The complete record of K-1's golden era, 1993–2008
K-1 CLASSICS is an archive of K-1, the Japanese stand-up combat sports promotion founded in 1993 that brought karate, kickboxing, Muay Thai and kung fu champions together under one ruleset. This page is the English entry point: the full K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX champion lineage, 388 English fighter profiles, the history and rules of K-1, and two consolidated archives.
The event-by-event results, articles and the HERO'S archive are in Japanese. 日本語版はこちら.
| # | Champion | Country | Date | Event |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Branko Cikatić | Croatia | 1993-04-30 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '93 |
| 2 | Peter Aerts | Netherlands | 1994-04-30 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '94 |
| 3 | Peter Aerts | Netherlands | 1995-05-04 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '95 Final |
| 4 | Andy Hug | Switzerland | 1996-05-06 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '96 Final |
| 5 | Ernesto Hoost | Netherlands | 1997-11-09 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '97 Final |
| 6 | Peter Aerts | Netherlands | 1998-12-13 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '98 Final |
| 7 | Ernesto Hoost | Netherlands | 1999-12-05 | K-1 GRAND PRIX '99 Final |
| 8 | Ernesto Hoost | Netherlands | 2000-12-10 | K-1 WORLD GP 2000 Final |
| 9 | Mark Hunt | New Zealand | 2001-12-08 | K-1 WORLD GP 2001 Final |
| 10 | Ernesto Hoost | Netherlands | 2002-12-07 | K-1 WORLD GP 2002 Final |
| 11 | Remy Bonjasky | Netherlands | 2003-12-06 | K-1 WORLD GP 2003 Final |
| 12 | Remy Bonjasky | Netherlands | 2004-12-04 | K-1 WORLD GP 2004 Final |
| 13 | Semmy Schilt | Netherlands | 2005-11-19 | K-1 WORLD GP 2005 IN TOKYO Final |
| 14 | Semmy Schilt | Netherlands | 2006-12-02 | K-1 WORLD GP 2006 IN TOKYO Final |
| 15 | Semmy Schilt | Netherlands | 2007-12-08 | K-1 WORLD GP 2007 FINAL |
| 16 | Remy Bonjasky | Netherlands | 2008-12-06 | K-1 WORLD GP 2008 FINAL |
| 17 | Semmy Schilt | Netherlands | 2009-12-05 | K-1 WORLD GP 2009 FINAL |
| 18 | Alistair Overeem | Netherlands | 2010-12-11 | K-1 WORLD GP 2010 FINAL |
Event pages open the archived Japanese result sheets, which carry the full card and round-by-round outcome.
K-1 is a stand-up combat sports promotion founded in Japan in 1993. It brought together champions from karate, kickboxing, Muay Thai, kung fu and other striking disciplines to compete under a single ruleset. The "K" stands for those disciplines and the "1" for determining the single best fighter.
1993 to 2008 is generally regarded as K-1's golden era. K-1 CLASSICS archives the event results, fighters and history of that period.
The K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX is K-1's annual open-weight world tournament and its flagship event. First held in 1993, it crowns the strongest stand-up fighter of the year.
Ernesto Hoost and Semmy Schilt, both of the Netherlands, share the record with four K-1 WORLD GRAND PRIX titles each. Hoost won in 1997, 1999, 2000 and 2002; Schilt in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
Branko Cikatić of Croatia won the inaugural K-1 GRAND PRIX '93 and became the first K-1 WORLD GP champion.
The English fighter database holds 388 profiles with records, nationality and physical data. A separate Japanese directory covers 279 fighters, and the HERO'S and 2006–2014 archives add further profiles.