Francisco Filho The Kyokushin Monster

Francisco Filho started Kyokushin kaikan around age of 10 and received black belt six and half years later. He made his professional K-1 fighting debut on July 20, 1997 at the K-1 Dream '97 tournament against Kyokushin and Seidokaikan fighter Andy Hug. This was their second encounter, the first being at the 5th Kyokushin World Tournament in 1991 that resulted in a controversial knockout victory for Filho with a technique that connected after the bell rang. The second fight was also won by Filho quickly earning the Brazilian a large fan base in Japan as well as making him one of the then top contenders for the K-1 World GP Championship title. International reception was mixed, however, with Dave Meltzer and other pundits expressing their belief that Hug's loss was a fight fixed in order to set Filho up as a new star ***Music*** Mount Olympus - Approaching Nirvana Ether - Silent Partner *-*-*-*-*-* Copyright Note Sports Forever does not own the rights to certain of this video clips. They have, in accordance with fair use, been uploaded with the intent of educating and inspiring others.