K-1 World Grand Prix

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

Combatants of the quarter-finals of a 16-man 8-match tournament are paired by drawing, with the exception of the final in the Tokyo Dome.^{[citation needed]}

A lottery draw would take place in the beginning, with fighters pulling a ball from a glass bowl. The balls represent numbers 1 to 8, which determine the fighters' order in choosing a position from a giant tournament tree figure by standing in front a drawn bracket (from A to H) on the poster, which represents the fighter's corner-color and the line-number of the match. The next fighter does the same, but is able to choose between challenging the one on the stage or an "empty" section. This procedure goes on until one fighter remains who has no choice but to fill one slot left next to the one lone fighter.^{[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	Ref.
1993	Branko Cikatić	Ernesto Hoost
1994	Peter Aerts	Masaaki Satake
1995	Peter Aerts	Jerome Le Banner
1996	Andy Hug	Mike Bernardo
1997	Ernesto Hoost	Andy Hug
1998	Peter Aerts	Andy Hug
1999	Ernesto Hoost	Mirko Filipović
2000	Ernesto Hoost	Ray Sefo
2001	Mark Hunt	Francisco Filho
2002	Ernesto Hoost	Jerome Le Banner
2003	Remy Bonjasky	Musashi
2004	Remy Bonjasky	Musashi
2005	Semmy Schilt	Glaube Feitosa
2006	Semmy Schilt	Peter Aerts
2007	Semmy Schilt	Peter Aerts
2008	Remy Bonjasky	Badr Hari	^[1]
2009	Semmy Schilt	Badr Hari	^[2]
2010	Alistair Overeem	Peter Aerts	^[3]
2024