K-1 fighting sets tryouts before event

With Las Vegas quickly becoming the center of the K-1 universe in the United States, K-1 USA CEO Scott Coker came up with the idea of holding a two-day tryout to try and bolster the ranks of the burgeoning martial arts sport right before Saturday night's Battle at The Bellagio III.

Coker and many of the major players in the sport will open up two days of tryouts on Thursday and Friday at The Bellagio to reinforce K-1's J-Max (154-pound limit) and super heavyweight (200 pounds and up) divisions. The response was overwhelming, with more than 100 fighters applying for the tryouts.

"I was very happy with the response. I think it's a statement about the popularity of our sport," said Sven Bean, K-1 USA's Director of Fighter Development. "It's definitely a step in the right direction for us."

Representatives from K-1's Japanese headquarters and K-1 USA, the North American body, will be on hand to see prospective fighters show off their fighting skills through a range of striking drills with pads. Participants will also spar against one another and just might land a dream job in one of the world's fastest-growing sports.

"I know we'll find a couple of fighters in the group who we'll sign to contracts." Bean said. "We may find more than a couple. I'm familiar with some of the fighters that are trying out and there's some talent there."

K-1 debuted 11 years ago in Japan and features eight-man, single-elimination tournaments as well as superfights at their events. The sport was designed to assemble fighters from all of the stand-up fighting disciplines, put them into one ring and let them go at it to end with one champion. The "K" in K-1 stands for the first letter of the different styles of martial arts in the sport: kickboxing, karate, kung fu, tae kwon do and kakutogi. The "1" represents the one weight class and the fact that there can only be one champion -- the fighter who wins all three of his fights in a single night -- in the single-elimination tournament.

The K-1 tournament is made up of 22 events staged in 20 different countries. Winners of each event all move on to the next round of events until the survivors all reach the Super Bowl of K-1, the Grand Prix Finals at Japan's legendary Tokyo Dome.

At last year's Grand Prix Finals, more than 70,000 fans packed the stadium to witness the crescendo of a sport that has grown every year.

In Las Vegas, The Bellagio has evolved into the epicenter of that action.

Women also compete in K-1, including Playboy magazine's 2004 Model of the Year, Tasha Marzolla, who is scheduled to fight on the card at The Bellagio Saturday. Also on Saturday night's card is Mexican K-1 champ Raul Romero and Henderson resident Tommy Glanville, who is helping put K-1 on America's map.

"I want to get it (K-1) out to as many people as possible. The sport is great, not just one individual in it," Glanville said.

Glanville went on to reveal how boxers who once ruled in their weight class in their former sport have had trouble when making the transition to K-1 fighting.

"Former champion Franz Botha is 0-5 and Vincent Phillips is 0-1," Glanville said. "And Arthur Williams, the cruiserweight champ, got knocked out in the first 30 seconds."

The tryouts are not open to the public.


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