K-1 today announced their schedule for the revival of the K-1 World Grand Prix in 2024, including details of the qualifying tournaments. With a "global expansion" first announced last year, starting with the K-1 ReBIRTH tournament won by Liu Ce, a series of global qualifying tournaments with partner organizations are now beginning to solidify.
- MAY 19 or JUNE 22 – THE UNITED STATES
- JUNE 29 – BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
- JULY 27 – ITALY
- AUGUST 3 or AUGUST 10 – BRAZIL
- OCTOBER 5 – JAPAN
K-1 confirmed 5 qualifying events, in which 4 GP Final participants will be selected by winning one-day tournaments in The United States, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, and Brazil. Further 3 participants will be selected by the promotion from individual bouts in the Asian round in Osaka. Those seven fighters plus Liu Ce will then compete in the K-1 World GP Final in Tokyo in December.
NEW YORK, THE UNITED STATES
K-1 World GP’s revival will begin with the qualifying tournament in New York City under Lou Neglia. A former kickboxer, Neglia is perhaps best known for his promotion, Ring of Combat. He was also instrumental in the efforts to legalize mixed martial arts in New Jersey and subsequently lift the ban on the sport in New York. A veteran promoter, Neglia has continued to promote events featuring both kickboxing and mixed martial arts, with the most recent "Combat at the Space" event in Long Island being held only two weeks ago. The New York qualifying event is to be held at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on either May 19 or June 22.
SARAJEVO, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
The qualifying tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held in Sarajevo under former K-1 fighter Dzevad Poturak on June 29.Perhaps best known by international audiences for his fight against Alistair Overeem in the 2010 World Grand Prix, Poturak only ended his professional fighting career against recent K-1 participant Stefan Latescu in 2021 and has transitioned to promoting. The Eastern European round will be held at the Skenderija Sports Center in Sarajevo on June 29.
SICILY, ITALY
The Western European round is to be hosted in Sicily, jointly under the banner of current Oktagon promoter Paolo Biotti and Sicilian promoter Bruno Bottindari. Biotti is also a former kickboxer, as stressed in his comments to the Japanese press about his previous experience fighting on events alongside Andre Mannaart, Ramon Dekkers, and Rob Kaman. He took over as chairman of the Oktagon promotion from Carlo di Blasi. Di Blasi was once best known for managing and promoting Giorgio Petrosyan and he was also the promotional partner of the now defunct Bellator Kickboxing. Oktagon continues to be a successful regional kickboxing promotion, and with K-1’s new open-door policy, it recently hosted K-1 fighter Takumi Terada for an ISKA title fight in Turin. This qualifying tournament is to be held on July 27.
CURITIBA, BRAZIL
Another established promoter will be assuming responsibility for the tournament in Curitiba. Previously interviewed on Beyond Kickboxing, Paulinho Zorello is the Executive Director of WGP Kickboxing. The organization is most famous internationally for producing WGP, Glory, and later UFC champion Alex Pereira. WGP has been a successful regional promotion for many years, co-promoting on occasion with promotions not only from Latin America but also from Europe. Known primarily as a mixed martial arts country, WGP has carved out a niche for itself in Brazil and produced several notable names on the international scene besides Pereira, including former Glory title challengers Ariel Machado and Guto Inocente. The Brazilian qualifying tournament is to be held on August 3 or 10.
OSAKA, JAPAN
Finally, K-1 will hold the Asian round qualifier in Osaka on October 5. Rather than a qualifying tournament, the event will allow K-1 to pick 3 direct entrants from individual bouts.
The final 8 participants will then compete in a one-night tournament on December 14 at Yoyogi 1st Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
IN SEARCH OF NEW STARS
The last K-1 World GP deemed by most fans and media to be legitimate was held in 2010, under the now-defunct FEG. Since that time, both the K-1 brand and the Heavyweight landscape have undergone major changes. In the latter days of FEG's K-1, most of their European Heavyweight talents came through their Dutch regional promotional partner, Simon Rutz. Rutz's "It's Showtime" promotion later merged with GLORY, which is holding its own one-night Heavyweight Grand Prix in March.
With the established Heavyweight's mostly under the GLORY banner, K-1 has been attempting to invoke the underdog story of the inaugural K-1 World Grand Prix, won by the then relatively unknown Branko Cikatic. Also, as last year's Open Weight Tournament comprised three Cruiserweight fighters, including the winner Liu Ce and current K-1 Cruiserweight champion Sina Karimian, it is likely that other Cruiserweights may move up for opportunities to compete in the prestigious tournament.
Broadcast details are currently unknown, though the official K-1 English twitter account has previously stated that an announcement is imminent.
