapp as substitute for Yvel :no:
He already made 2 memorable apprearences in the Amsterdam arena!

[Bon-2]

Manhoef coming up. Can't do all of them, it will take ages :D
Thanks Mago.


Melvin Manhoef
What's your opinion that you're not fighting Aerts?
Bummer of course, not able to fight one of the biggest stars... If someone like me - someone who is relatively new in the K-1 scene - can fight against someone like Aerts, then that's something like a 'crown on my work' (translated literally, I think you can understand what he means). That's the way I see it, but it's a bummer still.

You're fighting Bonjasky now, made any changes in the preparation?
Yes, he fights different than Aerts. It was a change for me, but that's why you're a fighter.

Bonjasky has won the K-1 twice...
Yes, but he does not have the status that Hoost and Aerts have. You can tell me anything you want, but Ernesto and Peter are the pioneers of K-1. He may have won it twice, but that means less to me. When I was young I really looked up to Ernesto and Peter and we basically almost started the same and he* grew further. (*Guess he means Remy with he? Bit of a strange sentence) I already fought him, so to me it's less interesting to fight him again, really. But, now that the rematch is getting closer it's starting to get fun again. Back then it was my first heavyweight fight with, well, not that much experience. I have more experience now, so I can see if I have grown in the meantime.

You're not that heavy for a heavyweight...
I'm 88kg. But yeah, I knocked guys out who were 120kg. Karaev as well. Against Sefo I lost focus a little bit, I made a mistake there. I spar pretty well with Bjorn, I'm very prepared.

Remy is taking his knees out of the fridge again... (translated literally, means Remy will start using his knees again after a period in which he did not use his knees a lot, see Remy's interview.)
Yes, I'm prepared for everything. Whether they are freezing or thawed (thaw, took this word from the dictionary hehe), I don't care.

About the height difference
He is indeed taller, but Bjorn is also 2 meters (6'7) and I can hit him too.

How are you experiencing the transition from MMA to K-1?
I have a contract for MMA and next to that I have to fight a K-1 match once or twice. It can just come and then I have to fight. The transition is difficult. Because my main goal is to become Dream champion. I'm busy with groundtraining only really. You can see, the last time I made my first takedown, so yeah (laughs), people should stay focused. On the ground I'm training with guys like Remco Pardoel, Frederik van Oosterom, Jason Jones, American Top Team (Jayz).

American Top Team?
Yes, I will train there one to two months with the guys. The first time I went there I just wanted to quit fighting. I was getting folded up and thrown around by 60kg guys and thought what the hell is this... I was fighting everyone and I couldn't do anything. Now it's going much better. You're there with about 50 black belts. If we have two in The Netherlands we're lucky, the level is just much higher there. The first two weeks I couldn't do anything, but after the third week I was able to push someone off and I was so happy (Melvin has a big smile). The training is also a bit different, (stamina and strength) and I bring those methods back home.

Are you still doing the infamous circuittraining that we saw on the Mixfight.nl day?
Yes, I do those as well. It only became a little tougher.

Are you going to fight in the UFC, possibly against Anderson Silva?
I don't know. I just signed a contract for three years with K-1. UFC already offered me a contract once but I didn't take it. I can fight somewhere else, I may be 'rented' I believe, but I don't know how that's implemented in my contract.

Dream tournament
I'm also fighting in the Dream tournament. Well, I can qualify for that on May 11. My opponent will be Ralec Gracie.

Gegard Mousassi would like to fight you to prove he's the number one
He can (may) do that, then I'll won't fight against Dennis Kang. Then we'll meet in the finals.

Damn this was a long one :D

[( o Y o )]

Cheers Bon, great stuff

[EckY]

Got to love how Remy is sponsored by greenhouse.

[Bon-2]

The Ray Sefo interview is already posted in English on mixfight, I'll just post it here.

Ray Sefo, how are you?
I’m good, thank you. I’m actually happy to be in Holland because I have always wanted to go to Holland. Never been here. I think tonight, Peter Aerts and the other guys are going to take us out for a little bit. I am not sure exactly where, but we will see (laughs). Peter loves to have good time, great!

Who are you here with?
I have two fighters competing here on Saturday. We have Doug Viney and Doug is fighting on one pool. I think he is fighting Zabit Samedov. And Jan (Nortje) is fighting Bjorn Breggy. So yeah, two big guys. That’s the reason we are here… so hopefully it’s a good one (laughs).

