Article written for Player magazine in 2004.   

K-1. It’s simply brutal and brutally simple. Take 8 of the best Super Heavyweight fighters in the world. Put them in a (pardon the pun) knockout tournament format and sit back and watch them punch, kick, and knee each other until there is only one man left standing. Give him lots of money.

The recipe has proved hugely popular with K-1’s full-on action and excitement has made it the biggest kickboxing event in the world with millions of fans across the globe.

Kiwis are also catching the bug. Local shows are sell outs and the televised events have out rated the likes of the NPC final and Rugby World Cup.  NZ K-1 promoter, Dixon McIver always manages to bring a little bit of Tokyo or Vegas to his K-1 events, and they just get bigger and better each year – tonight’s “K-1 Kings of Oceania” promising to be the biggest kickboxing event ever staged in this country.

The stadium lights go down at the ASB stadium as the “This is K-1” doco fills three huge video screens. The film features the K-1’s international superstars and is inter-cut with monster knock out footage that draws “ooohs” and “aaahs” from the crowd. The atmosphere builds as ‘O Fortuna’ cranks through the sound system with spectacular stage lighting and pyrotechnics punctuating its dramatic crescendo. It’s celebrity city down by the ring. Jonah is there along with more TV presenters, Shorty street actors and kiwi musos than you can shake a stick at.

The tension is thick in the ‘red corner’ dressing room and the air is heavy with the combined scent of sweat, leather and liniment. 6 fighters and their entourages jostle for space in the small room while simultaneously trying to ignore each other. It’s a far cry from the laid-back camaraderie found in the same room at the K-1 Battle of the Anzacs a few months ago, but then the stakes are much higher. The winner of the K-1 Oceania earns a place at the K-1 Las Vegas and from there the opportunity to qualify as one
of the top 8 Heavyweights in the world who will match up at the K-1 World Grand Prix at the Tokyo Dome in front of 70,000 spectators and millions of TV viewers. It means a shot at the $2 million prize money as well as the possibility of an exclusive K-1 seven figure contract.

Kiwis Mark Hunt and Ray Sefo are there already – Hunt having won the GP in 2001 and Sefo coming second in 2000. Tonight’s combatants are desperate to follow in their footsteps.  NZer, Jason ‘Psycho’ Suttie, came achingly close to winning the Oceania last year – falling to Aussie Peter Graham in the final. Suttie had beaten Graham previously, a fact which made watching him go on to fight in the Grand Prix even harder to swallow.

“It was losing to him that bothered me – thinking that should have been me. I have beaten him before and I know how to beat him. I would have given a better performance than him.”

Graham is also back, an unusual occurrence as the Grand Prix finalists from the previous year are normally given direct entry to the following year’s final qualifying event. The K-1 powers-that-be have forced Peter to fight his way back from the regional qualifier, a fact that has him fired up with something to prove.

His frustration was obvious yesterday at the press conference as he exploded when asked a question about his first round opponent Hiriwa Te Rangi, “I don’t give a sh*t! I don’t care about any of it, I really don’t! I couldn’t care less! I don’t care how big they are, how tough they are, what they think they can do, what they’ve done! I’m sure they don’t give a sh*t what I’ve done because it doesn’t mean jack! Tomorrow night – that’s when it means anything – so unless you want to come and punch on – go home, because that’s the only reason I bloody turned up!”

He and Suttie are on opposite sides of the draw and favoured to meet again in the final. They are in the same dressing room but might as well be planets apart as they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge each other’s presence.  All around fighters are engaged in different stages of preparation. Some sleep, others warm up on the pads, working combinations with their trainers. Graham sits in a corner. Eyes closed headphones on.

Suttie and his ETK (Elite Thai Kickboxing) crew are busy. They have two other fighters on the card – Middleweight Prince Hammid fighting in the opening “super-fight”, while Jason’s cousin and protégé, Sio Vitale, is also fighting in the tournament proper. Suttie takes the time to tape Hammid and Vitale’s hands before retreating to the corner to sit and relax. His ever-present pitbull, Yakuza, resting with him, front paws and head on Jason’s lap.   The road that has brought him to this point has been long and hard. It has seen the 30-year-old fight 54 times (44 wins, 2 draws) – winning 6 World titles in 5
different weight classes along the way.

