K-1 Premium Dynamite was by far the worst mixed martial arts event over the New Year's Eve extravaganza. It was mainly put together to produce huge ratings, but even failed to put up numbers that they have received in the past. One of the battles on that card, however, was interesting to even hardcore fans. Rani Yahya vs. “Kid” Yamamoto actually pitted two good MMA combatants against each other with K-1 benefiting in “Kid” Yamamoto's popularity in Japan. Young Japanese girls flocked to their TV screens.
Yahya put up a good fight even though he was heavily outmatched in the standup game. Yamamoto's wrestling skills are world renowned as being tough to deal with when trying to take him down. It proved to be Yahya's Achilles heel. Yahya was relegated to standing with Yamamoto and eventually took a flush punch that put him to the mat. This is where the controversy begins.
Yamamoto proceeded to soccer kick Yahya in the face, and won the match via a TKO/KO because of it. This was confusing because K-1 counterpart, Yarennoka, was not allowing soccer kicks to a downed opponent. K-1's rules were never mentioned and it was assumed that the kicks were legal. Yahya says differently to Martins Denis:
Denis: The outcome of that fight was controversial because fans weren't certain if soccer kicks were allowed. So are they or not?
Yahya: They weren't. He waited until the referee raised his arm, announcing he was the winner, and then he left the ring quickly to not be disqualified.
Denis: Just like that? Didn't your camp complain?
Yahya: My manager and my master, Ataide Jr., wrote a letter to contest the result. But to tell you the truth, I don't want them to overturn it. In my head this is simple: If I don't make it to the end of the fight, it's because I wasn't the winner. They can give the victory to the other guy because this is not going to change anything in my life. I fight in any type of rules.
Denis: Was the fight stopped by the soccer kicks or by punches?
Yahya: I dropped, a knockdown, and I was trying to grab his leg. So he landed the soccer kicks and the lights turned off.
It's interesting because situations like this have happened in the past, and those fighters have said the same things that Yahya states here. Most fighters won't admit that it altered the outcome of the fight, but in reality, a fighter may defend much differently when down on the ground.
The fact of the matter is that Yahya was cheated of a DQ win. If the rules were that soccer kicks were not allowed, Yamamoto won purely because he used illegal moves to defeat Yahya. Most likely, Yahya was behind on the cards and most likely would have lost via decision eventually, but that's not the point. As horrible as the event was for hardcore fans, this was a fight that had some interest and was marred by this incident. K-1, get your act together.