K-1 World Grand Prix

K-1 World Grand Prix, also known as the K-1 World GP, is an elimination kickboxing tournament that has been held annually since 1993 by the K-1 organization. Each year, K-1 holds various 16-men, 8-match grand prix style tournaments throughout the world to determine which 16 fighters will compete in the K-1 World GP. This tournament has had nine different winners with Ernesto Hoost and Semmy Schilt each winning four times.

Match-Ups

K-1 Qualification System until 2005

Usually combatants of the quarter-finals of a 16-man 8-match tournament are paired by drawing. In the case of the Final in the Tokyo Dome it is widely different. The whole event is combined with a ceremony and a press conference. The process looks like a lottery show in the beginning with all the fighters pulling a ball from a glass bowl. The balls represent numbers 1 to 8, which determines 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 he can now choose between challenging the one on the stage or an "empty" section. This procedure goes on until one fighter remains who has no choice just to fill to one slot left next to the one lone fighter. This system gives a freedom of choice and tactics to the fighters with the help of a little luck.

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 2012	September 8, 2012	March 15, 2013	Croatia

K-1 World Grand Prix champions to date

K-1 WGP	Winner	Nationality	Runner-Up	Nationality
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
2009	Semmy Schilt		Badr Hari
2010	Alistair Overeem		Peter Aerts
2012	Mirko Filipović		Ismael Londt

See also

• List of K-1 events
• List of PRIDE events
• List of male kickboxers

External links

• K-1 Official website