Peter Aerts

Peter Aerts (born 25 October 1970) is a Dutch semi-retired kickboxer.

Known for his devastating high kicks, which earned him the nickname "The Dutch Lumberjack", he is widely considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time.

Born in Eindhoven, Netherlands, Aerts began training in Taekwondo at the age of fourteen.

Aerts was born in Eindhoven, North Brabant, Netherlands on October 25, 1970.

After playing football in his childhood for seven years, he began practicing martial arts in 1983, beginning with taekwondo.

His interest in combat sports came from his grandfather and an uncle; both were active in that field.

In 1984, he started kickboxing and began training in "Judoka-Kickboxing" in Best, with Mikki Benazzouz.

After a year of training, Aerts fought his first match, and soon one victory succeeded the other.

He won his first world championship title when he was nineteen.

Aerts debuted as a professional kickboxer in 1985.

Some notable fights from his early career include a decision loss to Ernesto Hoost (who he would fight a total of six times) on 20 November 1988, and a knockout loss to Andre Mannaart in 1989 while still a teenager.

Aerts switched to "The Champs" gym in Eindhoven, with Eddy Smulders, in 1989 where he won his first world title, taking the IKBF World Heavyweight Championship in 1990.

He won his first world title when he was nineteen years old in 1990, taking the International Kick Boxing Federation's Heavyweight Championship.

He would also add the Dutch heavyweight title and the World Muay Thai Association's heavyweight title to his mantelpiece before going on to compete in Japan.

1991 saw Aerts switch gyms again, this time moving to the famous Chakuriki Gym under Thom Harinck, where he had his greatest successes of his career.

He received the moniker "The Dutch Lumberjack" by the trainer of his opponent Mark Russell after he defeated Russell by first-round stoppage in Oranjestad, Aruba on 29 June 1991.

Aerts was given his signature sleeveless lumberjack jacket, which he would wear during his ring walk before every match, by his friend Bas Rutten.

Coincidentally, Aerts' father was also a lumberjack.

On 18 November 1991, Aerts defeated the legendary Frank Lobman via unanimous decision in Rotterdam to win the WMTA World Heavyweight Muay Thai Championship.

In 1992, Aerts truly moved onto the world stage.

He beat Maurice Smith by decision after nine rounds in Paris, France, on 9 April 1992.

Just a month later, on 16 May, he knocked out Adam Watt in the second round in Tokyo, Japan.

He rematched Frank Lobman on 20 September 1992.

Aerts emerged the victor once again and retained the WMTA title as Lobman retired in round three.

He ended the year with a draw against karate fighter Masaaki Satake in Osaka, Japan, on 4 October 1992.

A three-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, he debuted at the inaugural K-1 World GP in 1993 where he was eliminated by fellow K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost.

On January 29, 1993, Aerts defeated Peter Selkthorpe of England by first-round knockout with a knee strike to win the European Muay Thai title in Best, Netherlands.

He then rematched Maurice Smith in Amsterdam on March 7, 1993, and knocked him out with a right high kick, a technique that would become Aerts' signature move.

These wins gave Aerts the reputation as a top-level kickboxer and he was invited to take part in the K-1 Grand Prix '93, an eight-man, one-night tournament made up of the world's best heavyweights and light heavyweights held in Tokyo, Japan.

He faced Ernesto Hoost in the quarter-finals, and after a close three rounds, Hoost was named the winner by majority decision (29–28, 30–28, 30–30).

He returned to K-1 on September 4, 1993, against Dino Homsey at K-1 Illusion and KO'd the American with a left high kick in round one.

He won his first Grand Prix in 1994 by knocking out Rob van Esdonk and Patrick Smith in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively, before taking a unanimous decision over Masaaki Satake in the finals.

However, he was stopped on more than one occasion by Mike Bernardo, being memorably knocked out of the 1996 K-1 World GP at the quarter-finals, as part of his series of wins over Aerts.

Aerts also won the GP the following year when he beat Toshiyuki Atokawa, Ernesto Hoost and then stopped Jérôme Le Banner in the finals.

He would not win the tournament again until 1998 when he stopped all three of his opponents in front of 63,800 spectators at the Tokyo Dome.

In what is considered to be one of the best Grands Prix ever, and the pinnacle of Aerts' career, he stopped Masaaki Satake with a knee strike in the quarters, forced the referee to stop his semi-final match with long-time rival Mike Bernardo and knocked out Andy Hug with one of his famous high kicks in the final.

He won this tournament in six minutes and forty-three seconds, which was the quickest K-1 GP win ever at the time.

Although 1998 was his last Grand Prix win, Aerts continued to compete and reached the final a further three times (in 2006, 2007 and 2010).

He competed in every K-1 World Grand Prix except one, in 2009.

This record stood until 2009 when it was beaten by rival Semmy Schilt.