Kang, Akiyama Collide at K-1 HERO’S

SEOUL -- The anticipated K-1 HERO'S Korea main event on Sunday between Denis Kang (Pictures) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (Pictures) should be a barn burner.

Kang began his career as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu stylist, but he is now a well-rounded fighter with lethal striking. In preparation for his HERO'S debut, he trained at Revolution Fight Team in Canada with HERO'S lightweight standout "Black Mamba" Kultar Gill (Pictures), Bibiano Fernandez -- who recently dropped a hard-fought decision to "Kid" Norifumi Yamamoto (Pictures) -- and MMA veteran Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons.

At a pre-fight news conference, Kang called his opponent exceptional in all facets of the game, particularly holding Akiyama's athleticism in high regard, and said he is the top fighter in the HERO'S light heavyweight division.

Although Kang did not prepare a "personalized game plan," he did hint at how he thinks the fight will play out.

"A fight always begins standing up," he said. "There's no choice but to strike -- it's inevitable."

Kang has a lancing straight right that launches straight down the pipe -- the same right put away Murilo "Ninja" Rua in their PRIDE clash. His punches should pack more power now that he is fighting at 187 pounds (he fought at 183 in PRIDE).

The highly ranked fighter said 187 is closer to his natural weight. "It was a bit harder to make the cut in PRIDE," Kang said. "This weight is definitely more comfortable for me to make."

Akiyama is a decorated judoka with a strong ground game, but since his loss to Jerome Le Banner in 2005, he has focused especially on developing his hands.

As a result, he has shown some crisp striking in his last few fights, even in his No Contest debacle against Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures). However, Akiyama admits that Kang is a better striker, a more complete fighter and is stronger in the clinch.

If Kang can get Akiyama on his back, it should be interesting to see how Akiyama reacts because he has not been put in the position. The world-class judoka entered the news conference with a slight limp, but he assured the media that his condition was the same as when he swept the HERO'S Grand Prix and fought Sakuraba last year.

Ring rust should, nevertheless, be a key factor. Akiyama is coming off a 10-month suspension -- a fact that he is fully aware of.

"Last year it was easier to flip the switch back on because my matches were right after the other," he said. "This time it has taken longer to get back into things."

An X-factor in this match could be whether Akiyama opts to don his gi during the fight. While he has more to prove with it off, he stated that he would consider the matter right up until he notifies the officials, which is a new rule: Fighters must give advance notice of whether they will wear a gi.

"There are both merits and demerits" to wearing a gi, Akiyama said. "But one of the demerits of not wearing a gi is that it becomes harder to hold a submission due to the sweat. It gets more slippery."

The fight between Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures) and Fabio Silva (Pictures) is a classic grappler versus striker matchup.

Dong Sik Yoon (Pictures), or Dong "Sick" as Rampage likes to call him ("he makes me sick"), is a judo practitioner with a slick ground game, which he displayed in his matches against UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton Jackson (Pictures), Melvin Manhoef (Pictures) and Zelg Galesic (Pictures).

After dropping four straight bouts in PRIDE, Yoon has turned things around in HERO'S by winning his last two contests versus strikers via armbars.

When told that his armbar is affectionately referred to as a "dongbar" in the Sherdog discussion forums, a joking Yoon replied, "That's the only move I know how to do -- the dongbar."

"I have an armbar victory off my back and from the top," Yoon said. "I'll try to get one from the side this time."

It seems training with Sakuraba has also enhanced Yoon's sense of humor.

Sakuraba knows Yoon's opponent, Fabio Silva (Pictures), having trained with the striker at Chute Boxe in Curitiba, Brazil. Sakuraba's pointers are sure to have been helpful in preparing for Silva.

"Sakuraba didn't go into too much detail, but he did tell me to watch out for [Silva's] Thai clinch," Yoon said.

At 35, Yoon is not getting any younger, but he said physically he still feels like he's in his twenties.

In a humorous anecdote, he related that after Randy Couture (Pictures) wrested the UFC heavyweight belt from Tim Sylvia (Pictures), Sakuraba -- who is 38 -- teased, "Hey Yoon. You could probably fight 10 more years."

