By CagePotato Contributor Shawn Smith

(What has two thumbs and loves to bang? This guy)

For over a decade Mark Hunt has been a polarizing figure in the world of mixed martial arts. At 5 foot 10 and 260 lbs, he’s not your average heavyweight, but that hasn’t stopped him from putting on many exciting performances during his career. His hefty build and nonchalant demeanor are misleading. Rest assured though, Hunt is a dangerous fighter who wholeheartedly loves the fight game.

Exploding onto the K-1 scene in 2001 Hunt defeated Jerome Le Banner, Stefan Leko, and Francisco Filho en route to becoming the promotion’s World Grand Prix champion that year. A short time later, he decided to try his hand[s] at mixed martial arts. Following a submission loss to Hidehiko Yoshida in his MMA debut, Hunt rattled off five victories in a row against the likes of PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva, fearsome Croatian striker Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, and Japanese MMA pioneer Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.

These days “The Super Samoan” calls the UFC home. After falling on hard times in the last days of PRIDE and early days of DREAM, Hunt, who dropped his first UFC bout to Sean McCorkle, has turned things around by putting together two victories in a row inside the Octagon against a pair of formidable opponents in Chris Tuchscherer and “Big” Ben Rothwell.

The UFC recently announced that Hunt will be returning to Japan to take on French striker Cheick Kongo in what should be a stand-up war of attrition at UFC 144 in February.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with the seasoned veteran about his past present and future in the sport.

Check out what he had to say after the jump.

(Rutz and K-1 head Tanikawa pretending things aren’t so bad)

Apparently K-1 is in the death throes.

After a year of speculation about if and when the revered kickboxing and MMA promotion would pack it in, it appears that the financially troubled organization may be living on borrowed time.

IT’S SHOWTIME president Simon Rutz shed some light on the current state of the former Japanese kickboxing powerhouse who has made more headlines the past couple years due to the fact that it hasn’t paid many of its champions like Alistair Overeem and Bibiano Fernandes.

According to Rutz, K-1 officials are scrambling to find potential investors an/or a buyer for the struggling franchise, which he says has run out of money. As such, they have decided to cancel the finals of the K-1 heavyweight grand prix after reportedly telling fighters a week ago that they would only be paid a portion of money owed to them and that their participation in the tournament would have to come at a reduced price.

Check out Rutz’s state of the K-1 union address after the jump.

(“Please don’t eat me….Please don’t eat me.”)

Hong Man Choi is in a bit of hot water with the police in his hometown of Gwangjin, Korea where he stands accused this week of assaulting a female customer at a pub he owns.

According to police reports, the 7-foot-2, 367-pound K-1 veteran punched a woman in her 20s in the head on Saturday after she refused to pay her tab, which she claimed was too high for what she consumed. After a brief argument over the inflated amount of her bill, Choi allegedly became incensed after the woman cursed at him and attacked her.

News of the booking was first reported by the Korea Times.

The South Korean fighter, who has not competed in two years since his DREAM 11 loss to Minowaman in October 2009, posted a message on his website denying punching the woman.

“She verbally insulted me. I just could not take it anymore. I just pushed her a little bit. I swear that I never punched her,’’ he wrote.

(The team during easier times.)

According to Golden Glory head Bas Boon, fences have been mended between the UFC and his management group and fight team — so much so that the promotion is bringing back heavyweight John Olav Einemo and is in discussions to sign K-1 standout Siyar Bahadurzada as well.

“John Olaf Einemo is now back with the UFC and Siyar Bahadurzada just got offered a UFC contract,” Boon wrote in an email received by CagePotato earlier today.

The email went on to state that Golden Glory’s relationship with the UFC is good and that contrary to media speculation, neither side is guilty of any wrongdoing during the recent negotiations to sign former Golden Glory star Alistair Overeem to a contract with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

“I want to make the following statement to clear up any speculation.The UFC did nothing wrong and neither did Golden Glory management – when signing up Alistair Overeem with the UFC. It is public knowledge how the UFC does business,” Boon explained. “ALL correspondence between the UFC and Golden Glory was also shared/CC’d to Alistair Overeem who finally made a decision to sign the agreements. There will be a lot of rumors like in thet recent past when 4 Golden Glory fighters were released from the UFC and Strikeforce and that was the so-called end of GG’s relationship with the UFC. Not long after this rumor Golden Glory made a mega deal with Alistair Overeem signing with the UFC.”