Along with the triumphs, there have been numerous setbacks and disappointments in his quest to make it to the elite K-1 level.  His first attempt ended abruptly at the 2001 NZ K-1 when he was KOd in the 1st round of his first fight by an illegal blow and unable to continue. He stormed back to knock out every opponent on his way to the title the following year – only to fall prey to Aussie kickboxing legend (and eventual winner), Adam Watt, in the semi-final of the Oceania tournament.

2003 saw another set back when he lost his semi-final fight via a highly controversial decision.   The price may be high, but Suttie is prepared to pay it,

“Doing the K-1 NZ is always a good warm-up for the Oceania, this is going to be a good warm-up for the US, the US is going to be a good warm-up for Japan. It’s a hard road but it’s a good road. If you can’t take that road then you really shouldn’t be here. When I look back on my career I want to be able to say I fought the hard way to K1 Japan. I won a New Zealand K1, I won a K1 Oceania and I competed in the World Grand Prix.”

I ask him what keeps him going and he replies, “I know I can beat [the top K-1 fighters]. I’ve just got to fight them on a good day when I’m at top fitness and I’ll beat them – that’s my motivation.”

Prince Hammid returns from his 5 round battle with Russian fighter, Arslan Magomedov. His normally white shorts are red as blood seeps through the skin of his battered thighs. Suttie’s cornerman and partner in the ETK gym, Roger Earp is upbeat and reassuring. “You would have killed him if you were a 100%…You’re still not recovered from that fight last week and look how close it was” (Prince took the fight as a late replacement for an injured Shane “Choppa” Chapman).

The team go into overdrive, attending to Hammid while also helping Sio Vitale get warmed up for his impending fight.  A shower of expletives draws everyone’s attention to the small TV at one end of the room.  Peter Graham has just dropped Hiriwa Te Rangi (a fighter famous for his iron-clad jaw) with his spectacular trademark ‘Rolling Thunder’ kick – a flying somersault kick to the head. Suttie doesn’t watch but Roger does, calling out,”Jase, make sure you keep your guard up – even when you think you’re out of range”  His support team might already be thinking about the final but Jason is tightly focused,

“My first fight is my hardest fight and at this stage my only fight -because if you lose to him you’re out. All I’m thinking about really is the first fight. I’m thinking a little bit about the 2nd but I’ll take that one when I come to it. My experience over the years of doing tournaments is you have to get the first one out of the way. First things first”

Sio is up next and he comes out firing. He clearly takes the 1st round while his Aussie opponent takes the 2nd. Peter Graham is watching the action on the tv. He leans over and asks, “Does this guy train with Suttie?”  “Yeah.” “That’s why he’s so tough,” he says.

Everything is set for an epic finish, when, seconds into the 3rd round, Vitale is caught by a front kick under his chin. Blood gushes in a spurting fountain down Sio’s chest as Slowinski’s toenails open a deep cut. The ringside Doctor is called in and deems Vitale unfit to continue.   He is still bleeding when comes back to the applause of the red corner occupants. The Doctor comes down and tells Vitale to go down to the Hospital to get the wound stitched but Sio wants to stay and watch Jason’s fights. In true #8 fencing wire tradition the boys use some tape to keep it glued shut.

Another outburst from around the TV alerts everyone to the fact that newcomer Matt Samoa has scored a huge upset with 1st round KO over the incredibly tough Chris Chrisoupoulides. Chris jumps in for a flying right hand only to wear Samoa’s counter punch right on the chin. He crumples to the floor in spectacular fashion.

Jason is up against the biggest puncher on the card, Mitch Ohello. The Aussie veteran had been written off as past his use-by date before creating a huge stir by making it to the semis in the 2003 Oceania, coming within a hairsbreadth of beating Peter Graham. Suttie gives him no opportunity for a repeat performance, launching himself at him from the starting bell with combination after combination of big bombing hands. The ref applies an apparently premature 8 count and then, perhaps trying to make up for it, lets things go on too long as Jason smashes Mitch with 11 unanswered punches to the head, felling ‘Mandingo’ like a great tree.

