On Wednesday, March 21, K-1 held its first event of 2018 from the Saitama Super Arena in Tokyo.
In the evening’s main event, the winner of the super featherweight championship tournament was crowned. The stacked tournament field featured two-division K-1 champ Takeru taking on power-punching Grecian Stauros Exakoustidis, Krush champion Masanobu Goshu fighting Dennis Wosik, REBELS Muay Thai champion Suarek Rukkukamui meeting former RISE champ Kosuke Komiyama, and former K-1 and Krush champion Hirotaka Urabe against former ISKA belt holder Koji
Every K-1 champion competed on the card. Lightweight champ Wei Rui lost his belt against former super featherweight titleholder Koya Urabe, super lightweight king Masaaki Noiri battled former Lion Fight and K-1 MAX champion Tetsuya Yamato, welterweight champ Yuta Kubo took on Wu Lin Feng champion Melsik Baghdasaryan, super welterweight titleholder Chingiz Allazov defended against top Japanese kickboxer Hinata Watanabe, super bantamweight king Yoshiki Takei fought Kenji Kubo, and heavyweight champ Antonio Plazibat fell to Roel Mannaart.
In the night’s main-card action, the No. 1-ranked featherweight in the world, Kaew Weerasakreck, was defeated by 19-year-old phenom Rin Hiramoto, K-1 65-kilogram tournament runner-up Yasuomi Soda fought Krush champion Jun Nakazawa, Krush champ Taito Gunji met Takumi Tosaka, former Krush and K-1 super welterweight tourney runner-up Yasuhiro Kido fought Glory of Heroes and Superkombat tourney winner Issam Chadid, former top-10 featherweight Minoru Kimura battled Jin Hirayama, and Krush women’s champion KANA meets Polina Petukhova.
The event aired live at 12 a.m. ET on Ameba TV and GAORA.
Yoshiki Takei def. Kenji Kubo by knockout (right hook). Round 1, 1:27 – super bantamweight title
Koya Urabe def. Wei Rui by knockout (straight left). Round 2 – lightweight title
Ren Hiramoto def. Kaew Weerasakreck by knockout (strikes). Round 2, 2:18
Yasuhiro Kido def. Issam Chadid by unanimous decision (30-28 x3)
Minoru “Philip” Kimura def. Jin Hirayama by knockout (right hook). Round 1, 2:50
Chingiz Allazov def. Hinata by knockout (left hook). Round 2, 0:23 – super welterweight title
Masaaki Noiri def. Tetsuya Yamato by knockout (strikes). Round 3, 2:57 – super lightweight title
Takeru def. Masanobu Goshu by knockout (punches). Round 1, 2:24 – super featherweight tournament semifinal
Kosuke Komiyama def. Koji by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-27) – super featherweight tournament semifinal
Jun Nakazawa def. Yasuomi Soda by majority decision (29-28, 28-28, 29-28)
Taito Gunji def. Takumi Tosaka by unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 30-29)
KANA def. Polina Petukhova by unanimous decision (30-26×3)
Roel Mannaart def. Antonio Plazibat by unanimous decision (30-28×3) – heavyweight title
Yuta Kubo def. Melsik Baghdasaryan by unanimous decision (30-29, 30-29, 30-28) – welterweight title
Masanobu Goshu def. Dennis Wosik by majority decision (30-28, 29-29, 30-29) – super featherweight tournament quarterfinal
Takeru def. Stauros Exakoustidis by unanimous decision (30-28, 30-28, 29-28) – super featherweight tournament quarterfinal
Kosuke Komiyama def. Suarek Rukkukamui by knockout (left head kick). Round 1, 2:56 – super featherweight tournament quarterfinal
Koji def. Hirotaka Urabe by extra round unanimous decision (10-9×3) – super featherweight tournament quarterfinal
Tatsuya Oiwa def. Takumi Yokoyama by majority decision (30-29, 29-28, 29-29)
Hayato def. Toshi by knockout (three knockdowns). Round 1, 2:27
Kaisei Kondo def. Shota Hara by knockout (punches). Round 1, 1:23
Ruku def. Kona Kato by majority decision (30-29, 29-29, 30-29)
Hideaki Matsumura def. Junpei Sano by knockout (three knockdowns). Round 3, 2:09