K-1 LEGENDS: Peter Aerts

Peter Aerts is one of the true legends of K-1 and kickboxing in general. The 38 year old kickboxer has an astonishing 122 professional kickboxing fights to his credit and shows little signs of slowing down. For the past few years there have been talks of Aerts scaling back his appearances inside of the K-1 ring, but Aerts was a finalist in both the 2006 and 2007 WGPs. Last year Badr Hari crushed Aerts in the second round in December before moving on to be disqualified against the Flying Dutchman, Remy Bonjasky.

It is safe to say that in the past few years Peter Aerts has slowed down a bit, with his deadly high kick not finishing a fighter off since late 2007. Before talk of Cro Cop's deadly high kicks were in full spin mode, there was Peter Aerts:

In his prime, Peter Aerts was a fighter to fear, with his kicks and punches being equal as deadly weapons, but he was also known for his strategy and patience. K-1 launched their own YouTube channel, and were gracious enough to post this absolute classic; Ernesto Hoost vs. Peter Aerts, K-1 WGP Finals '95:

The Aerts that competes of late takes a more technical approach to kickboxing, utilizing more leg kicks and jabs and being sparing with the deadly high kicks he was famous for. That doesn't mean that Aerts isn't known to overwhelm and surprise opponents still. Aerts' opponent in a few weeks, Yosuke Nishijima is no stranger to being thrown in with the best fighters in the world, as his MMA career includes no wins and 5 losses, but includes Mark Hunt, Phil Baroni, Melvin Manhoef, Yoshida and Cyborg. He is known as a cruiserweight boxer with an impressive 24-2 record and his hands might be able to catch the wiley vet offguard if he isn't careful.