K-1

At K-1's "Final 16" event yesterday in Seoul, South Korea, Alistair Overeem once again proved his status as one of the world's elite heavyweight strikers, easily defeating three-time K-1 World Grand Prix champion Peter Aerts via unanimous decision. With his win, Overeem advances to the eight-man bracket at the K-1 World Grand Prix Final in Yokohama on December 5th. He'll face Ewerton Teixeira in the quarterfinals, and could potentially face rematches with Badr Hari and Remy Bonjasky in the same night; Hari knocked out Zabit Samedov at yesterday's event to qualify for the Final 8, while defending Grand Prix champion Bonjasky scored a unanimous decision over Melvin Manhoef.

Full results of the Final 16, and videos of the Hari/Samedov and Bonjasky/Manhoef scraps are after the jump...

(Props: Redneck)

You may have heard stories about Mark Hunt and his legendary granite chin, but unless you go back and watch some of his old K-1 fights, you'll never truly understand. The Super Samoan's decision loss to fellow New Zealander Ray Sefo at the K-1 World GP 2001 in Fukuoka, Japan, was a slugfest for the ages, in which Hunt repeatedly invited Sugarfoot Sefo to haul off at his face, and absorbed point-blank right hooks and axe kicks without so much as a flinch. Sefo may have gotten the nod from the judges that night, but Hunt was far from beaten. "You never got me down, Ray" indeed.

Part two of the fight is above. Click here for part one.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

Before Ray Mercer became known as the unstoppable heavyweight juggernaut who wrecked Tim Sylvia in 8 seconds, Mercer had a two-fight kickboxing stint in K-1, losing his debut to Musashi by unanimous decision in June 2004. His second bout against Remy Bonjasky at the K-1 World GP 2005 in Seoul was even less successful. We won't spoil the suprise for you, but the fight (if you can call it that) starts at the 3:53 mark of the above video and ends very shortly afterwards. It's pretty sad when losing a match to Kimbo Slice by submission still isn't the low point in your fight career.

Speaking of Merciless, the former WBO boxing champ and Olympic gold medalist may have his next MMA bout booked. American Top Team boxing coach Howard Davis Jr. is in negotiations to put Mercer against old-schooler Marcus "Conan" Silveira in the main event of a December 12th MMA card called "U.S. vs. Brazil," put on by Davis's new Fight Time Promotions company.

#0: Heath Herring vs. Yoshihiro Nakao @ K-1 Premium 2005 Dynamite!! (12/31/05), 0 seconds

Who the hell knows what Yoshihiro Nakao was thinking when he planted a surprise smooch on Heath Herring before their fight at K-1’s 2005 New Year’s Eve show. (Maybe that the Texas Crazy Horse would become blinded by lust, leaving him unable to intelligently defend himself?) Unfortunately, not only is Herring “not gay,” but he resents the implication, and responds by punching Nakao right across his sweet, pillowy lips. Even if the match was ruled a no-contest, it’s still a KO at the 0:00 mark of round 1, earning it an honorary spot on our list of Fast & Furious knockouts. Not since the epic Gracie vs. Howard battle at UFC 3 had there been such a dramatic finish to a fight before it had even technically started. And the nickname “Kiss” still haunts Nakao to this day...

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

MMA pioneer Carlos Newton returned to the 'W' column on Saturday night at the W-1 Inception show in Gatineau, Quebec, snapping a three-fight losing skid with his KO victory over Nabil Khatib. As you can see in the video above, the Gatineau fans are awful, Newton still looks light on his feet, and he can still pound a motherfucker out when need be. Big ups to the Ronin, who increases his career record to 14-13.

Below: The Melvin Manhoef/Keijiro Maeda scrap from the K-1 World GP event in Yokohama on Saturday, in which the usually-sturdy Manhoef got Kimbo Slice'd by a short right hand from the retreating Japanese fighter. Fans have been calling this one suspicious, but it's more likely that Maeda just found Melvin's button.

(Props: MMA Scraps)

After the jump: Houston Alexander stops by the Sport Science lab to test the effects of adrenaline on punching power. The verdict? Houston hits like a hammer in his normal state, and puts out a full 1,000 pounds of force after trainer Mick Doyle provokes him into insanity. And that's before the needles come out...