(Video courtesy of YouTube/Undubately)

If you’re unfamiliar with who Badr Hari is, watch this documentary and familiarize yourself with kickboxing’s answer to Mike Tyson.

“The Golden Boy” is candid and honest about his issues with anger inside and outside of the ring in the short doc that aired last week on Dutch TV. I don’t know what makes a crazy, out of control person who stomps on downed opponents and knocks people who piss him off out in the street so polarizing, but it’s stories like these that I’d read about or watch any day of the week.

If you’re like me and the show left you wanting to hear more from Hari about himself, you’re in luck. Michael Schiavello announced during the HDNet broadcast of last weekend’s Titan Fighting event that he recently sat down with the beleagured Dutch-born Morroccan fighter to shoot an episode of  his acclaimed “The Voice vs.” series and that it was the most intense interview he’s ever done. The Voice vs. Badr Hari will air June 24 at 10 pm ET on HDNet.

Check out parts 2 and 3 of the documentary after the jump.

(Props: MMAPromo)

When fight promoters are willing to jeopardize their health by stiffing one of the baddest heavyweights in the world, you know they really don’t have the money. That’s the situation with Alistair Overeem, who revealed on last week’s edition of MMA Live that he still hasn’t been paid for his K-1 World Grand Prix win in December.

Of course, Overeem is far from the first fighter to be shortchanged while competing in Japan — but as their grand prix champ and one of their biggest stars, you’d think K-1 would do everything in their power to keep him happy. The news gives even more support to rumors that K-1 is heading for bankruptcy, as Dutch kickboxing promoter Simon Rutz claimed in an interview earlier this week.

As for the Japanese MMA scene, keep in mind that neither DREAM nor Sengoku have scheduled their first event in 2011 yet, and Sengoku has been mysteriously shedding talent. Between poor management and local fans simply moving on from MMA and kickboxing, are we witnessing the death knell of combat sports in Japan?

(In hindsight, this probably wasn’t the smartest name for Hesdy’s supplement brand.)

It might be a while before Hesdy Gerges is able to rematch Badr Hari, unless “The Golden Boy” breaches probation on his 2010 assault charge and ends up back in jail with “Fightersheart.”

According Parool.nl, Dutch SWAT team members kicked in the door of the It’s Showtime heavyweight champ’s apartment in Amsterdam today and arrested Gerges, who was sleeping at the time, as part of a cocaine trafficking ring in Belgium. Besides the K-1 standout, four other suspects were also detained as authorities searched 10 properties belonging to Gerges, confiscating several weapons, ammunition and computers.

(If only either of these guys brought this much energy to their actual jobs. PicProps: MMA.pl)

The ongoing war of words between recently-retired MMA punchline Bob Sapp and FEG President (and self-proclaimed soon-to-be failed businessman) Sadaharu Tanikawa has frankly gotten too awesome to ignore any longer. Believe us, if we possibly could ignore it, we totally, totally would, but these guys are just saying too much hilarious stuff about each other not to at least get a mention. Seriously, it’s like watching the two nerdiest kids in the fourth grade slap fight in a sand box. Except, you know, with words.

You may remember that Sapp pulled out of a scheduled “modified rules” fight with Shinichi Suzukawa at K-1’s gala New Year’s Eve show last month, claiming that FEG first promised him 30 Gs for it, only to tell him he was only getting half that once he’d already made the trip to Japan. The promotion responded by saying Sapp “had lost his fighting spirit” during its broadcast and the giant former football player later indicated he was finished with MMA, but alleged it had nothing to do with his spirit. “The No. 1 problem is that K-1 is extremely broke. So is Dream …,” Sapp said. “I’m just like, ‘You know what? I’m done with all the talk about me. I’m done with them stiffing the fighters. I’m just done with it. I’ve seen too much. Start paying people to show up.’ ” Tanikawa didn’t take kindly to that, and he’s been ripping Sapp on Twitter and in interviews ever since.

(Sure, he looks like a bum, but he’s got a golden radio voice. PicProps: SBNation)

More good stuff out on Sunday from MMA Fighting Japanese correspondent Daniel Herbertson, who debuts a new weekly, notebook-style feature chock full of overseas news tidbits. Item No. 1? According to D-Herb – citing those ever-present “sources close to the fighter” — Dream lightweight champion and notorious a-hole Shinya Aoki is considering hanging up the fingerless gloves after his embarrassing knockout loss to Yuichiro "Jienotsu" Nagashima at K-1 Dynatmite!!! 2010 on New Year’s Eve.

