K-1 World Grand Prix

Last updated February 07, 2026

K-1 World Grand Prix, also known as the K-1 WORLD GP, is an elimination kickboxing tournament that was originally held annually from 1993 by the K-1 organization, under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG). Each year, K-1 would hold various 16-men, 8-match grand prix style qualifying tournaments throughout the world to determine which 16 fighters will compete in the main World GP.

Match-ups

K-1 qualification system until 2005 K-1system.jpg — K-1 qualification system until 2005

Combatants of the quarter-finals of a 16-man 8-match tournament were paired by drawing, with the exception of the final.^{[ citation needed ]} A lottery draw would take place. The balls represented numbers 1 to 8, which determined the fighters' order in choosing a position (from A to H), and the line-number of the match. The next fighter was able to choose between challenging the one on the stage or an "empty" section. This procedure went on until one fighter had to fill its slot left next to the lone rival.^{[ citation needed ]}

K-1 World Grand Prix dates and venues

Event	Date of opening round	Date of final round	Country
K-1 World Grand Prix 1993	N/A	April 3, 1993	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1994	N/A	April 30, 1994	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1995	March 3, 1995	May 4, 1995	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1996	March 10, 1996	May 6, 1996	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1997	September 7, 1997	November 9, 1997	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1998	September 27, 1998	December 13, 1998	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 1999	October 5, 1999	December 5, 1999	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2000	N/A	December 10, 2000	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2001	N/A	December 8, 2001	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2002	October 5, 2002	December 7, 2002	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2003	October 11, 2003	December 6, 2003	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2004	September 25, 2004	December 4, 2004	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2005	September 23, 2005	November 19, 2005	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2006	September 30, 2006	November 25, 2006	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2007	September 29, 2007	December 8, 2007	Korea, Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2008	September 27, 2008	December 6, 2008	Korea, Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2009	September 26, 2009	December 5, 2009	Korea, Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2010	October 2, 2010	December 11, 2010	Japan
K-1 World Grand Prix 2024	N/A	December 14, 2024	Japan

Champions

Year	Winner	Runner-up	3rd place
1993	Branko Cikatić	Ernesto Hoost	Masaaki Satake Maurice Smith
1994	Peter Aerts	Masaaki Satake	Branko Cikatić Patrick Smith
1995	Peter Aerts	Jerome Le Banner	Mike Bernardo Ernesto Hoost
1996	Andy Hug	Mike Bernardo	Musashi Ernesto Hoost
1997	Ernesto Hoost	Andy Hug	Peter Aerts Francisco Filho
1998	Peter Aerts	Andy Hug	Mike Bernardo Sam Greco
1999	Ernesto Hoost	Mirko Filipović	Jerome Le Banner Sam Greco
2000	Ernesto Hoost	Ray Sefo	Francisco Filho Cyril Abidi
2001	Mark Hunt	Francisco Filho	Stefan Leko Alexey Ignashov
2002	Ernesto Hoost	Jerome Le Banner	Mark Hunt Ray Sefo
2003	Remy Bonjasky	Musashi	Peter Aerts Cyril Abidi
2004	Remy Bonjasky	Musashi	Kaoklai Kaennorsing Francois Botha
2005	Semmy Schilt	Glaube Feitosa	Remy Bonjasky Musashi
2006	Semmy Schilt	Peter Aerts	Glaube Feitosa Ernesto Hoost
2007	Semmy Schilt	Peter Aerts	Jerome Le Banner Remy Bonjasky
2008	Remy Bonjasky	Badr Hari ^[1]	Gökhan Saki Errol Zimmerman
2009	Semmy Schilt	Badr Hari ^[2]	Alistair Overeem Remy Bonjasky
2010	Alistair Overeem	Peter Aerts ^[3]	Semmy Schilt Gökhan Saki
2024	Ariel Machado	Feng Rui	Errol Zimmerman Shota Yamaguchi

References

↑ Smith, Michael David (December 6, 2008). "Badr Hari Disqualified, Remy Bonjasky Wins K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final". MMA Fighting . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
↑ Smith, Michael David (December 5, 2009). "Semmy Schilt Beats Badr Hari, Wins K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final". MMA Fighting . Retrieved November 24, 2024.
↑ Horne, Leon (December 11, 2010). "Alistair Overeem Makes History and Demolishes Peter Aerts for K1 Title". Bleacher Report . Retrieved November 23, 2024.

External links

K-1 Japan Official website
K-1 World official website Archived 2018-04-13 at the Wayback Machine

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[1] Smith, Michael David (December 6, 2008). "Badr Hari Disqualified, Remy Bonjasky Wins K-1 World Grand Prix 2008 Final". MMA Fighting . Retrieved November 24, 2024.

[2] Smith, Michael David (December 5, 2009). "Semmy Schilt Beats Badr Hari, Wins K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 Final". MMA Fighting . Retrieved November 24, 2024.

[3] Horne, Leon (December 11, 2010). "Alistair Overeem Makes History and Demolishes Peter Aerts for K1 Title". Bleacher Report . Retrieved November 23, 2024.

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v t e K-1 World Grand Prix Champions
1990s	Branko Cikatić (1993) Peter Aerts (1994) Peter Aerts (1995) Andy Hug (1996) Ernesto Hoost (1997) Peter Aerts (1998) Ernesto Hoost (1999)
2000s	Ernesto Hoost (2000) Mark Hunt (2001) Ernesto Hoost (2002) Remy Bonjasky (2003) Remy Bonjasky (2004) Semmy Schilt (2005) Semmy Schilt (2006) Semmy Schilt (2007) Remy Bonjasky (2008) Semmy Schilt (2009)
2010s	Alistair Overeem (2010)