K-1 World MAX 2026 tournament

The K-1 World MAX 2026 tournament series began with the announcement of a lineup for the September 12 event at the Yoyogi National Stadium 2nd Gymnasium in Tokyo. The scheduled program included a 16-man, 70kg kickboxing tournament intended to select eight finalists for a world championship bout in December, alongside various title matches.

On September 12, the Tokyo event resulted in several title changes and successful defenses. In the super-lightweight division, Taiyo Asaku successfully defended his title against Alassan Kamala via a 3-0 decision. Tomoya Yokoyama secured his first successful defense in the super-featherweight division by defeating Thun Menghon via second-round KO.

New champions were crowned across multiple weight classes: Samuel Seiko Nagasawa won the lightweight title via a second-round TKO against Yuzuki Satomi, Rui Okubo claimed the featherweight title with a third-round KO against Ryudai Ishida, and Akimitsu Riemu became a dual champion by defeating Kodai Kaneko in the super-bantamweight division.

The -70kg World Tournament opening matches saw victories for Casper Mushinski, Lorenzo Di Vara, and Jonas Salsicha, advancing them to the final tournament scheduled for December 29 at Yokohama BUNTAI. Additionally, Maxim Baklanov made a successful K-1 debut with a first-round KO in the heavyweight division.