You’ll remember this bout as the “special rules” contest that alternated a three-minute kickboxing round followed by a five-minute round under Dream rules. You know, kind of like they do it on “Bully Beatdown.” You’ll also recall that Aoki clearly came out with a game plan to just fuck around during round one, waste as much time as possible with copious rule-breaking and rely on the impotent Japanese referee to not penalize him for it. It was a strategy that worked like clockwork until the opening bell of round two, when Nagashima knocked him stiff with a knee as he shot in for a takedown. On this side of the Pacific, it seemed like an obvious case of karma being a complete bitch. At home, it doesn’t sound like Aoki is taking it too well.

(Somehow, screwing this guy over in a business deal would never cross our minds. PicProps: Top MMA News)

A couple years ago I interviewed UFC and Pride vet and all-around good guy Gary Goodridge as part of a project I was working on for another publication. At the beginning of our conversation I think I asked something innocuous like, “Hey Gary, how you doing?” to which Goodridge responded with an audible sigh and said: “Man, I’m broke as a joke and looking for a job.” I laughed. Nervously. During the course of our talk it became clear that “Big Daddy” wasn’t kidding. After  nearly 50 MMA fights and 40 kickboxing bouts, the 15-year fight vet was pretty much at loose ends. He’d morphed into a cautionary tale – and a particularly heartbreaking one because he is such a nice dude – for all the young fighters out there who are living like they think those paychecks are just going to keep coming forever.

For obvious reasons, it was not at all surprising when Goodridge agreed to take on Gegard Mousasi at K-1’s New Year’s Eve Dynamite!! 2009 show on kind of ridiculously short notice, was further depressingly predictable that he lost that fight by ugly TKO inside of two minutes and unbelievably ridiculous that FEG took more than a year to send Gary his paycheck. Since this was so clearly an example of an aging fighter taking a fight he had no business taking simply because he needed a payday, the whole “getting paid” stage was a pretty important part of the equation. So, it warms even the blackest heart to report that Goodridge finally got his bread this week. Well, most of it.

(Propers: YouTube/zikobeetlejuice)

Alistair Overeem clearly does most of the heavy lifting during the first two rounds of last night’s K-1 2010 World Grand Prix tournament final. After edging Tyrone Sprong via close(ish) decision in the quarterfinals and surviving a game but overmatched Gokhan Saki in the semis, the outcome is basically in the books for The Reem against 40-year-old Peter Aerts in the championship. As you can see in the above vid, Overeem is so sure he has Aerts down and out with a flurry early in the first round that he’s already standing on the ropes preparing to celebrate as the referee is issuing the count.

People who actually know stuff about K-1 contend Overeem was the odds-on favorite to win the GP anyway  – and indeed he looks like the smart choice in each of these three fights – but it’s still pretty damn impressive to see the erstwhile MMA fighter stalking down and roughing up these professional punch-fighters at what we’re led to believe is the highest level. When it’s all said and done, surprisingly quiet color commentator “King Mo” Lawal even proclaims Overeem “the combat sports athlete of the year, hands down.” Kind of hard to argue with that, after this display.

Overeem’s back-and-forth slugfest with Sprong and his bout with Golden Golory teammate Saki – which Michael Schiavello dubs “Kebabs vs. Horse Meat” – are obviously the better fights. Sprong appears to have Overeem’s number early (and we can’t help but notice that The Reem is kind of allowed to cheat his ass off in that one), while Saki comes out and tries to do some video game shit during their entertaining scrap. It almost works. Those vids are after the jump.

Man, did FEG fire all the guys responsible for their awesome posters of the past?  (PicProps:  K-1′s Official Site)

Heads up for those of you who forget such things: K-1′s World Grand Prix Finals are going down tonight/tomorrow/whatever in Japan, and will air live on HDNet Fights at 2am EST.  Eight heavyweights from six countries (including at least one guy you should damn well be familiar with) will meet to do bodily harm to one another in the name of entertainment, and to determine whom you would least like to meet in a bar while hitting on his girlfriend. 

A rundown of the brackets and the rest of the card are after the jump….