We have a team. For example, when I am fighting we all train together. For example when Jan was fighting Bob Sapp, I train them full time for that. He stopped Bob Sapp in a minute or less of the first round. We train at Randy Couture’s gym. I haven’t trained MMA for a long time, but I actually like it. Randy had a lot of good guys, who are trainers in his academy and Randy teaches from time to time. All the facilities are there, so it’s very nice to train over there and we are very fortunate to have become friends. Him and his wife are awesome people. And now we train there, fulltime.

Will you fight in MMA anytime soon?
For the last few years… well, the last time I fought MMA was three years ago. And it is something I definitely like to do, but that’s just a matter of time, where K1 wants me to be and then we’ll go from there. Now I have fought only one MMA match and I won by heelkick. It’s rare for me to kick a guy in the head, because 99% of the time I am the smallest guy (laughs). I am 1.84, so I am kinda small.

Fedor is 1.82, so…
Nah, that can’t be… Really?! Wow. Pretty sure there’s some kind of measurement difference there… really?

What happened in your fight against Badr Hari?
Well, pretty simple (laughs). Badr when he first came out he is a very good fighter, he is young, he is hungry, he is competing at A-level. And the thing is when you compete at A-level, anything can happen. And it doesn’t mean that because I have been in twelve years… I have fought against the best and lost against the best as well as won against the best of the best. But it doesn’t mean that every fight you go in, it goes your way. As an older fighter I understand. When I was younger, they never teach you how to deal with the other side of the coin. They teach you to deal with winning. They never teach you how to deal with losing. And as an adult as I grew older and wiser, I always prepare myself mentally in a sense that in the fight here, I am a 100%, I am focussed, this is what I am going to do. But the reality is anything can happen in a fight. I have seen it a million times over. I didn’t underestimate Badr, that would be a lie, an excuse, you would take away the credit from Badr. He 100% won that fight, fair and square! I went out there the first thirty seconds of a minute, the fight went well. He stepped in, threw the knee, it landed. My head was spinning. The fight took its course from there. There can only be one winner and unfortunately I wasn’t the winner.

Do you have a contract with the K1 for many years?
Yeah, I have a contract. As a matter of fact my contract ends at the end of this year. So, I will sit my contract out and take it from there. I have had MMA in the back of my mind for a while. Some people say ‘why don’t you do MMA more?’. So I don’t want to give up K1 yet. Just for the folks out there: understand that, every single person has rough times from time to time and no excuse what so ever, because that’s what life’s all about. There is not a doubt. You shouldn’t be judged by your winnings and by your ups, because when you are up, you are up. You should be judged by how you get up when you are down. For me, I haven’t been this positive about things in my life and things that are around me. I lost that fight and am ready to jump back in the ring. I fight again June 29th. I am ready and thank

Mark Hunt is back, I would love to see a rematch!
You know, anything can happen. Mark is a great fighter, unfortunately he had a bad night too. But hey, you are fighting the Dutch, I don’t know what you guys eat over here. (MF: we point at the nacho’s on the table), laughs, you see, there is nacho’s! I have to eat more nacho’s and all that. You know, you guys produces the greatest fighters in the world, not only in size and ability, you know and the will to win. You are fighting the best of the best when you are fighting the Dutch. Sometimes I wish I was from Holland (laughs), but unfortunately I am not. The last time I spoke to Mark he did say he prefers to stay in MMA. I am sure it’s a fight everybody wants to see.

So you guys are going to stand over there again and trade?
(Laughs) You know it’s funny, because many people ask me, why did you that. Mark did it, I did it and I think it was just a matter of Pride between the both of us. I don’t know, we started doing what we were doing, and later I thought ‘why did you do that, you idiot’ (laughs). I don’t think those punches really connected. I won, but it’s a fight which everybody wants to see again.

Learning is something that is very important, no matter what you do. As soon as you think you don’t learn anymore, I think you should just stop. Because that is when you get hurt, it’s different from when you are ill. You are never a 100%. Legends like Peter Aerts or Ernesto Hoost will tell you the same thing. Funny enough, when we had dinner with Ernesto two nights ago, he said ‘when we met in the finals in 2000 I felt like dead’ but when he came out and the fight started, he didn’t know what took over. Instincts as a fighter took over and warrior like he is he was able to compete.

[Arie-Kanarie]

For the Remy and Gilbert fans:
http://www.geenstijl.tv/2008/04/rutger_wil_lowkick_van_remy_bo.html

[loreia]

Bon is the man... Thanks a lot.