K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1. The event was held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, December 8, 2001, in front of 65,000 spectators. It was the ninth K-1 Grand Prix final, involving eight of the world's top fighters, with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules (100 kg/156-220 lbs). The eight finalists had almost all qualified by winning preliminary tournaments (with the exception of Peter Aerts who was a runner up), while two additional fighters were invited as reserve fighters in case of any injuries (for more detail on this see bulleted list below).

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final
Information
PromotionK-1
DateDecember 8, 2001
VenueTokyo Dome
CityJapan Tokyo, Japan
Attendance65,000
Event chronology
K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary Prague K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Preliminary Marseilles

As well as tournament bouts there was also the aforementioned 'Reserve Fight' to decide who would be a replacement for any injured competition fighters, fought under K-1 Rules, and a 'Super Fight' between local middleweight star Masato and Noel Soares, fought under K-1 MAX Rules (70 kg/152 lbs). In total there were twelve fighters at the event, representing eleven countries.

The tournament winner was Mark Hunt who defeated Francisco Filho in the final by extra round unanimous decision, for his first and so far only K-1 World Grand Prix final victory. Both him and Francisco Filho even reaching the final was seen as a huge upset, helped in part by all the competition favourites Ernesto Hoost, Jérôme Le Banner and Peter Aerts being knocked out at the Quarter Final stage.

Qualifiers - Finalists

Qualifiers - Reservists

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Tournament
Quarter Finals Semi Finals Final
Germany Stefan Leko  
Netherlands Ernesto Hoost DEC Germany Stefan Leko *  
France Jérôme Le Banner   New Zealand Mark Hunt DEC
New Zealand Mark Hunt KO New Zealand Mark Hunt DEC
Denmark Nicholas Pettas   Brazil Francisco Filho  
Belarus Alexey Ignashov KO Belarus Alexey Ignashov  
Brazil Francisco Filho TKO Brazil Francisco Filho DEC
Netherlands Peter Aerts  

* Ernesto Hoost was injured after his match with Stefan Leko. As the Reserve Fight winner Mike Bernardo was also injured, Stefan Leko would take his place in the Semi Finals

Results
K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Results[1][2]
K-1 Grand Prix Reserve Fight: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R
South Africa Mike Bernardo def. Adam Watt Australia
Bernardo defeated Watt by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (29-28, 30-28, 29-28).
K-1 Grand Prix Quarter Finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R
Netherlands Ernesto Hoost def. Stefan Leko Germany
Hoost defeated Leko by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-27, 30-27, 30-28) but had to retire due to injury - Stefan Leko would replace him in the Semi Finals as Reserve Fight winner Mike Bernardo was also injured.
New Zealand Mark Hunt def. Jérôme Le Banner France
Hunt defeated Le Banner by KO (Right Hook) at 2:32 of the 2nd Round.
Belarus Alexey Ignashov def. Nicholas Pettas Denmark
Ignashov defeated Pettas by KO (Right Knee) at 1:21 of the 2nd Round.
Brazil Francisco Filho def. Peter Aerts Netherlands
Filho defeated Aerts by TKO (Corner Stoppage) at 3:00 of the 2nd Round - Peter Aerts was injured.
K-1 Grand Prix Semi Finals: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R
New Zealand Mark Hunt def. Stefan Leko Germany
Hunt defeated Leko by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-27).
Brazil Francisco Filho def. Alexey Ignashov Belarus
Filho defeated Ignashov by 3rd Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (30-29, 30-29, 30-29).
Super Fight (-68 kg): K-1 Rules / 3Min. 5R
Japan Masato def. Noel Soares Cape Verde
Masato defeated Soares by KO (Right Punch) at 1:30 of the 3rd Round.
K-1 Grand Prix Final: K-1 Rules / 3Min. 3R Ext. 2R
New Zealand Mark Hunt def. Francisco Filho Brazil
Hunt defeated Filho by Extra Round Unanimous Decision 3-0 (10-9, 10-9, 10-9). After 3 rounds the judges had scored it a Decision Draw 0-0 (30-30, 30-30, 30-30).

See also

References
  1. "K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Final Results". K-1 Official Website. Archived from the original on 2011-02-26.
  2. "Results: K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX 2001 FINAL". K-1sport.de - Your Source for Everything K-1. Archived from the original on 2009-02-21.
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