By Michael David Smith
- Lead Blogger
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In one of the strangest endings you'll ever see in any sporting event, K-1 legend
Jerome Le Banner fought a brutal three-round battle with his opponent
Kyotaro, then walked out of the ring and refused to fight a fourth overtime round when the judges ruled the first three rounds a draw.
"I left when the judges said it was a draw. No, It was not a draw. I had one more point," Le Banner said after the fight. "It was not fair. They wanted something more, it was not fair. It was not fair."
As a result, Kyotaro was ruled the winner of the match by forfeit. So Kyotaro wins at the
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final 16 in Seoul and will advance to the Final 8 in December.
Le Banner's actions were, frankly, disgraceful, and they marred what had been a great fight. He apparently thought he had deserved to win the fight in the first three rounds and the judges had robbed him, but he was wrong: Although Le Banner definitely won the second round, he clearly lost the third, and the first round was close enough that it was reasonable to call it a draw. The judges' decision to call it a draw through three rounds and send it to overtime was completely acceptable.
One can only guess what Le Banner was thinking, but K-1 announcer Michael Schiavello called Le Banner's actions "disrespectful to K-1, disrespectful to the fans," and he was absolutely right: It was absolutely unacceptable ending to a terrific bout, and it marred what has been an otherwise great K-1 event.
(MMA FIghting's Daniel Herbertson contributed to this report from Seoul.)
Read More: k-1worldgrandprix2010final16, k1, news
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