K-1 has officially confirmed three world title fights for its upcoming event in Japan, headlined by a vacant Super Welterweight championship bout at -70kg. The belt was relinquished by former titleholder Ouyang Feng, clearing the way for two new contenders to compete for the title.
The event will now revolve around three championship clashes, with notable Brazilian involvement across all of them.
Super Welterweight Title vacant
According to a statement released by the promotor, the decision came at the request of Feng's camp. In January, the head coach of the Chinese superstar at Tianjin Afu Fight Club stepped down. With a new structure still being organized and the Spring Festival period limiting preparations, they felt it was not possible to be ready in time.
Feng had been scheduled to defend the belt against Jonas Salsicha at K-1 GENKI 2026 on April 11 at the Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium. The matchup was set as a rematch of their November tournament meeting, which Salsicha won by decision, and would have marked Feng’s second title defense.
Instead of a showdown between the Chinese and Brazilian, we will see another rematch in April. Darryl Verdonk and Jonas Salsicha were the absolute stand outs in last year's K-1 Max Grand Prix. With the later getting the better of the worn down Verdonk in the final, the Dutchman will be looking for revenge on the 11th of April.
Middleweight and Heavyweight World Titles Confirmed
The K-1 WORLD GP Middleweight Championship (-75kg) will see Dengue Silva take on Alfousseynou Kamara, with both men moving up from 70kg to fight for the vacant belt.
As the current Krush middleweight champion, Silva earned his title shot with a comeback knockout win against fan favourite Kacper Muszyński in February after being dropped earlier in the fight. Kamara, a decorated savate champion, also impressed at that same event. It only took him one minute and fifteen seconds to get the experienced Basso Pires out of the ring with a flurry of punches.
In the heavyweight division, reigning champion Ariel Machado makes his first title defense against the notorious Claudio Istrate.
Machado enters on an eight-fight K-1 winning streak, seven by knockout, and won the 2024 Openweight Tournament with three straight stoppages. Istrate, runner-up in the K-1 30th Anniversary Openweight Tournament, returns to a title fight after knocking out Senegalese wrestler Babacar Thiatou Yoff. Before that, the Italian went through a series of inconsistent performances and disciplinary issues, which puts controversy on this upcoming title fixture.