("A statement? I got your statement right here.")

The Dutch newspaper, de Telegraph is reporting that badboy K-1 standout Badr Hari was released from prison in Amsterdam yesterday after serving less than a month behind bars for an alleged assault on a bouncer earlier this year.

According to police, in February Hari and a group of friends were refused entry to a club because their attire did not conform to the dress code set by the bar. An argument escalated to a physical altercation that allegedly saw Hari break the doorman’s nose and eye socket. 

Maybe K-1 fighters just need to stay out of nightclubs.

(Video courtesy Vimeo/TheReem)

While speaking with Golden Glory founder and manager Bas Boon a couple weeks ago, I told him how much the Potato Nation was digging The Reem series and I asked him if there were any plans to profile other GG fighters like Marloes Coenen, Sergei Kharitonov or Semmy Schilt in a similar fashion. 

According to Boon, the cost of making The Reem (which is completely produced out of pocket by his company) is very high as they have had to hire a crew to follow Alistair 24-7. Although it isn’t something he says they are working on at the moment,  he says he hasn’t closed the door on the notion altogether.

This isn’t the only fan-centric initiative Golden Glory has put on.

If you recall, the Holland-based gym also streamed its Glory MMA and kickboxing event last month for free, although they could have easily charged fans to watch it. Boon told us that the reasoning behind the decision was that they simply wanted to increase the exposure of their fighters and the sport, which is why they decided to give it away.

We need more people involved in MMA who value the fans as much as Golden Glory does.

(Left leg, bodybag.)

If you aren’t familiar with the name Gokhan Saki, by next year you will be.

The talented K-1 light heavyweight’s Team Golden Glory trainer Martin de Jong informed mmazone.nl today that his charge is preparing to make his MMA debut in 2011, but said under which banner is yet-to-be decided.

"Saki has not signed anything yet, but will make his official debut in MMA
next year," said de Jong.

Here’s a clip of Saki’s last fight a few weeks ago at the Glory hybrid MMA and kickboxing event in which he scored a Bas Rutten approved liver punch KO over Nicolaj Falin:

(video courtesy YouTube/GloryMMA)

(Video courtesy Vimeo/TheReem)

Rather than sit here and read what we have to say about the latest 20-plus minute double-episode of The Reem, just go ahead and click play and get down to following Alistair as he goes through his final preparations with his Golden Glory teammates for his K-1 fight with Ben Edwards last weekend in The Reem Episode 7&8: Enter the K-1 Tournament.

If you’ve never seen any of these webisodes, make sure to check them out at thereem.com

(Gesias "JZ" Cavalcante trains like a beast for his fight against Josh Thomson at "Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II" this Saturday. Props: GenghisConFilms)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Stefan Struve vs. Sean McCorkle Planned for UFC 124 in Montreal (MMA Fighting)

– Ed Soares’ Dream for Jose Aldo? Super-Fight Against Frankie Edgar (Versus MMA Beat)

– Gina Carano Lands Her Next Major Movie Role, and More Juicy Rumors (MiddleEasy)

– Is Bad Sportsmanship Just Part of the MMA Fight Game? (Five Ounces of Pain)

– Gerald Harris and Phil Davis Get Main Card Slots at UFC 123, Karo Parisyan and Tyson Griffin Stuck in the Prelims (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Nevada State Athletic Commission Makes Half-Baked Changes To Drug Testing Policy (Watch Kalib Run)

– 5 Fights You Shouldn’t Miss This October (LowKick)

– Is Frankie Edgar the #2 P4P Fighter in the World? Dana White Thinks So… (MMA Convert)

– Crazy Slugfest from K-1 MAX Grand Prix (MMA Scraps)

– Jake Shields: The Specialist [VIDEO] (FightMagazine)

(Guess who’s coming to dinner? PicProps: Cagewriter)

A bit of a slow weekend for those of us out there with more refined tastes, as the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final 16 pretty much dominated the scene. If striking is your bag, you’ll probably dig the video after the jump of some guy named Gago Drago knocking out some guy named Su Hawn Lee at that event. Pretty good scrap, there. On the MMA front, reports are all but confirming Jon Jones vs. Ryan Bader will happen early next year and that after UFC 125 Antonio McKee might have to go to church and pray for the eternal soul of Jacob Volkmann.

