January 16, 2026

On Thursday, January 15, K-1 producer Genki Sudo held a press gathering at Isokou, the izakaya restaurant he operates. Producer Sudo spoke passionately, saying, “I would like to hear everyone’s opinions and use them to make K-1 even better,” which led to frank exchanges of ideas from attending media representatives on how to improve K-1.

Among the announcements made during the gathering was information regarding the event scheduled for Saturday, April 11, to be held at the Yoyogi National Stadium Second Gymnasium. Producer Sudo stated, “I will be fully producing the April event. I am thinking of naming the event ‘K-1 GENKI 2026’”. He then took out a calligraphy board on which he had personally written the event name.

This event will be fully produced by Producer Sudo, and regarding the event name, he explained, “Rather than using my name, I chose the word ‘Genki’ because I truly want to energize K-1 and combat sports world.”

As for the content of the event, he said, “I want it to feel like a festival, so in addition to standard K-1 bouts, I would like to include mixed martial arts under HERO’S rules, karate matches, and also have Senegalese wrestling athletes fight.” He envisioned a highly diverse event. He also stated that he wants to create a fun and exciting event that fully embodies the theme of “GENKI.”

About the global vision, he revealed that seven overseas events are planned for 2026, with hopes of hosting them in locations such as Brazil, Abu Dhabi, Greece, Russia, Spain, and Romania. Domestically, seven K-1 events and twelve Krush events have been announced. When combining both domestic and international events, the total reaches 26 events annually, marking the largest number of events in K-1 Group history.

As for the December event, Producer Sudo announced, “The date has been set for Tuesday, December 29, and the venue will be Yokohama BUNTAI. Toward the end of the year, we want to further energize striking combat sports.”

Making important announcements while engaging in open discussions with journalists is likely part of Producer Sudo’s unique approach. With the details of the April produced event, the global strategy, the record-breaking number of annual events, and the December event date now decided, the roadmap for 2026 has been clearly laid out.