Rant ahead ...

If anyone hasn't seen/heard yet ... every single decision, and even the refereeing, involving Musahi in this weekend's tourney was a travesty. I'm OK with the hometown fighter getting an edge, but what Musahi got wasn't an edge, it was gift after gift. Why didn't K1 just fucking make a trophy for the guy and let the real men fight?

I actually had respect for Musahi coming in to the tournament. I thought he had made huge strides as a fighter in the couple of years. Sure he'd been given 20x the chances a foreigner would have, but he'd finally made them pay off. He was a legitimate threat to top-tier strikers, in my opinion. So what does K1 do? Let him fight the big boys, or treat him like a little sissy that couldn't win on his own? Well, if you've seen the fights, you know the answer.

K1 should be apologizing to every non-Japanese fight fan for the racist garbage they just put out, and they should be apologizing to all the Japanese for thinking they're so intrinsically weak that they can't man up against anyone of a different nationality.

Which leaves me with the question -- who was K1 trying to appeal to? Granted, they've got a big enough domestic fan base that a lot of people will swallow their line that Musahi actually was somewhere close to being champion. But at the same time there are tens of thousands (or more) Japanese fight fans who must know they've been cheated. And how can you sell that crap to an international audience? Has K1 just given up on their expansion plans?

Any thoughts?

I didn't see it, what exactly happened?

While I'm not familiar with this fight, this kind of thing as been a big problem for tournaments in Japan for years. IMO a false self concept that refuses to deal with reality, cultural pride based on bullshit, and a deeply disfunctional view of themselves in the world.

But then, what do I know, I'm just a fucking big nosed barbarian.

Pat is right...but on the other hand, if they can attract the top talent in the world, who are still willing to fight knowing the Japanese bias, then mabye they deserve to say who wins if they want to.

Yea back in the day when Benny and Chicken used to go to Japan and fight the only way they could win was by KO. Japan has a rep for that sort of thing. It even comes out in JKA Karate tournaments ect.

I don't see why loss of respect for Musashi would take place though.

i still have lots of respect for musashi because I agree, he has made huge strides. he is a much more competent fighter than he was a few years back- in fact, I would say he is the most improved fighter in k-1. but he didnt win those fights. Im glad that k-1 isnt ppv here because I would want my money back, if I want to see rigged fights I'll watch WWE.

Just tell me he didn't beat remy bonjasky.... Being in AFghanistan, i can't watch this stuff

Can't even go check Sherdog or K-1 sites too eh?