Also after the jump, one more K-1 knockout, a short clip of Tim Hague handling Travis Wiuff at AMMA 5 north of the border, Arianny Celeste talks to an extremely creepy-voiced dude from MMA Digest, Evan Dunham shows off his scars and — in honor of his signing — a quick flashback to some of McKee’s best work.

(There’s nothing quite like a photo that adheres strictly to the rule of thirds. PicProps: Composta.net)

If you can forget for a moment that the Strikeforce heavyweight title is back on a lengthy hiatus while Alistair Overeem indulges himself by fighting in the K-1 World Grand Prix, then you have to admire his performance last night in the round of 16. Though Overeem’s opponent Ben Edwards came into their bout with what can only charitably be described as a “man on the street build,” we understand he’s something of a respected veteran in punch-and-kick circles, so that makes Overeem’s tidy first round destruction of him kind of impressive, I guess.

For those of you who can stomach the barbarism of two guys punching each other with those puffy weights taped over their fists, the video is after the jump. Seriously though, people, why can’t we all just wear open-fingered, four-ounce gloves like civilized human beings?

(Video courtesy Vimeo/TheReem)

Our favorite web documentary series, The Reem, is back with another episode to help you waste a bit of your Friday.

In the latest offering of the show, which chronicles Alistair Overeem’s fighting career, training and personal life, we follow "The Demolition Man" to Thailand where he prepares for his upcoming K-1 bout tomorrow night.

(Video courtesy MMAWeekly)

During a media scrum ahead of his UFC 119 bout with Frank Mir, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic was asked about his career, his future in MMA and whether or not chasing a title is in his plans.

When asked where he sees himself in the UFC’s heavyweight division, Cro Cop danced around the question like a politician.

"I see myself only Saturday night in front of Frank Mir. That’s where I can see myself so far."

(“How’s taste my deteriorating hand speed and growing proclivity for getting knocked out cold?” PicProps: UrDirt)

At this stage in Andrei Arlovski’s career, brainstorming new and interesting ways to get punched really hard in the face sounds (at least to me) like a fairly questionable move. Given that two of Arlovski’s last three MMA fights and three of his last five losses have ended with him taking unscheduled naps in the middle of the ring, conventional wisdom tells us a punch-and-kick only contest would be the last thing the former UFC champ would want to get involved in. Nonetheless, Arlovski is rumored to be booked to make his K-1 kickboxing debut on Oct. 2 in Seoul, Korea, at least according to something Michael Schiavello shouted (then tweeted) during Friday night’s King of the Cage broadcast.

(Video courtesy Vimeo/TheReem)

Our favorite online MMA biography series, The Reem, is back after a two-month hiatus and the latest offering proves it was well worth the wait.

In this episode, Alistair explains how he got into mixed martial arts and talks about the early days of his career when promoters couldn’t find an opponent in Holland to face him.

He also details his fights with PRIDE and the behind the scenes things that were going on his life that contributed to the series of losses he dropped, which is interesting to hear his account of, but it’s during this portion that you realize just how slick the production of these videos really is.

One story I had never heard before that "Demolition Man" tells in this segment is how he came to fight in K-1 on a whim against Badr Hari to shut up the Dutch-born Moroccan who had been incessantly dogging him to face him in a kickboxing match.

Regretfully, there is no mention of horsemeat or Fedor ducking him this time around, but there’s always episode 7.

(Photo courtesy of k-1.co.jp/en)

We probably won’t see Alistair Overeem compete again in Strikeforce until Fabricio Werdum recovers from his elbow injury — but the man’s gotta make a living somehow. K-1 confirmed yesterday that Overeem would be part of the K-1 World GP 2010 championship tournament, which kicks off October 3rd in Seoul with the Final 16 round. The Demolition Man’s opponent will be Ben "The Guvner" Edwards, a 25-year-old Bulldog Gym product who’s been building a fierce reputation in Australia. In July, Edwards won the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Canberra by scoring three consecutive first-round knockouts, with a total fight time of just 3:28. It was the fastest tournament win in K-1 history, smashing Jerome LeBanner’s previous record of 4:04, which LeBanner posted in Osaka nine years ago. Will Edwards make his name off an upset of Overeem? Check out some videos of the Guvner in action after the jump and let us know what you think…

 
(Who the hell is this guy? I thought you said Mark Hunt was coming here.)

