To Beranes,

The reason why the promoters of K-1 and PRIDE are pitting underweight Japanese fighters against heavier opponents is that they never understand the concept of establishing a legitimate sport. The majority of the combat sports in Japan, including the golden era of muay thai, are absense of the long-term plan to establish themselves to main stream sports. This is another reason combat sports are regarded to be related to pro-wrestling by the main stream Japan. Just as the kickboxing fad in the '70s, I believe both K-1 and PRIDE will fade away unless the people behind them truly understand the difference between circus(pro-wrestling) and real sports(muay thai,etc).

As far as the clinch is concerned, I think it all depends on how much the sport can be appealing to mass audience. There is yet another reason why combat sports in Japan has not yet taken off is too many of the participants and fans alike stress too much of the street effectiveness of their favorite fighting medium (MT, karate, etc). The knees, elbows, or clinches are certainly effective tools for the street situation (I myself was an mediocre muay thai practitioner, and had successfully defended myself against even more mediocre wanna-be tough guys in a few occasions). But it does not necesarily translate into excitement. You have to remember that combat sports are not only competing against each other, but against the major sports and entertainment as well. I think this can be the case for the rest of the world. Don Wilson once said in his interview the knees, elbows, and clinch should be prohibited to attract sponsorship from major corporations such as the Budwiser and Coca Cola. I know there are many who disagree with his ideas, but I think this a food for thought.