(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.