News André Dida vs Buakaw 2 (rematch in Thailand)

[Richard Fannin]

I didn't see a thread on it, who else is pumped about this rematch?
It will happen at the World Siam Stadium (Bangkok) this year according to Dida's facebook.

Sadly nowadays Dida is mostly know by newer fans for being that moron who punched Chael on TUF when he was Wanderlei's team Muay Thai coach, and getting banned from the UFC for it...

But there was a time when André Amado was a young Chute Boxe prodigy that Sakuraba took under his wing, and who left the team to go make their own with the Rua brothers.

His first K1 bout against Buakaw was in 2009, and from what I remember it was a pretty exciting fight, with Buakaw winning a well deserved decision. But it was not a complete domination either...

Dida looked very gun-shy in his MMA bout against karateta trickster Katsunori Kikuno in DREAM (always been a big fan of this guy too, it was hard watching them fight each other...) and got picked apart on the feet.
Dida played right into Kikuno's game, and was all sorry after the fight.... even apologized to Saku who was often in his corner and helped him train on the ground.

His last MMA fight was 10 years ago against KJ Noons, and he had a lone K1 bout in 2014... since then he's only been training young fighters, no competition.

How will he do in this rematch? Plenty of people who trained with him noted that André Amado has insane talent, but that he tends to choke in the ring, the Kikuno fight was a perfect example of that.

If he's managed to fix his issues with the mental side of the game... I hope he can put on a good performance against his old adversary, one of the greatest living Muay Thai legends, who unlike André, has kept fighting a lot since their first bout.

 

[Tayski]

The only reason their first fight was exciting is because Buakaw got caught early in round 1 and was in deep waters while Dida was doing his best to finish the fight. From round 2 it was then just a pure domination from Buakaw and it got worse and worse round after round since Dida had nothing left in the tank.

I don't think a rematch is an exciting fight and I can imagine Buakaw just dominating from start to finish with probably a KO.

 

[Shadess]

Near 0 interest.

 

[Snubnoze707]

That's a pretty unexpected fight. Would have made more sense a decade ago.

Fuck it, I'm in though. Beggars can't be choosers in the COVID era...

 

[UWanaPlayDaGame]

That's a pretty unexpected fight. Would have made more sense a decade ago.

Fuck it, I'm in though. Beggars can't be choosers in the COVID era...

that’s how I feel... Dida must be feeling this way too, just taking the money to get whooped by Buakaw. Also can’t pass on a chance to get away from the bolsovirus for a week or so in the covid era.

 

[Richard Fannin]

That's a pretty unexpected fight. Would have made more sense a decade ago.

It's indeed very unexpected, makes me wonder why Dida thinks he has a better chance this time? He had 6 years to relax and only train/coach other fighters since his last kickboxing bout...

I hope he's coming back because he has finally resolved the psychological issues that plagued him during his fights with Kikuno and KJ Noons, and feels like a new man; and not just to make a payday.

I'm definitely intrigued by this rematch, but I must admit that the fact that I was a big Dida fanboy (when he started out as that young Chute Boxe prospect) has to play a role in my curiosity.

 

[Blazeblack]

I’ll watch it but I’d hardly use the word pumped. That first fight was over 10 years ago, I can’t say I really remember it very well.

 

[Richard Fannin]

I’ll watch it but I’d hardly use the word pumped.

Well, to be honest I understand why fans aren't going nuts over this... I just happened to be a huge Chute Boxe nerd & Sakuraba fanboy when I was a young one.
And Dida checked both these cases; since I would never miss a CT training session, especially if Saku was in it (sadly, way too few videos of the Chuteraba era were captured), and always kept an eye out for André.

He really was a promising fighter, and his losing effort to Buakaw was far from letting him down; he was super proud of that fight.
He had previously defeated the highly respected & skilled Kickboxing and MMA veteran Remigijus Morkevičius (RIP, poor guy got shot in 2016 by some coward with a machine-gun), so he went into the Buakaw fight with some cred, but wasn't expected to almost finish the guy in the first round...

By the time he fought Buakaw, Dida had already lost in MMA to Gesias Calvacante & Eddie Alvarez, but these 2 fights were lost on the ground, which was his weakness, against 2 BJJ black belts...
It would be a couple months after the Buakaw bout that André Amado lost that infamous match-up against Kikuno in which he played right in the karateka's mindgames & confusing stance and seemed to have lost all his confidence.

I hope he wins this, and can finally be happily retired... but realistically, he will most likely get trashed. Can't wait to see what the betting odds look like.
Ok, RANT OVER, I'll update this thread if Mr Amado tells us more on social medias

 

[Kanka]

Dida will get KO'd. Still a fun fight

 

[Snubnoze707]

MMA veteran Remigijus Morkevičius (RIP, poor guy got shot in 2016 by some coward with a machine-gun)

He wasn't exactly a good guy himself...

Dida had ugly technique I wasn't the biggest fan of his.

 

[Memeojima]

Buakaw wasn't almost KOd by Dida this is a myth. Masato and Krauss also dropped Buakaw early and he got back up quick and recovered immediately. Thais start slow its not really a surprise.

 

[Snubnoze707]

Buakaw wasn't almost KOd by Dida this is a myth. Masato and Krauss also dropped Buakaw early and he got back up quick and recovered immediately. Thais start slow its not really a surprise.

He certainly rocked him and had him wobbly for most of the first round, he didn't pop back up fully recovered like it was a flash knockdown, he could barely stand. Buakaw was caught off guard by the trajectory of that MMA punch. Once he recovered he put a vicious beating on Dida's body for the next two rounds and it was all one way traffic, but he was for sure in trouble in that first round and Kickboxing fans everywhere were hitting the panic button for a moment there.