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With karate moving closer to kickboxing in style, Ishii organizes the first K-1 Grand Prix at the Yoyogi Dai-Ichi Stadium in Tokyo. The event is held in a regulation-size boxing ring under the revolutionary K-1 rules, which permit punches to accommodate both karate and kickboxing fighters. A sellout crowd of 10,000 sees Branco Citatic win the first K-1 Championship. Two more K-1 events are held later in the year, and these are won by Satake and Ernesto Hoost.