Back in the changing room Peter Graham is glued to the tv, his face intense and unreadable.  The ETK boys are ecstatic.  “F***! …F***!… I want to fight like THAT!” yells an awestruck Hammid as Suttie returns. Jason reins them in, “Thank you, but stop please – it’s not finished yet.”

With the 1st stage finished, things have lightened up considerably and there is more talking and laughter between the camps. Matt Samoa is moved to the blue corner dressing room in preparation for the semi-final but stops to wish Jason good luck for their impending matchup, a fight which turns out to be no longer than Psycho’s 1st as he swarms over the inexperienced youngster, and knocks him out with a left hand followed by a knee to the head for good measure.

They meet back in the change room and exchange a hug while conversing in Samoan. “At least I won the dance comp!” quips the youngster in reference to his flamboyant ring entrance.

Peter Graham makes easy work of Paul Slowinski, setting up a replay of last year’s final. He’s supposed to change dressing rooms before the fight but, lying flat on his back on the floor while his trainers ice his legs, he looks in no hurry to move.

On the other side of the room, Jason is keyed up, “I’m going to pressure
Peter Graham…Mother f*****!” Frantic nods and waves from the crew indicate that Peter is still in earshot just around the corner. Suttie shrugs it off, “I don’t care”. As the talk turns to tactics however, he becomes more forceful, “Peter! Can you get out please? Now!”  It doesn’t happen.

The International K-1 Superstar, Alexy Ignashov, KOs his opponent (Croatian giant Josip Brodrozic) in the 1st round of a scheduled 5 round Super-fight. It’s time for the finalists to go.

Suttie starts strongly moving in and out with lightning fast hand combinations,
setting them up with powerful kicks to Peter’s legs and body. He’s dominating the round and every blow brings him one step closer to Tokyo.  However ,fate is fickle in the fight game and one punch is all it takes to change the tides of fortune. Graham catches Jason’s leg during a kick attempt and throws him back towards the ropes, following in with a huge right hand and sending Suttie to the ground. This means Peter will win the round by 2 points unless the judges decide to overrule the knock-down or if Jason can knock Graham down himself.

He goes in like gangbusters and catches the Aussie with a left hook that wobbles him but ‘the Chief’ stays on his feet.   Jason now has to win the next two rounds to secure a draw and gain an extension round. He looks to have the second but Peter finishes with a couple of big combos at the end that could catch the judges’ eyes. A cut has opened up over Jason’s eye and blood flows freely down his face and chest. The final stanza is messy with neither fighter gaining ascendancy. Jason knows time is running out and comes in hard, catching Peter with a big left hook that buckles his legs but he’s out of time. Graham manages to tie him up and hold on until the final bell.

The judges unanimously give the fight to the Aussie. It’s not a popular decision and the crowd are vocal in their displeasure.  Agony and the ecstasy are words that don’t begin to do justice to the scene as a euphoric Peter Graham celebrates centre ring while a devastated Jason retreats to the comfort of his fans and support team.

Peter’s journey will continue while Suttie will have to begin again – another whole year of training and waiting for his next opportunity to qualify. “What
happens next, bro?” someone asks him backstage. He shakes his head, “I
don’t know man. Do I have to go back to the NZ K-1 again? I just don’t
know.”

When I talk to him 2 weeks later the pain is still obvious but the resolve has returned. I ask if it is in him to get up and start all over again, “I’m not going to give up until I get [to Japan]. I’m definitely going to do it again – I can’t give up. I’ve still got a few years left in me so I’ve got to do the Oceania again next year. I’ll never give up my dream to fight in the K-1 Grand Prix.” The first step will be a rematch with Peter Graham on the NZ K-1 Max card in November.

The road winds on a little longer but the kiwi warrior remains totally
committed to his quest for K-1 glory.