Tuesday, Sep 06, 2005
Hero’s Yamamoto And Sudo Emerge From Tournament
 HERO’s Yamamoto and Sudo Emerge from Tournament By Roxanne Modafferi TOKYO, September 7 — Inside the Ariake Coliseum, 9,950 people took shelter from the wind and the rain of the typhoon to witness the HEROS of K-1 battle it out for the right to continue on to HERO’S Dynamite!, to be held on December 31st. Little did the audience know the real typhoon was swirling inside, as some of the most technical fighters in the world faced each other in K-1’s new MMA promotion.
The spotlight was on the promotion’s Middleweight tournament (70 kg/154.3 lb limit), brimming over with recognizable Japanese names such as Caol Uno, Genki Sudo, and Norifumi "Kid" Yamamoto, as well as Brazilian Royler Gracie added to the mix. By night’s end, six bouts yielded finalists Sudo and "Kid" Yamamoto, who will battle it out on New Year’s Eve. Five super fights, including a "reserve match" between Koutetsu Boku and Hermes Franca, rounded out the action.
In Sudo’s road to a final’s slot, the Japanese showman armbarred opponent Miyata in the second round of his first bout, then submitted Hiroyuki Takaya with a triangle choke later that evening. For Yamamoto, a feverish first round with Gracie led to an equally active second, where Gracie threw a front jab and Kid stepped into it, knocking the Brazilian out cold with a hard right hand 38 seconds in.
However, the fight of the night went to Caol Uno and Hideo Tokoro. These lithe fighters were so technical their fight could be used in an instructional video, yet Uno controlled enough of the action to garner a unanimous decision. Uno would later fall to "Kid" Yamamoto in the semi-finals, sustaining a cut near his left eye that would result in a referee’s stoppage in the second round.
FULL RESULTS: Hero’s: 2005 Middleweight Tournament Semifinal
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posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm
