Started in 1993, K-1 has an almost legendary status in the hearts of veteran fight fans all around the world. It was where legends like Alistair Overeem were born. The infamous Grand Prix style tournaments were an absolute spectacle to behold. At it’s peak there was a stack of absolute monsters in their heavyweight division. Let’s journey together through some of the top K1 fights over the years and the showcase of different types of martial arts!

• Ray Sefo vs Mark Hunt

  Here is one of the top K1 fights in the organisation’s history! The fight between Sefo and Hunt actually came about by accident. Sefo was scheduled to fight a very different striker (Mirko Cro Cop). However, Cro Cop had pull out at the last minute, with Hunt eager to fill in with less than 1-week notice!

  Safe to say, Hunt had no issue stepping in. Both fighters are of Samoan descent and did their ancestry proud with a battle that got fans super excited! It was Sefo that edged the decision with crisper technique vs the power strikes of Hunt.

  Although Hunt wasn’t successful in this particular bout, Sefo had to withdraw, allowing Hunt to continue in his place in the tournament. Winning the tournament qualified Hunt for a spot in the prestigious K1 World Grand Prix, which he eventually won shooting him to world wide kickboxing fame.

  Hunt’s performance would cement his name as a K-1 legend forever that night.

• Chahid Oulad El Hadj vs Michalis Zambidis

  

  Haven’t heard of this bout before? we don’t blame you. These two are a relatively unknown pair compared to some of the others in this list, except among veteran K-1 fans. However, El Hadj and Zambidis gave fans a war at K-1 World Max 2010 Finals in Seoul, South Korea.

  The battle was an excellent demonstration of skill by Zambidis and heart by El Hadj. A real treat for fight fans!

  Zambidis used his crisp boxing technique to put on an absolute clinic. However, El Hadj was no punching bag. He returned fire with his own offence putting Zambidis down once. Not only did El Hadj put on a performance to keep the audience on the edge of their seats while he was standing, he also came back from a vicious knockdown in the final round to finish on his feet. Bravo to both guys!

• Bob Sapp vs Ernesto Hoost

  The infamous Bob Sapp, is a monster of a man! He caused quite the upset when he defeated highly-esteemed Dutch kickboxer, Ernesto Hoost, not once but twice in the finals!

  Hoost had taken out some really skilled fighters leading up to his bouts with Sapp. These included: Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Andy Hug and Jerome Le Banner.

  Sapp, an ex-NFL player, rarely found himself more skilled than his opponent but was often significantly bigger. This proved to be too much for Hoost to handle in both bouts! To be fair, at times it looked like he was about to pull it off! The age-old matador vs bull situation, unfortunately, saw the inevitable happening, with Hoost getting mauled.

  Enjoy the build-up and both fights in the video below:

• Buakaw Banchamek vs Masato Kobayashi

  

  Coming into this fight Buakaw was relatively unknown, at least on a global level. Masato on the other hand was a star, the previous Grand Prix winner in his division! Both men put on a fine spectacle for the fans both in attendance and around the world but it was Buakaw’s destructive Muay Thai that won him his first K1 Grand Prix and welcomed him on the world stage.

  The advantages of Muay Thai were made clear in this fight (especially the devastating leg kicks and knees). This made Kobayashi very timid in his approach, in fear of what was going to be coming back at him. That being said, Kobayashi did wobble Buakaw in the 2nd round!

  Surprisingly, the fight went an extra round, even though in many people’s eyes it was pretty clear that Buakaw dominated. Both men showed great heart to battle it out until the final bell!

  Buakaw would go on to become a legend of K-1 among other fight organisations with many veteran fight fans still considering him one of the best P4P fighters in the world (we could easily have done a top K1 fights special with just Buakaw’s fights!).

• Andy Hug vs Mike Bernardo

  Considered by many fight fans to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Andy Hug won his one and only K1 Grand Prix in 1996 vs Mike Bernardo. There was a clear size difference between the two, even though they were in the same weight class! However, Hug made short work of Bernardo by keeping him busy up top as a distraction to allow for him to chop his opponents legs down. This proved to be an excellent decision as it didn’t take long at all for Bernardo to begin crumbling at the beginning of the second round. Although Bernardo showed great heart to get back to his feet, it was short-lived as Hug placed a devastating left spinning low kick to put Bernardo on the canvas for good.

  Andy Hug was the most dangerous Karateka at Heavyweight in K-1, his trademark southpaw style and awe-inspiring flexibility that allowed him to perform perfect axe kicks will live on in the memories of fight fans.

• Final words

  It was unbelievably difficult narrowing down which were the top K1 fights! K1 has provided fans with so many awesome bouts and continues to do so. It was a breath of fresh air allowing fighters from different disciplines to compete against each other, something that new organisations have learned from.

  K-1 does and will always have a special place in veteran fight fan’s hearts.

  Want to learn Muay Thai or Kickboxing? Check out our timetable here.