kicks, which Overeem grabbed as part of an apparent strategy to neutralize and manhandle his opponent. The fighters exchanged words in the clinch here, and one can guess they weren't cordial.

Overeem surprised Bonjasky with a front kick to the face early in the second. Bonjasky brought one-two combinations and some body blows but spent too much of the second with his guard high and close, apparently waiting for his opponent to close. A risky strategy as Overeem brought a mess of raw aggression to the clashes -- landing a right uppercut from close and throwing Bonjasky several times. Although he landed his hard low kicks, Bonjasky was taking more than he gave. Had the brutish Overeem clipped the Flying Gentleman's wings? Bonjasky was lucky to get out of the round even on all cards.

In the third again Overeem was nasty, seizing the kicking leg, delivering a face wash, and repeatedly kicking at Bonjasky's knee and throwing him to the mat. Although Bonjasky low kicks, Overeem did well inside with an uppercut. The fight was entering its final minute when Bonjasky finally saw the opening he wanted -- threading in a right straight punch on an out-of-position Overeem to send him down. To get back into it, Overeem needed to make some noise late, but could not, and Bonjasky took the victory by a comfortable unanimous decision.

In the aftermath, Bonjasky attempted return an "Oscar" that Overeem's team had presented him at the press conference a day earlier, "because we respect Remy's acting in the ring," but the statuette was swatted away by a humorless cornerman.

"My performance today was not my best," said Bonjasky afterward. "Honestly, on Thursday when I was asked by a fan for a photo while having dinner, and I stood up and twisted my knee. I wanted to cancel the fight, but after discussing it with K-1 and a doctor, we decided to continue. This is why I couldn’t do my usual flying knees and running around, so I apologize for that. It seems like I partially tore my meniscus, it was incredibly painful."

"To defend the name of K-1 was a lot of pressure, but it felt good to knock Alistair down. If I didn’t get the down it would have seemed like a draw. I wanted to finish him but my coach told me to not take any risks, and just take the win."

"He said that I'm an actor and that I didn’t deserve the belt, so I wanted to give him the 'Oscar' back. I wanted to show I was not an actor and that I'm a real fighter. I also wanted to say 'Hey, I told you so!' but I have respect for him. If you look at his MMA record, he has lost almost half of his fights, yet after beating Badr Hari he suddenly felt he could fly. You need to do more than win one fight before you can fly!"

Not surprisingly, Overeem had a different take on the events: "I think the fight went as planned. I was dominating the fight as planned, but regrettably I went down in the third. I thought I had the first two rounds, so it might go for an extra round, but it didn’t happen. Remy is a great fighter, but I have never been impressed with his technique, and I think that showed during the fight tonight."

The card's penultimate match featured another Dutchman, K-1 superstar Peter Aerts, fighting Errol Zimmerman, a 22 year-old kickboxer from the Netherlands Antilles island of Curaçao.

This was a quintessential K-1 fight, awesome non-stop action from start to finish. Zimmerman set the pace early with aggressive right straight punches, Aerts blocking perfectly, weathering those that got through before countering with straight punches of his own. The tempo through the first and second was frenetic, Zimmerman, his guard high and close, powering in the punches; Aerts refusing to retreat, stepping up and picking his spots with combinations.

Zimmerman's power punches had him up on two cards coming into the third, where he lapsed some into defense, always however explosive with counters. Aerts showed excellent stamina, and landed a couple of smashing right straight punches in the final frame to tie it up. An extra round was prescribed, and here Aerts got through early with a punishing Right straight punch. Zimmerman stayed on his feet, but never fully recovered from the blow. Aerts continued pressing to the final bell -- at one point electing not to strike a vulnerable, doubled over Zimmerman, who could well have been assessed a standing count. In the final analysis, it was poise and precision that carried the 38 year-old Dutch Lumberjack to a well-earned unanimous decision. The fight of the night.

Said Aerts afterward: "I just spoke to my wife, and she's very happy. My kids are also saying 'My daddy is the best!' It's great; otherwise I couldn’t go home! I trained hard, I have a very good doctor and trainer, and I needed this to get ready for this fight because Errol has a big heart, he's a strong fighter and was in good condition. I also really want to wish Nobu Hayashi all the best. He has leukemia, I want to see him get better soon."

A three-time World GP Champ and reigning K-1 Super Heavyweight Champion, Semmy Schilt of Holland stepped in against 28 year-old Egyptian Hesdy Gerges in a Superfight.

Standing 200cm/6'7", Gerges is likely accustomed to facing shorter opponents. Schilt, however, tops the Egyptian by a full 12cm/4", and Gerges could not overcome the height disadvantage. Schilt just did what he does best -- putting the left jab out to control the distance, firing in the right when his opponent closed, and meeting any heroic incursions with the big knee. This stood the behemoth in good stead, and a down courtesy a right had Schilt well up on all cards going into the third. To his credit, Gerges fought on to the bitter end, but Schilt proven game plan made the win look easy.

"The fight was taken on very short notice, but I think I had a good fight," commented Schilt. "I think my opponent was a good fighter, and he took many punches. I think he also had a good fight. I have been focusing on MMA recently, though I have continued my stand up training too. I did have to re-focus on pure stand up just a few days ago though."

French slugger Jerome LeBanner represented old-school K-1 against explosive young kyokushin fighter Ewerton Teixeira of Brazil in another Superfight.

LeBanner the southpaw kept his right low and loose and stepped in with the left through the early going; while Teixeira brought long right kicks round to the midsection. In the second Teixeira threw the low and middle kicks with more gusto, prompting LeBanner to answer in kind. Teixeira took more of the ring as the fight progressed, and was speedy with his counters, landing a right hook midway through the second to bring a points lead into the third. Here, however, LeBanner