Williams(left) vs. McDonald

2003 K-1 USA Champion, Carter Williams (15-3-1 (11KO’s), will return to Las Vegas K-1 tournament action during Friday, April 30th’s "Battle At The Bellagio II" event that will be staged at The Bellagio Hotel and Casino and air live on Pay-Per-View television.

"I’m coming back to defend my title. My plans are, like every year, to do my best and get to Japan at the end of the year," said a confident Williams. "My experience in K-1 so far has been a childhood dream come true. I just want to be able to go to Japan and become the first American to win the World Grand Prix title."

Williams began an inspiring surge to stardom during last May’s K-1 USA eight-man, single elimination tournament at Las Vegas’s Mirage Hotel and Casino. As a K-1 tournament newcomer, the 23-year-old walked into the ring an 18 to 1 underdog. He quickly made believers out of observers, however, by upstaging defending champion, Michael McDonald, during the opening tournament round. In a semifinal round matchup with Japan’s Yusuke Fujimoto, Williams opened up and scored two knockdowns – the first with a head kick and the second with a straight right hand – to earn a technical knockout victory in the second round of battle. The championship round saw Williams square off with six-time world kickboxing champion and former World Boxing Council (WBC) Continental Americas Cruiserweight Boxing Champion, Rick "The Jet" Roufus. Williams overcame Roufus’s experience with sheer instinct and scored a quick knockdown with a head kick in the opening round. Roufus recovered, but was put down for the 10-count moments later with two straight right hands.

In June, Williams’s momentum continued when he ventured to Villa Park, Illinois for an International Sport Karate Association (ISKA) eight-man, single-elimination event. There, he defeated three more opponents in one night to capture the tournament crown. Last August, Williams returned to Las Vegas for a three-round Superfight during the inaugural "Battle At The Bellagio" card and earned a unanimous judges’ decision victory over two-time world kickboxing champion and undefeated professional boxer, Dewey "The Black Kobra" Cooper.

The phenomenal showings in Las Vegas earned Williams his first trip to Japan in October. At the Osaka Dome, the young gun was faced with his greatest challenge to date in 2000 K-1 World Grand Prix tournament runner-up and longtime superstar, Ray Sefo. In front of over 31,000 fans, Williams battered Sefo with brilliant western boxing combinations and leg kicks. An accidental elbow by Williams prompted the referee to issue him a penalty. After Sefo asserted that he could not continue, the bout was halted and sent to the judges’ scorecards. Sefo was awarded the decision. Undaunted and ever-determined, Williams returned to Japan two months later and chopped down 6 foot 8 inch giant, Bjorn "The Rock" Bregy with a flurry of punches in the second round of action.