Yoon hopes to retire with 30 fights. His bout Sunday will be his seventh MMA contest. Silva, a product of Rudimar Fedrigo and Rafael Cordeiro (Pictures), constantly moves forward. Yet he is better known for his "Axe Murderer" routine than his in-ring abilities. At the news conference photo shoot with Yoon, Silva, instead of holding his hands up to pose for pictures, lurched forward at Yoon and began swaying his upper body side-to-side while staring menacingly into Yoon's face.

Although Silva's mimicry is exceptional, he has yet to duplicate the brutal striking power of Wanderlei Silva (Pictures). Against Yoon he will have a good opportunity to showcase his striking abilities and use his Thai clinch.

The long awaited debut of grappling wizard Marcelo Garcia (Pictures), who has reigned in the prestigious Abu Dhabi World Championships, also takes place at K-1 HERO'S Korea. He will face Dae Won Kim (Pictures).

Garcia explained that his motivation in transitioning to MMA was to find "a new challenge."

"I've been doing jiu-jitsu all my life," he said, "and now I want to do MMA."

Garcia's success, however, hinges upon how well he responds and adapts to strikes. But the always brimming submission wrestling champion seemed confident and well prepared.

"There will be no surprises when I get hit in the ring," he said. "Training for it was the hard part."

Lightweight standout Hermes Franca (Pictures) and decorated Canadian grappler Mark Bocek (Pictures) joined Garcia in the final leg of his training camp, informing the jiu-jitsu prodigy what to expect in the ring.

Despite fighting at a catch-weight of 181 pounds, Garcia still faces a much bigger opponent in Kim, who also has heavy hands.

Asked about his game plan, Garcia replied, "I've fought heavier opponents all the time in jiu-jitsu tournaments. … The importance is maintaining my own style."

Garcia's foe, Kim, has a judo base and is a physically imposing fighter with knockout power. His most high-profile fights to date have been losing affairs to Akihiro Gono (Pictures) in Pride and Joe Doerksen (Pictures) in Deep.

Kim likes to use his strength and pound opponents from the top, but he has shown a tendency to gas -- as in his bout with Gono -- and is susceptible to submissions -- as Doerksen showed with a triangle choke.

He knows he can't go to the ground with Garcia, "an elite jiu-jitsu player, the best in the world … but I hope to take advantage of his inexperience in MMA," Kim said.

This is a chance for Kim to make a name for himself; let's just hope he's focused on improving his conditioning to make this a competitive bout.

The fight between outstanding strikers Zelg Galesic (Pictures) and Taiei Kin (Pictures) could be the sleeper of the night.

Galesic, whose roots are in taekwondo, is a rangy striker with electrifying speed. He turned heads when he defeated divisional stalwart Mark Weir (Pictures) in stunning fashion at Cage Rage 19 for the middleweight title.

However, he has not fared well in his last two outings against grapplers, tapping out in both contests. While Galesic unequivocally needs to work on his ground game, he won't have to worry about it against Kin, a K-1 fighter who is equally disinclined to go to the mat.

Against a veteran like Kin, Galesic will have to make the most of his substantial height and reach advantage and come in prepared.

Kin is a Seidokaikan Karate fighter who competed in K-1 mainly during the 1990s. Many insiders feel that if there had been a K-1 Max back then, the smaller Kin would have been the Masato of the ‘90s.

After retiring in 2000, Kin took up the role of coaching and mentoring K-1 fighters, including Hong Man Choi (Pictures). Unable to resist the itch, though, he returned to action in 2005 against Akiyama in what was a controversial submission loss.

He has since defeated his opponents -- both in MMA and K-1 rules -- with emphatic knockout victories.

"I was actually a bit surprised myself," he said. "But as a veteran, I think my success came from being able to see my opponents' weaknesses."

With a wealth of experience, Kin appreciates the importance of a good strategy. Asked what his strategy will be against Galesic, he replied, "My strategy will be to do what the opponent does not like. I have two or three strategies in mind. I won't know what to use until I stand in front of my opponent. … I'll know within the first minute."

As a proud K-1 fighter, Kin assured that the fight will not go to the ground or even to the clinch, saying he wants to put on a fight that fans want to see.

"I'm thankful just to be fighting," he said. "I'm going to keep moving forward and put on a great fight for the fans as long as I can."

At 37, Kin again faces the twilight of his career, but he's confident that he still has the power to knock anyone out.

Don't blink.