On a humid but windy afternoon, the K-1 kings of Oceania press conference had a very exciting feel to it. All the fighters were crammed in to a cosy room which was packed to capacity weren’t short of laughter, humour and aggression. Kind of like a well done soup as a starter before the main course. On that note…

Everyone seemed to be anxious to get in the ring and a few absentees who will be arriving later today from Australia. The highlight of the gathering was undoubtedly Peter “The Chief” Graham, blinged out to the max with the gold X chain, mouth grill with Diamonds and a gold Rolex Submariner watch to boot. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the cool shades and the red-retro Lionel Ritchie jacket. To go with it were some words full of praise to Doug “Vicious” Viney and some harsh words of warning to Paul Slowinski, who was obviously not present. After the pleasantries and referring to kiwi fighters as being too modest, he dug deep and swung hard at Slowinski and quote “He’s an arrogant F**c*…and needs to be beat”, there we go, and much to the delight of the crowd Dixon McIver promised Slowinski V Graham as a super fight for next years showdown. And Graham quipped that he may have to be arrested by the cops for murder after he’s done with Paul. Hmm, this guy sounds extremely fixated about winning and has a new-years wish list. One thing is for sure, the chief never fails to entertain, and he can back it up. Exactly what the press conference needed, the star appeal and the attitude of Donald Trump.

Anyhow everyone else showed each other loads, I mean truck loads of respect. Jason Suttie added to the stern menu of words and laid down his intent to stop the rising star of K-1 NZ, Peter Sampson. This will be the real test for the punishers up against arguably-pound for pound the best K1 fighter in the scene. “I am real fired up and want to show everyone once and for all….”, when quizzed by the big kabosh on the hype about Sampson. Jason looks set to take the pool and he strode off in his awesome Harley Davidson sportster.

Jan Antholik and Aaron Boyes were an epitome of the spirit of NZ K-1 and paid each other the best compliments possible, however I sense it is only the calm before the storm. Respect or not, once in the ring it will be absolute mayhem and I sense this one going the whole nine yards, not to mention some bruising blows. Jan is in for the fight of his life, no doubt. The bomber if he finds the radar early enough with a right, could see a quick finish. Jan is class and will be up to it… too close to call.

Who did I miss…. Of course, how blind would I be if I didn’t mention the Russian man-mountain Ustinov. I was a midgetised standing next to this guy and big Chris the Godzilla will surely have his work cut out for him. He is one big monster and has the sense of humour to match (much thanks to my Russian interpreter, the lovely Yana). Something of interest is that he is an ex-police commando from Moscow. Good thing cops here aren’t all that big.

The Powerhouse Andrew peck was looking super sharp and dressed for the occasion, and I sense something special from him- a blue dress shirt with a gold tie assures his confidence, along with the 6”10 Rueben De Jong who promised lots of leg work and a few “surprises”, and added that it “would be nice to go out after the fight, as opposed to go home with an ice pack”, surely the quote of the day. Furthermore as usual the rest of the fighters were content on saying few words as possible and doing the talk tomorrow in the ring.

Mr Dixon McIver made a very promising announcement by saying kiwi K-1 fighters now have the opportunity to fight in the Moscow leg next year and long overdue shot at the world stage. Fantastic!!! So K-1 please take note, another OCNA K-1 GP champ is not far away from beckoning. Kabolicous!!! The Kiwi amalgamation with the Russian connection could prove to be a pivot, and finally we could see more of OCNA on the world stage regularly.

So folks, let tomorrow night come and I have no doubt we will see a very interesting show worth savouring. My gut feel is that some of the lesser known fighters will take the major honours, and people who have written them off will have to take off their blinkers. How ironic would that be, indeed… Irony can be very ironic. Just like how if the Kiwis make it to the tri-nations final and win it.

Word to bugs… despite the highly gargantrous and comical (but none the less entertaining) commentary, your predictions look probable. I guess only tomorrow will tell, and it will come for sure.

Good luck to everyone and make sure you get in early. I will have some rather interesting photo(s) or two later on. So stay tuned in…

BOA @ ROGUE Fights
Fight Editor