''K-1 Grand Prix '96'' was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1 organization. It was the fourth K-1 World Grand Prix final involving eight of the world's best heavyweight fighters (+95 kg/209 lbs), with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules. The eight finalists had all almost qualified via elimination fights at the K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle event. The only absentee was

Stan Longinidis Stan "The Man" Longinidis (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four differ ...

who was unable to participate in the tournament due to injury - he was replaced by reservist Duane Van Der Merwe. As well as tournament bouts there were also two 'Super Fights' fought under K-1 Rules. In total there were twelve fighters at the event, representing seven countries. The tournament winner was

Andy Hug Andreas "Andy" Hug (7 September 1964 – 24 August 2000) was a Swiss karateka and kickboxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time, Hug was renowned for his ability t ...

who defeated

Mike Bernardo Michael Shawn Bernardo (28 July 1969 – 14 February 2012) was a South African kickboxer and boxer from Cape Town. Bernardo was known as Beru-chan in Japan, where he has taken part in K-1 World GPs since 1994. He holds notable wins ove ...

in the final by way of second round knockout. This would be the popular Hug's first and sole K-1 World Grand Prix title, although he would be the runner up in two more finals. Mike Bernardo would be taking place in his first and only K-1 final, causing a considerable upset by defeating defending champion

Peter Aerts Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer. Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time ...

by knockout in the quarter finals. The event was held at the

Yokohama Arena is an indoor arena located in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The capacity of the arena is 17,000 and was opened in 1989. The arena was modeled after US sports venue Madison Square Garden in New York City. It is a five-minute walk from the ...

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...

on Monday, May 6, 1996 in front of 17,850 spectators.

K-1 Grand Prix '96 Tournament

* Reserve Fight winner Duane Van Der Merwe replaced Stan Longinidis in the Quarter Finals as Stan Longinidis was injured

Results

References

{{Reflist

External links

K-1sport.de - Your Source for Everything K-1
K-1 events 1996 in kickboxing Kickboxing in Japan Sport in Yokohama

K-1 Grand Prix '96 Tournament

Results

See also

References

External links