Eric Esch

(Eric "Butterbean" Esch vs. Wesley "Cabbage" Correira)

The K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 went down Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, with Turkish kickboxer Gokhan Saki cruising through the event's eight-man tournament thanks to three consecutive knockouts of Deutsch Puu, Rick Cheek, and Randy Kim. The GP's quarterfinal round featured a match between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and Wesley "Cabbage" Correira, who previously fought in an MMA bout at Rumble on the Rock 8, where Butterbean won a doctor's stoppage victory after two rounds. This time the 'Bean wasn't so lucky, as he suffered a head-kick knockout in the second round, which dropped his K-1 record to 2-4.

Another fighter who didn't make it to the semis was American Gladiator/kickboxer Justice Smith, who lost a hard-fought decision to Mighty Mo Siligia — Mo was unable to continue to the GP's second round, and was replaced by alternate Randy Kim, who knocked out Correira in the semis before being put down by Saki in the finals.

In the non-tourney superfights, K-1 World Heavyweight Champion Badr Hari needed all of seven seconds to knock out Domagoj Ostojic, and Min Soo Kim outlasted one-time UFC fighter Scott Junk to a unanimous decision win. Full results and video of the Hari/Ostojic knockout are after the jump. Props to MMA Mania and Bloody Elbow.

We had neither the time nor interest to watch YAMMA live, so if you want a more detailed recap of the sad spectacle than we had in our results post, we recommend going here or here. But if you want the entire depressing, cut-rate experience boiled down into three minutes, look no further than the "Masters Superfight" between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and Patrick "Pillbottle" Smith. Cheers to Smith for dodging Butterbean's infamous haymakers; jeers to Esch for not being able to get to his feet after slipping. Smith simply got down next to the 416-pound beached whale and dropped punches until Dan Miragliotta decided that the 200 audience members had gotten their money's worth. If only 'Bean could have fallen onto the revolutionary YAMMA incline instead — who knows what could have happened...

(We may never get to witness this historic matchup.)

When we first reported that Gary Goodridge wouldn't be able to fight Eric Esch at YAMMA 1 because he was focusing on his MFC fight against Eric Pele next month, his crew came out in full force to correct us; Big Daddy was up for it, and was ready to "KICK SOME UGLY ASS."

Well, we had no idea that Goodridge had another fight booked to go down just two weeks before his scheduled appearance in YAMMA's Death Bowl. Apparently, he fought Mu Bae Choi in Seoul last Sunday and was knocked out in the second round. (Video can be seen here.) Subsequently, the New Jersey Athletic Control Board informed FiveOuncesOfPain that Goodridge would not be approved for his YAMMA fight due to health and safety concerns.

And it gets better: Yesterday we passed along YAMMA's official announcement that Mark Kerr will be filling in for Don Frye Patrick Smith against Oleg Taktarov in one of the event's "Masters Superfights," but the Kerr/Taktarov match hasn't been approved either due to Kerr's previous suspension in the state of Connecticut.

So, unless Bob Meyrowitz can successfully bribe the NJACB to allow Goodridge to fight on April 11th, both of YAMMA's headlining superfights are now in limbo. Our suggestion to Bob Meyrowitz? Save yourself the headaches and do what Strikeforce did — make the two guys who lost their opponents fight each other. Butterbean vs. Oleg Taktarov isn't a bad main event, in a county fair sort of way. Or, let Oleg slice his way through the eight-man heavyweight tournament and pull up Ricco Rodriguez to battle Butterbean in New Jersey's own version of the Megaton. Look, your fighting surface is a freakin' bowl — don't act like your credibility is at risk.

(Don't worry, Butterbean: We don't think Gary's creaky hips will allow any flying kicks.)

In addition to a previously reported fight between UFC throwbacks Don Frye and Oleg Taktarov, YAMMA Pit Fighting's inaugural show on April 11th will also feature a second "Masters SuperFight" bout between Eric "Butterbean" Esch and Gary Goodridge. We're not sure what Esch is a "master" at, other than swallowing basketballs whole without chewing, but he's built up a decent 11-5 MMA record since 2003, with wins over Wesley Correira and James Thompson; his last fight was a submission loss to Nick Penner at TFC: First Blood in December.

Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge is probably best known for his horrific knockout-by-elbows of Paul Herrera in his Octagon debut at UFC 8 (2/16/96). He later jobbed through a mediocre career in PRIDE, then moved to K-1 HERO's where he built up a 3-1 record since 2005. His last fight was a TKO victory last March over Jan Nortje (more on that later). Fun fact: The average age of the four men booked for YAMMA's Masters SuperFights is 41.

As for the eight-man heavyweight tournament that YAMMA also has planned for its debut show, the word is that Wes Sims, Chris Guillen, and Travis Wiuff will participate. Here's hoping that Bob Meyrowitz's new spectacle doesn't get MMA re-banned across the country. And good luck turning a profit. This sort of thing tends to suck up money faster than Butterbean sucks up pans of lasagna.

Why Xcess Fighting chose to hold their debut event at a gay nightclub is beyond me. At any rate, the super macho fight organization's "Havoc in Hollywood" show goes down tonight — but if you were planning on heading out there to get a glimpse of Eric "Butterbean" Esch, don't bother.