If you went in to this past Saturday’s K-1 World MAX Finals thinking K-1 legend Buakaw Banchamek was a lock to take home his third K-1 Grand Prix crown, you wouldn’t have heard many arguments. But, as it turned out, you would have been wrong.
In the finals of the K-1 MAX Grand Prix, Enriko Kehl defeated Buakaw in a massive upset to claim the GP crown. But that result doesn’t even begin to tell the story. Over the course of three rounds, Kehl did a good job landing his offense. At the same time, Buakaw used his Muay Thai to defend well, utilizing a full array of catches, clinches, and Thai dumps. Unfortunately, these are not scoring tactics under K-1 rules, and as a result, when the 3 round fight came to an end, the bout was ruled a draw and an extension round was called for. And that’s when things got strange.
Buakaw and his team left the ring and the entire arena the minute the 3rd round ended, not even waiting for the decision to be read. Once the extension round was called, Buakaw was nowhere to be found, and after some awkward moments, officials had no choice but to declare Kehl the winner via forfeit. Truly a bizarre and unexpected ending, and an embarrassing moment of massive unprofessionalism from Buakaw. Full fight video is below.
Also on the K-1 card, UFC veteran Paul Daley continued his winning ways in kickboxing, putting a pounding on Mohammad Ghaedibardeh en route to a decision win. And Andre Dida took a decision win over Li Yankun in Dida’s first pro fight since 2010.
K-1 MAX Finals Results:
K-1 MAX Finals: Enriko Kehl def. Buakaw Banchamek (Forfeit)
Paul Daley def. Mohammad Ghaedibardeh – R3 Dec
Maximo Suarez def. Tural Bayramov – R2 KO
Andre Dida Amade def. Li Yankun – R3 Dec
Elsewhere in the world of kickboxing this weekend, at a W5 event in Russia, Pride and Strikeforce veteran Sergei Kharitonov took on Anderson “Braddock” Silva. These two met earlier this year at Glory 16, with Silva taking the win in a good fight. Here, Kharitonov evened the score with an impressive 2nd round KO. Full fight video is below.
With that win, Kharitonov brings his kickboxing record up to 6-4. He may not be ready to challenge Rico Verhoeven for the Glory Heavyweight title just yet, but he’s established a solid kickboxing career for himself and continues to show improvement in the sport.
FULL FIGHT VIDEOS:
Buakaw vs. Enriko Kehl:
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Anderson Silva:
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