K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1. The event was held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, December 8, 2001, in front of 65,000 spectators. It was the ninth K-1 Grand Prix final, involving eight of the world's top fighters, with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules (100 kg/156-220 lbs). The eight finalists had almost all qualified by winning preliminary tournaments (with the exception of Peter Aerts who was a runner up), while two additional fighters were invited as reserve fighters in case of any injuries (for more detail on this see bulleted list below).
| K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | K-1 | |||
| Date | December 8, 2001 | |||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome | |||
| City |  Tokyo, Japan | |||
| Attendance | 65,000 | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
As well as tournament bouts there was also the aforementioned 'Reserve Fight' to decide who would be a replacement for any injured competition fighters, fought under K-1 Rules, and a 'Super Fight' between local middleweight star Masato and Noel Soares, fought under K-1 MAX Rules (70 kg/152 lbs). In total there were twelve fighters at the event, representing eleven countries.
The tournament winner was Mark Hunt who defeated Francisco Filho in the final by extra round unanimous decision, for his first and so far only K-1 World Grand Prix final victory. Both him and Francisco Filho even reaching the final was seen as a huge upset, helped in part by all the competition favourites Ernesto Hoost, Jérôme Le Banner and Peter Aerts being knocked out at the Quarter Final stage.
Qualifiers - Finalists
- Peter Aerts - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas runner up
- Jérôme Le Banner - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Osaka winner
- Francisco Filho - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka Repechage A winner
- Ernesto Hoost - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Melbourne winner
- Mark Hunt - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka Repechage B winner
- Alexey Ignashov - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Nagoya winner
- Stefan Leko - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas winner
- Nicholas Pettas - K-1 Andy Memorial 2001 Japan GP Final winner
Qualifiers - Reservists
- Mike Bernardo - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka Repechage B semi finalist
- Adam Watt - K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka Repechage B runner up
K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Tournament
edit| Quarter Finals | Semi Finals | Final | ||||||||||||
| Stefan Leko | ||||||||||||||
| Ernesto Hoost | DEC | Stefan Leko * | ||||||||||||
| Jérôme Le Banner | Mark Hunt | DEC | ||||||||||||
| Mark Hunt | KO | Mark Hunt | DEC | |||||||||||
| Nicholas Pettas | Francisco Filho | |||||||||||||
| Alexey Ignashov | KO | Alexey Ignashov | ||||||||||||
| Francisco Filho | TKO | Francisco Filho | DEC | |||||||||||
| Peter Aerts | ||||||||||||||
* Ernesto Hoost was injured after his match with Stefan Leko. As the Reserve Fight winner Mike Bernardo was also injured, Stefan Leko would take his place in the Semi Finals
Results
edit| K-1 Grand Prix Reserve Fight: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R | |
| Mike Bernardo def. Adam Watt | |
| Bernardo defeated Watt by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (29-28, 30-28, 29-28). | |
|---|---|
| K-1 Grand Prix Quarter Finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R | |
| Ernesto Hoost def. Stefan Leko | |
| Hoost defeated Leko by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-28) but had to retire due to injury - Stefan Leko would replace him in the Semi Finals as Reserve Fight winner Mike Bernardo was also injured. | |
| Mark Hunt def. Jérôme Le Banner | |
| Hunt defeated Le Banner by KO (Right Hook) at 2:32 of the 2nd Round. | |
| Alexey Ignashov def. Nicholas Pettas | |
| Ignashov defeated Pettas by KO (Right Knee) at 1:21 of the 2nd Round. | |
| Francisco Filho def. Peter Aerts | |
| Filho defeated Aerts by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 3:00 of the 2nd Round - Peter Aerts was injured. | |
| K-1 Grand Prix Semi Finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R | |
| Mark Hunt def. Stefan Leko | |
| Hunt defeated Leko by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-27). | |
| Francisco Filho def. Alexey Ignashov | |
| Filho defeated Ignashov by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-29, 30-29, 30-29). | |
| Super Fight (-68 kg): K-1 Rules / 3Min. 5R | |
| Masato def. Noel Soares | |
| Masato defeated Soares by KO (Right Punch) at 1:30 of the 3rd Round. | |
| K-1 Grand Prix Final: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R | |
| Mark Hunt def. Francisco Filho | |
| Hunt defeated Filho by Extra Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (10-9, 10-9, 10-9). After 3 rounds the judges had scored it a Decision Draw 0-0 (30-30, 30-30, 30-30). | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Results". K-1 Official Website. Archived from the original on 2011-02-26.
- ^ "Results: K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX 2001 FINAL". K-1sport.de - Your Source for Everything K-1. Archived from the original on 2009-02-21.