Martial arts: The Kiwi the Japanese adore

Auckland street-fighter turned Japanese martial arts megastar Ray Sefo will fight in New Zealand for the first time in seven years in March after local promoter Dixon McIver secured rights to a K-1 world qualifying event.

Sefo has just won his first MMA (mixed martial arts) event in Tokyo, has finished work on his second movie, Bad Guys, and at the end of this year will renegotiate his K-1 contract, which earns him $2 million a year.

His new value could be as high as $6 million, McIver believes.

The 34-year-old Sefo has never won the K-1 world title and the US$1 million ($1.46 million) that goes with it - something Kiwi Mark Hunt achieved in 2001 - despite being on the circuit since 1997.

But he has always been near the top and has cult status in Japan, where 70,000 attend major events at the Tokyo Dome and as many as 40 million watch on television.

The 16 combatants who make the last K-1 event in Tokyo each December qualify from elimination bouts round the world. One of those will be staged in Auckland in March, possibly the first event at the new down-town Vector Arena if it is completed on schedule.

The contest will have a major international audience through Fox TV, ESPN, Fuji TV Japan and other Asian channels.

Here, TV2 has just re-signed to broadcast K-1 for another two years.

The next local bouts are on July 30 at Trusts Stadium, Henderson, the first of a three-event Oceania series to determine who joins Sefo for other tournaments in Japan.

Twelve fighters are entered and they all meet one another in the course of the three events at the Trusts Stadium this month and on October 7, the last tournament being on the Gold Coast in early December.

The three winners from each of three pools will qualify and a fourth person will be chosen by the promoters. This could be an up-and-comer, the next-best or possibly someone who was expected to qualify but was hampered by injury.

The rules of the "Kings of Oceania" event are designed to promote action.

There are two points for a win, none for a draw or loss. An extra point can be earned through a knockout.

The Japanese K-1 championship fights are fought over three, three-minute rounds and there are no draws.

If the two combatants are level at the end, a fourth round is fought and the winner of that round takes the contest.

If they are still level after four, a fifth round is fought and the winner is decided over all five.

If they still cannot be separated after five, victory is awarded to the fighter adjudged to have been dominant in round one, which is aimed at encouraging action from the start.

McIver said he expected the best of New Zealand and Australian talent, including Jason Suttee and Ray's younger brother, Ronnie, plus Mark Graham from Australia, to compete in the Oceania series, with the aim of a shot in March.

Four Oceania fighters will meet four other internationals in the three-match series.

Ray Sefo and other ranked K-1 fighters will also contest bouts on the card.

Sefo has not fought in New Zealand since 1998, the year after he won his first international kickboxing title, but is already signed for the event in March.

Last week, he beat the Korean who won the silver medal in open weight judo at the Athens Olympics, Kim Min Soo, in an MMA contest at the Yoyogi Stadium in Tokyo.

The expansion to another branch of martial arts would increase his value in the Japanese market, McIver said.

Fighters can earn up to three times as much from endorsements as they do from salaries.

The movie Bad Guys is due for release in the United States soon and Sefo has also worked on a recent update of the Japanese classic Godzilla.

* Rules of engagement

Scoring: Two points for a win, none for a draw or loss. An extra point can be earned through a knockout.

Rounds: The Japanese K-1 fights are contested over three, three-minute rounds.

Another round is held if the fighters are level, and if still tied, a fifth round if fought and the winner is decided over all five.

If they still cannot be separated after five rounds, victory is awarded to the fighter adjudged to have been dominant in round one, which is aimed at encouraging action from the start.