As his peers retire, Peter Aerts is becoming the living legend. He first appeared in the 1993 Grand Prix with Cikatic, Kiasongrit, Satake, Hayes, Smith, Atogawa and Hoost. Aerts is the only active fighter remaining. He has witnessed the come and go of Longinidis, Bernardo, Hug and Greco as well.

I’m not talking about an old man. He does carry a bit more weight than when he started. His hips are tighter and his skin is thinner. Aerts, however, is still one of the best fighters in the world.

In the beginning, he was hyper-aggressive and wore out his opponents. He also boasted one of the most effective high kicks in the sport. When Bernardo sent Aerts airborne twice in two of the most brutal KOs fans will ever witness, Aerts modified his style to handle big aggressive men like Bernardo and became a fighter who could win moving forward or backward.

In 1998, he won the K-1 Grand Prix in 6 minutes 43 seconds, the fastest any champion has disposed of 3 opponents. He then went into a bit of a slump. Injuries, narrow decisions, bad luck and age were all taking turns at stealing Aerts’ glory. His style of fighting diminished into a hug and knee spectacle. When the K-1 altered the rules to eliminate excessive holding, Aerts, ironically, adapted better than most.

Today, Aerts is a solid kickboxing generalist. He can fight moving forward and backward. His hands, knees and feet are all dangerous weapons. A few years ago, fans were predicting his retirement. Now he is a solid favorite to win the Grand Prix… a 4^th time. It will be interesting to see if the K-1 matchmakers can find opponents who will create edge of our seats fights.