Former PRIDE and K-1 star Mark Hunt is taking his last kick at the can of his mixed martial arts career seriously as evidenced by the photo above. Not only has he transformed his body from its rotund former self, he has also joined American Top Team, where he will spend the last month of his training camp preparing for his September 25 UFC debut opposite former fellow super heavyweight, Sean McCorkle at UFC 119 in Indianapolis.

Hunt’s critics have always pointed to his lack of conditioning and the fact that he didn’t train with a top-tier team in his native New Zealand as the reasons why he never got past his role as gatekeeper in PRIDE. Even fights that Hunt was winning, he always seemed to find a way to lose, usually as a result of his lack of cardio or his lack of a ground game.

(Fight Fedor? He’s got a thing that night. PicProps: K-1)

After months of Alistair Overeem publicly blaming M-1 Global for keeping him from fighting Fedor Emelianenko, the “Last Emperor” finally came out this week and said he would fight Overeem by the end of the year. Great news, right? Well, it would be, except that Overeem now says he doesn’t want to fight Fedor. At least not until the former consensus No.1-ranked heavyweight gets back on the winning track. Instead, Overeem says he’ll compete in K-1′s 2010 Grand Prix, which could keep him tied up from October to December.

That faint crashing sound you just heard was us throwing our favorite coffee mug – the “I Love Iowa” one we got in grad school – against the wall.

(I have to admit, I was skeptical when FEG announced their business plan using a map with a spaceship on it that would shuttle fighters to events around the world.)

Ever since news of DREAM stiffing a number of fighters of their contracted fight purses including Gary Goodridge, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and featherweight champ Bibiano Fernandes, rumors have been running rampant about how dire of financial difficulty the Japanese promotion is in.

Nightmare of Battle does a great job in summing up exactly what the issues have been for FEG that have led to the company being barely able to keep its head above water.

(Eat up Mr. Feathers. I chewed up these worms and grubs special for you.)

From the time he first began knocking out anyone who was foolish enough to stare across a boxing ring at him, Mike Tyson has been one of the most polarizing fighters in professional sports.

From his highly publicized problematic personal life that included a stint in prison for a rape he still contends never took place to his falling out with promoter Don King and his business managers who he says all robbed him blind, Tyson walked a thin, yet precarious line of contradiction between the seemingly invincible, cold, calculated killer in the ring and the frail, emotional and mental midget outside of it.

If you were a fan of boxing in the 90s, you were more than likely a fan of Tyson. Pound for pound, many feel he was the best fighter who ever competed. He was the "Anderson Silva" or the "Fedor Emelianenko" of boxing long before either fighter ever competed in a cage or ring.

In recent years, the former champ who was purportedly once worth more than $300 million has suffered a lifetime’s worth of tragedy and tribulation, claiming bankruptcy in 2003 and tragically losing his four-year-old daughter in 2009.

(“Absolutely 100 percent not guilty, your honor.” PicPros: FightMag.net)

Prepare to have everything you thought you knew about Badr Hari shaken to its very foundation: As it turns out, the K-1 kickboxing bad boy just maybe, possibly, allegedly did have a hand in a February assault that left a nightclub bouncer with a fractured eye socket, a broken nose, and the impending possibility of a metal plate in his head.

In the immediate wake of the incident outside an Amsterdam bar, Hari said through his attorney that he "’denied having anything to do with (it)’ and said that if the police did have any evidence, they should summon him." Well, consider that bluff summarily called this week as Amsterdam police did in fact summon Hari along with three other men for questioning regarding the assault. Only problem was, Hari himself was nowhere to be found and the latest report from Headkick Legend indicated that a midweek deadline for the fighter to turn himself in to authorities came and went without the 6-foot-5, 230-pounder showing his face.

If you didn’t stay up until 4 a.m. to watch some K-1 action on Saturday, then you missed the chance to see Alistair Overeem face off against yet another overmatched opponent. Dzevad Poturak turned out to have no real weapons to threaten Overeem with, and after getting dropped with a right hand early on he never got his legs back under him. Watching him sling harmless punches in the general direction of Overeem’s guard and then eat counter-punches for his trouble, you get the sense that this isn’t going to end well for him.

The good news is that Overeem managed to slaughter Poturak without injuring himself, so he plans to be back in the gym on Monday to prepare for that Strikeforce heavyweight title defense in a few weeks. Something tells me Brett Rogers might put up more of a fight.