411’s Countdown to Dynamite USA Report: Episode One – Lesnar vs. Hong-Man Choi
Posted by Larry Csonka on 05.19.2007
The first of four specials counting down to the Elite XC/K1 LA show!
Countdown to Dynamite: Episode One – Lesnar vs. Hong-Man Choi
Lesnar vs. Choi
-We get a brief video package about the origins of K1, leading to hype for the June 2nd show. They display Lesnar, Choi, Gracie, Sakaraka, former NFL player Johnny Morton and Mighty Moe. This is the beginning of the countdown to the event.
-We see Lesnar and his dog running, ala Rocky. He knew he was different and dreamed big. He would leave South Dakota. Goldberg says he has all of the tools to succeed in MMA. We see clips of him wrestling in college and high school. Head wrestling coaches from the U of Minnesota say that they had to have him on the team. Stephen Quadros joins us and says Lesnar is explosive and driven.
-Next we discuss his collegiate and "pro" wrestling career, with footage from Japan. Loretta Hunt from the Fight Network says this will be a difficult adjustment. Lesnar has been training MMA for one year on his farm. He discusses that MMA is real, and pro wrestling is fake. His former coaches say MMA is a great fit for him. Goldberg says Lesnar is smart and that people want him to fail due to the pro wrestling stigma.
-Lesnar has no fear, he knows he is out of his zone, but feels great in that situation. We see training clips as they start to discuss Choi. This man is ungodly huge. Goldberg says he is strong, big and athletic. He is 7'2, and 350lbs. Quadros says he had a wrestling background ala Sumo, and K1 went after him. He killed some sumo guy in his debut fight for K1. Quadros continues to say that he can punch rather well. Goldberg promised he is no freak show. We see lots of clips of Choi beating people like Sapp, La Banner and Terkay. He fought Sammy Shilt, who was 6'11. Choi did very well and Goldberg says he proved himself. Choi won the fight and moved onto MMA.
-Last December he debuted for MMA and he destroyed some little man in seconds. Hunt says he is fearless and is just untested in MMA.
-Back to Lesnar training. He has "Slimmed down" a little to about 260. He is training with his former wrestling team. He did wrestling for 4 years and lived in hotels and loves being home. We see Sable aka Rena Mero. She says he is motivated and is not afraid for him.
-More training clips now. Marty Morgan from U of Minnesota is leading his team. They discuss the size of Choi and the techniques he should use.
-We see Choi at home and they discuss that he is an entertaining and endearing guy. Choi was a lanky kid and was mocked as a youth. The opposite of what he is now. He has done martial arts since he was a kid. Choi has made sure to give back to his family and bought them a house. His dad says with his first winning he threw a big party for the hometown.
-In 2007 he faced Mighty Moe, the Samoan Slugger. Moe dropped him and got basically knocked out. People were concerned that his rock start status hurt his training. He was proved to be mortal that night. Choi said he had to suck it up and that everyone loses, and then has to go back to square one and come back better than ever.
-We see Lesnar training again. He trains 2-times a day, and feels some over train and that rest is important. Goldberg says he is a monster with great cardio. Lesnar brought in Greg Nelson to work his standup. He has a regiment he follows and Greg says he is a cardio freak. We see Lesnar working big punches up high, preparing for Choi.
-Now back to Choi and he says it is hard to prepare for a man that he cannot scout. Choi is working with wrestlers and preparing for a wrestler like Lesnar. Quadros feels Lesnar will go for repeated takedowns to negate the size of Choi. Lesnar cannot find anyone his size, but Choi cannot find a wrestler of his caliber. Goldberg says you cannot buy experience, which Choi has. Lesnar says he is not intimidated. He is huge, but on June 2nd he is getting into a ring with a guy looking for blood.
-We get a video package for the event as a whole.
-At 9pm we will see fights on Showtime leading up to the PPV.
-Next time we will see Mighty Moe as well as Gracie vs. Sakaraba.
