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Las Vegas - The most exciting ring sport in the world will make its way to Las Vegas when Bellagio hosts the K-1 2000 USA Championship on Saturday, August 5 in the Grand Ballroom. In addition to the USA Championship, there will be six undercard bouts featuring five fighters from Las Vegas. The USA Championship event is a full contact, single elimination, martial arts style kickboxing tournament. It consists of seven, three-round bouts featuring eight North American champion kickboxers battling for one title and the honor of advancing to the K-1 World Championship later this year in Japan.
K-1, the most exciting martial arts fighting tournament in the world, consists of many forms of martial arts starting with the letter "K", such as Karate, Kung-fu, Kenpo, Kickboxing, taeKwondo. The competition, which determines who becomes the best (No. 1) full contact warrior, is therefore named "K-1"
Competitors in the K-1 2000 USA Championship include:
Andrei Dudko (25-3 23 KO's), 29 yrs., 6-foot-6, 225 lbs., from Minsk, Belarus (currently resides in Chicago).
Jean Claude Leuyer (37-7-2, 31 KO's), 29 yrs., 6-foot-3, 226 lbs., from San Jose, Calif., is the current ISKA Freestyle and Oriental Rules World Champion
Roman Roytberg (21-8, 10 KO's), 23 yrs., 6-feet, 216 lbs., from Seattle, Washington
Paul Lalonde (17-2, 10 KO's), 24 yrs., 6-foot-5, 230 lbs., from Surrey, B.C., Canada, is the current Canadian and Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Champion
George Randolph (18-2, 14 KO's), 22 yrs., 6-foot-7, 250 lbs., from Glenville, W.Va., is the ISJ San Shou World Champion and the ISKA North American Champion
Tomasz Kucharzewski (67-5, 35 KO's), 31 yrs., 6-feet, 225 lbs., from Toronto, Canada, is the Shidokan Champion
Glaube Feitosa (55-4, 52 KO's), 27 yrs., 6-foot-4, 226 lbs., from San Paulo, Brazil, is the World Kyoshinkai Champion
Jason Johnson (11-0, 7 KO's), 25 yrs., 6-feet, 215 lbs., from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
The rules of K-1 competition are designed to allow martial artists from all styles (even those without a "K" in them) to compete in a format that favors no particular martial arts' fighting style. The rules of K-1 competition are also specifically formulated to ensure fighter safety while providing K-1 spectators with the most exciting and action packed fights possible.
In tournaments, three three-minute rounds are used, and therefore, the fighters must each fight several times in a single event. Competition rules are based on hitting and kicking, but elbows, throws and submission techniques (choking and joint-locking) are not allowed.
The six undercard bouts will feature 12 fighters and the matchups are: Ben Garcia (18-4, 7 KO's) from Las Vegas vs. Alfonso Acarez (17-2-1, 13 KO's) from Las Vegas; Angela Rivera (7-2, 3 KO's) from Las Vegas vs. Linda Loyce (5-2) from San Francisco, California; Tommy Glanville (14-4, 11 KO's) from Las Vegas vs. Mark Miller (10-0, 2 KO's) from Pittsburgh, PA; Cung Le (36-2, 24 KO's) from San Jose, California vs. Mohammed Laminn Keita (18-5, 12 KO's) from Pittsburgh, PA; Dewey Cooper (18-3, 13 KO's) from Las Vegas vs. Giuseppe Denatale (10-5, 7 KO's) from Winnipeg, Canada; and Alex Gong (21-2, 13 KO's) from San Francisco, California vs. Melvin Murray (32-6, 10 KO's) from Surrey B.C., Canada.
The first undercard bout begins at 6:00 p.m. with the doors opening at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $30, $50, $100, $150, and $250 and may be purchased through Bellagio's box office by calling (702) 693-7722 or (888) 488-7111
