Your thoughts on Andy Hug?

He's one of my favorite fighters I think I've ever watched.

Had such a great variety of kicks and threw them all with perfect technique and power.

His hands weren't the best, but either way, I love watching the guy's old fights.
 
Azam said:
Hug was what made me start watching K-1 to begin with.

I can only imagine how great a prime Hug would have been in K-1 (if he had made the transition from knockdown to kickboxing earlier) - even though he was undersized/smaller than everyone else he had great instinct/heart and it was what won him fights.

It's weird though how Filho gets looked over from that era - despite the non-existent boxing he legit beat top guys and imho should have won the WGP in 2000 (still think he did enough to beat Hunt before the extensions).

The Hug vs Filho rivalry was very real - at least on Hug's side because Filho KO'd him in the 1991 world openweight tournament and he felt robbed because it was just after the round ended. Then Filho got him again - just had his number I suppose. But thankfully - that fight was what broke the camels back & prompted the switch to Seidokaikan & then K-1 for Hug.

If Hug had won a openweight world tournament I'm not sure he would have crossed over to kickboxing - so Hug fans should thank Filho for that lol.
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Haha yeah he's what got into real fighting as a whole, along with JLB and Bas. I never got to see K1 live until right after he died cause I'm only 23 and American lol...shit wasn't poular here. Didn't start watching live until 02.

I remember wanting to be a pro rassler as a little kid thinking it was real fighting. I went to the local video store on my 8th birthday, in the Summer of 01 to rent my WWF/WCW/ECW tapes as usual. I seen a VHS tape for World GP 1996. It had Hug on the cover with a tiger stripe background behind him.

I thought it was some cool pro rasslin promotion I'd never heard of so I convinced my legal guardian to rent it for me. It's weird lol. I'm from bum fuck TN and was raised by my grandmother's aunt. She was some super old back woods mountain woman who thought WWF was real fighting. We had never heard of kickboxing!

Anyways, the second I popped the tape in, we both loved it. We had no idea what the hell it was but I just remember watching it together and we both wanted Andy Hug to win. She liked him cause he was a little guy and I liked him cause he was on the cover. After that moment we watched all MMA and Kickboxing together until she died of Alzheimer's a couple years ago.

Sorry for the book lol, just explaining why Hug meant so much to me. It's just cool looking back how a 72 year old woman and 8 year old boy can bond so well for life over some random guy that 99% of their country has never even heard of.

Also yeah, I'm sorry for not including Filho as part of that era in my OP. I mean he beat them all but JLB so he deserves to be seen as a main guy from then for sure. I'll go back and edit him in :)
 
Don't know about greatest HW but he's definitely a legend who beat the top dudes while being undersized for HW.
If they had had MW or LHW divisions during that time he would have been a reigning champion I reckon.
 
Funny Story, i actually did couple of Kyokushin classes because of Andy.

definitely one of the best, also one of my favorite.
 
Axe Kick and spinning low kick both made to perfection, he is the perfect representative of Kyokushin Karate to Combat Sports.
 
Andy Hug was like the Freddie Mercury of K-1. He had the mustache, flash, and a little thing called love....for the axe kick.
 
Coolthulu said:
Andy Hug was like the Freddie Mercury of K-1. He had the mustache, flash, and a little thing called love....for the axe kick.
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Are you saying that because his entrance song was 'We Will Rock You' by Queen?
 
A legend of the sport and universally liked. The world had not been the same since he passed away.
 
IHeartRizin said:
Haha yeah he's what got into real fighting as a whole, along with JLB and Bas. I never got to see K1 live until right after he died cause I'm only 23 and American lol...shit wasn't poular here. Didn't start watching live until 02.

I remember wanting to be a pro rassler as a little kid thinking it was real fighting. I went to the local video store on my 8th birthday, in the Summer of 01 to rent my WWF/WCW/ECW tapes as usual. I seen a VHS tape for World GP 1996. It had Hug on the cover with a tiger stripe background behind him.

I thought it was some cool pro rasslin promotion I'd never heard of so I convinced my legal guardian to rent it for me. It's weird lol. I'm from bum fuck TN and was raised by my grandmother's aunt. She was some super old back woods mountain woman who thought WWF was real fighting. We had never heard of kickboxing!

Anyways, the second I popped the tape in, we both loved it. We had no idea what the hell it was but I just remember watching it together and we both wanted Andy Hug to win. She liked him cause he was a little guy and I liked him cause he was on the cover. After that moment we watched all MMA and Kickboxing together until she died of Alzheimer's a couple years ago.

Sorry for the book lol, just explaining why Hug meant so much to me. It's just cool looking back how a 72 year old woman and 8 year old boy can bond so well for life over some random guy that 99% of their country has never even heard of.

Also yeah, I'm sorry for not including Filho as part of that era in my OP. I mean he beat them all but JLB so he deserves to be seen as a main guy from then for sure. I'll go back and edit him in :)
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heart warming story bro. andy just had that aura of a good hearted warrior that I think all us karate guys aspire to. bless him rip
 
Legend with great kicks! sometimes a little bit of fast with raising the arm but great fighter. sadly passed away to young
 
Amazing fighter.

Not a big fan of rankings but he was a hell of a talent and brought some interesting things to the table.

Damn... that golden era of K-1.. wonder if we will ever have another one like that.
 
I had no idea about the kickboxing world outside of jcvds movies lol , as i was a big boxing and nhb/mma fan i the 90s, but my first introduction to Hug was that old school K-1 game for the playstation. I always used to pick him cause of that crazy axe kick he would do. i then began watching k1 fights and admired the guy cause he was clearly an undersized guy, but had great technique and heart.
 
This thread needs some gifs..

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He was an undersized heavyweight who had the skills to hang with and win against the top guys. I would give the GOAT title to someone like Hoost, however. But Andy was awesome.
 
He was too flashy with his kicks (because he was skilled enough that he could afford to be, but still), and his boxing was at best ok, and often weak (even though he KOd several legends with them), but he had heart and determination enough for a dozen of todays top fighter.
Despite his flaws he was, and will always be, one of the best.
RIP.

 
Which Doctor said:
Love Greco. Used to hate STM, but grew to love him. Still can't truly get into Musashi.
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I had a chat to STM in melb the other week at a cafe. Really nice guy, i know a few people who have been to his motivational talks he does, supposed to be really good. Greco owns a number of cafes in melb. Trains some fighters as well.
 
realdealgeale said:
I had a chat to STM in melb the other week at a cafe. Really nice guy, i know a few people who have been to his motivational talks he does, supposed to be really good. Greco owns a number of cafes in melb. Trains some fighters as well.
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Solid heads up. Cheers man.
 
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