chainsaw :

The reason why I said that Mark Hunt was "lucky" to win the Grand Prix is this:

1) He lost to Ray Sefo at the K-1 Fukuoka, but because that Ray Sugerfoot got injured so he could not continue, Hunt took his place. Call it whatever you like, but I call it luck.

2) Yes he did beat Jerome Le Banner - big time, but to me it was a lucky punch that shacked Jerome, and then the rest is history. Jerome won the first round clearly, and was also in front on points in the second round against Hunt at the K-1 Grand Prix 2001. Jerome was planting some good knee strikes and jabs, and was attacking Mark constantly, when Hunt in defense hit Jerome with a lucky punch. "If" Jerome wasn’t hit, I am sure that he would have won the fight with a 3-0 judge decision, because Jerome was the best until he got hit.

3) Hunt was going to fight Ernesto Hoost in his 2nd fight, but Hoost got injured in his first fight against Leko, so instead of fighting the champion, Hunt was going to fight a tiered and unfocused Leko. I call that luck, because I don’t think that Hunt would stand a chance against Mr. Perfect. (Remember Van Dams Vs Ignashov?... Same story same problem.)

4) As I see the finale K-1 GP fight, Filho won the first tree rounds on points by 2-1, and should have been the K-1 champion!! There was no reason for a 4th round, because Filho scored more than Hunt in the first tree rounds. But someone in the K-1 organization does not like Filho, because he ALWAYS has to fight an extra round, because the judges will never give him the victory. There are two fighters in the K-1 there has to knock out there opponents to be 100% sure to get the victory, and that is Skelton and Filho. Otherwise the judges always cheat them.

Lucky or not, whatever?