Report and photos draw BFN Group and Music Hall presents It’s Showtime Fast and Furious 70 MAX
The photos can be found HERE
July 1, 2011 -
As every kickboxing fan already knows, Music Hall Group, BFN Group and ITx92S SHOWTIME will organize this yearx92s most spectacular kickboxing tournament in the world: x91Fast & Furious 70 maxx92 8 man tournament.
Yesterday, all fighters appeared on the draw in the Forest National to decide the brackets and quarter finals for the tournament.
CEO of Music Hall Group Mr. Geert Allaert said he was very happy with the cooperation with BFN Group and ITx92S SHOWTIME. His goal is not to get only business people to the events (like the exclusive VIP events), but also complete families. Also, 30 of the 57 VIP tables for September 24th are already sold.
Mr. Nicolas Bourg, CEO of BFN Group, stated they invested in ITx92S SHOWTIME to help ITx92S SHOWTIME become an even bigger player on the market and to develop kickboxing worldwide.
Mr. Simon Rutz was more looking at it from a fan perspective and called this tournament x93the most exciting event of the year.x94 He was very curious to what the draw would bring.
After host Mr. Vinny x91Showtimex92 Shoreman introduced all fighters it was time to start what everybody was waiting for: determining the brackets.
Every fighters got to pick a ball with a number from the bowl presented to them by ITx92S SHOWTIMEx92s CEO Simon Rutz. When all fighters had a ball and number, it was time to reveal who had number 1.
Chris Ngimbi, the reigning ITx92S SHOWTIME world champion 70kg max, drew, how appropriate for a champ, ball number 1. x91The African Warriorx92 made his way to the big board and chose spot number 6, in the third quarter final of the night.
Ball number 2 was drawn by probably the dark horse in this tournament, Harut Grigorian. The young Armenian fighter avoided the champion and chose spot 4, the second fight in the other bracket.
x91Mr. Entertainmentx92 was next with ball number 3. Many people expected Gago Drago to choose for dark horse Grigorian but nevertheless Drago didnx92t choose for his fellow countryman, but chose spot number 2. Apparently, Drago was looking ahead and might wanted to have the longest rest period before he gets to the semi-final.
Belgianx92s own Murat Direkxe7i was next to pick a spot. His choices were Gago Drago, Harut Grigorian, Chris Ngimbi or a yet undetermined opponent in the last quarter final. Direkxe7i is the former ITx92S SHOWTIME world champion and this is exactly where the first storyline was being made. In December 2010, Direkxe7i lost the title to Chris Ngimbi in Athens, Greece. After that fight, Direkxe7i wasnx92t happy with the outcome and although he didnx92t have another fight after Athens, he chose for the rematch right away! He walked up to Ngimbi and claimed later on that x93I want my revenge.x94 That shows how badly Direkxe7i feels about that fight. He could have chosen Drago, whom he beat before, he could have chosen the outsider Grigorian or he could have chosen the blank spot, leaving the options of facing Chahid, Petrosyan, Souwer or Kyshenko. Instead of looking for tournament strategies, Direkxe7i chose for revenge.
Champion Ngimbi wanted to respond to Direkxe7ix92s words and stated that he himself had also asked Simon Rutz for a rematch of the Athens fight, because he was unhappy with his own performance. So he won the title but still wasnx92t happyx85thatx92s an almost scary drive to perfection! But therefore Ngimbi was very happy with Direkxe7i choosing the spot next to him to make this third quarter final fight complete.
x91Souwer Powerx92 was next. With ball number 5 Andy Souwer showed his experience in tournament fighting and strategically walked up to Harut Grigorian. These fighters have never met before, but on September 24th they will! Harut said in the individual interview on camera with Vinny Shoreman that he always wants to fight the best fighters in the world and he sees Souwer as one of the very best, so he is happy with the draw.
Artur Kyshenko then made his way to the board, being the sixth to choose. He shook hands and gave a hug to all fighters whox92d already picked and finally walked up to the number 1 spot, meaning he will make the first entrance of the tournament, facing Gago Drago.
Like Ngimbi vs Direkxe7i, also this fight is a rematch. On March 6th of this year, Kyshenko beat Drago by unanimous decision in Amsterdam, so maybe Kyshenko thinks he can do it again.
And then there were just 2 fighters left, with only 1 fight still open. Chahid Oulad el Hadj was only left to pick spot 7 or 8, both being in the last quarter final. He picked spot 8, meaning Giorgio Petrosyan is already in the ring, waiting, when x91The Pitbullx92 enters the catwalk.
So after the brackets were set, it was time to hear what the fighters thought about it. Ngimbi and Direkxe7i were clearly happy with their fight, but what about the rest?
Souwer said he wants to face Petrosyan in the finals. Winning the tournament and beating Petrosyan in the finals would be his ultimate result of x91Fast & Furious 70 maxx92. A final against Petrosyan is exactly what Souwerx92s coach Andrxe9 Mannaart expects. During the draw and with every bracket becoming more visible as more fighters picked their spot, Mannaart was already aching his brain over thinking of the right strategies for Souwer.
x91The Doctorx92 Petrosyan commented on the criticism he gets sometimes, but his comments were in the more intimate setting of the individual interviews. Petrosyan is being criticized for the way he wins his fights, not knocking his opponents out and only fighting counter-wise. However cool he might seem, the Italianx92s eyes showed fire when he talked about this. He literally wants to shut everyone up during the September 24 tournament, so we are in for an absolute treat, as this tournament seems to mean much more to Petrosyan than x91justx92 winning the big x80 50.000 jackpot.
But first things first, and Petrosyan still has to beat Chahid Oulad el Hadj if he wants to look ahead to the beautiful cup and the jackpot. Chahid was very disappointed by the no contest against Petrosyan in Lyon, France on May 14th, getting kicked in the x91lower regionsx92 and not being able to continue the fight. Chahid feels he did well in that fight and because he wants to fight the best fighters, he is happy with the rematch, so he can set something straight against the best fighter in the world in his opinion. Obviously, Chahid didnx92t have a lot to choose, having drawn ball number 7. However, if he would have had the choice, he said he would have picked Andy Souwer. Probably the loss against Souwer in the Amsterdam ArenA weighs a bit more than the no contest against Petrosyanx85
BFN Groupx92s Nicolas Bourg thinks it will be a great show on September 24th in Forest National, as he saw some x93interesting strategiesx94 in the draw.
Simon Rutz of ITx92S SHOWTIME backed him up, stating the tournament will be x93really interesting because no one has an easy fight.x94 Unlike many, Rutz isnx92t so sure of Petrosyan winning the tournament, and he wishes all fighters good luck.
So there you have it, after a very tense draw, these are the brackets:
Quarter finals:
A) Artur Kyshenko vs Gago Drago
B) Andy Souwer vs Harut Grigorian
C) Murat Direkxe7i vs Chris Ngimbi
D) Giorgio Petrosyan vs Chahid Oulad el Hadj
Semi-finals:
E) winner A vs winner B
F) winner C vs winner D
Final:
G) winner E vs winner F
It all goes down on September 24th in Forest National in Brussels. Make sure you get your tickets in time! Tickets can be ordered by clicking the x93Tickets bestellenx94 button on www.fight.nl
If you missed the draw, you can watch it on the ITx92S SHOWTIME app for smartphones and tablets, and it will soon be available on www.showtimefights.com
