2023 in K-1

The year 2023 is the 30th year in the history of the K-1, a Japanese kickboxing promotion. The year will start with K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6.

K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6
K-1 World GP 2023: K'Festa 6 was a kickboxing event held by K-1 on March 12, 2023, at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.

Background
Four K-1 title fights were announced for the event on January 13, 2023: A K-1 Super Bantamweight Championship bout between champion Akihiro Kaneko and challenger Kompetch Sitsarawatsuer; a K-1 Women's Atomweight Championship bout between champion Phayahong Ayothayafightgym and challenger Miyuu Sugawara; a K-1 Lightweight Championship bout between champion Taio Asahisa and challenger Yuki Yoza; as well as a K-1 Super Welterweight Championship bout between champion Hiromi Wajima and challenger Jomthong Chuwattana.

Three additional title fights were added on January 27: Tetsuya Yamato was booked to make his second K-1 World GP Super Lightweight Championship defense against the former K-1 Lightweight champion Kenta Hayashi, the K-1 Featherweight champion Taito Gunji was scheduled to make his first title defense against View Petchkoson, while the K-1 Women's Flyweight champion Kana Morimoto made her second title defense against the one-time FEA and WAKO world champion Funda Alkayış.

K-1 World GP 2023: inaugural Middleweight Championship Tournament
K-1 World GP 2023: inaugural Middleweight Championship Tournament will be a kickboxing event held by K-1 on June 3, 2023, at the Yokohama Budokan in Yokohama, Japan.

Background
A middleweight (-75 kg) World Grand Prix was held during the event, with the winner being crowned the inaugural K-1 middleweight champion.

K-1 champions Akihiro Kaneko, Yuki Yoza and Toma Kuroda all made appearances in non-title fights.

K-1 World GP 2023 at Ryogoku
K-1 World GP 2023 at Ryogoku will be a kickboxing event held by K-1 on July 17, 2023, at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan.

Background
A K-1 Super Welterweight Championship bout between champion Hiromi Wajima and former Krush Super Welterweight Champion Jordann Pikeur is expected to headline the event.

A catchweight bout between K-1's former super lightweight and welterweight champion Masaaki Noiri and current SUPERKOMBAT Middleweight Champion Amansio Paraschiv is expected to co-headline the event. Paraschiv took the fight on short notice.

A cruiserweight bout between former Krush and K-1 cruiserweight champion K-Jee and former DFS Heavyweight Championship challenger Ștefan Lătescu is expected to take place at the event.

ReBOOT～K-1 ReBIRTH～
ReBOOT～K-1 ReBIRTH～ was a kickboxing event held by K-1 on September 10, 2023, at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan.

Part of the collaborative ReBOOT event with Quintet, K-1 ReBIRTH intended to be the first event in a revamp of K-1; in-which the promotion re-branded their weight classes (under the "K-1 WORLD GP" and "K-1 WORLD MAX" banners, for heavyweights and fighters weighting -75 kg and under, respectively) and held a heavyweight World Grand Prix similar to past K-1 tournaments from the FEG years.

The event was distributed by DAZN outside of Japan.

Background
A K-1 Super Bantamweight Championship bout between current champion Akihiro Kaneko and challenger Masashi Kumura co-headlined the event.

K-1 ReBIRTH 2
K-1 ReBIRTH 2 was a kickboxing event to be held by K-1 on December 9, 2023, at the Edion Arena in Osaka, Japan.

Background
A trio of title fights was announced for the event on October 10: a K-1 Bantamweight Championship bout between Issei Ishii and Toma Kuroda, a K-1 Middleweight Championship bout between Hasan Toy and Shintaro Matsukura, a K-1 Super Welterweight Championship bout between Hiromi Wajima and Ouyang Feng.