Picture and text credit K1
The ever-improving Musashi has advanced to the final bout of the Tokyo Dome World GP two years running now, and here Japan's best K-1 fighter met American pro wrestler turned contact fighter Sean O'Haire in a K-1 Rules bout. The big O'Haire, who fights for BJ Penn's MMA Team, surprised many pundits when he brutalized Shungo Oyama with punches to take a KO victory just 31 seconds into the first round of their dance at the Rumble on the Rock in Hawaii last month.
Fighting in his hometown, Musashi had the Osaka crowd pumped as he made his entrance. But from the bell, it was O'Haire who came in. Crouched low, leaning forward, O'Haire tossed in a number of jabs, a right, a low kick and put some knees up from the clinch before Musashi had thrown a single strike. O'Haire looked decent here, working the body blows and connecting with a right uppercut in the early going. Musashi was, as it happened, simply biding his time. Late in the round, after connecting with a couple of low kicks, Musashi planted his left foot on the right side of O'Haire's face for a down.
In the second, it was evident O'Haire had not fully recovered as a hard front kick put the American on the canvas once again, and just seconds after resumption Musashi ended the fight in a convincing fashion with another high kick.
Maybe he had been a little rattled in the first round, but for whatever reason Musashi seemed to have briefly forgotten where he was after the fight, thanking the "Tokyo Dome" crowd for their support from the winners' circle. The forgiving Osaka crowd was of course amused by the slip of tongue, and an embarrassed Musashi corrected himself with a chuckle before thanking one and all.
Added Musashi in his post-bout interview: "I didn't know my opponent so I decided to let him come at me in the first and see what he could do. In the second, I fought back, showed him what I could do."