The K-1 WORLD GP 2002 開幕戦 (Opening Tournament) takes place on February 24, 2002, at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. This kickboxing event features an eight-man Heavyweight Grand Prix to kick off the 2002 season, with fighters including Peter Aerts vs. Sergei Gur, Ernesto Hoost vs. Tsuyoshi Nakasako, Mark Hunt vs. Adam Watt, and Stefan Leko vs. Jorgen Kruth. The tournament progresses through quarterfinals, semifinals, and a final to determine the opening round winner, with Peter Aerts emerging victorious over Ernesto Hoost by decision. Additional superfights include Mike Bernardo vs. Alexei Ignashov and a K-1 vs. Muay Thai bout with Kaoklai Kaennorsing. It’s the explosive start to K-1’s 2002 World Grand Prix journey, drawing 19,500 fans.

K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final was a kickboxing event promoted by the K-1. The event was held at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan on Saturday, December 7, 2002 in front of 74,500 spectators. It was the tenth K-1 World Grand Prix final, involving ten of the world's top fighters (two being reservists), with all bouts fought under K-1 Rules (100 kg/156-220 lbs). The eight finalists had almost all qualified via preliminary events, while two additional fighters were invited as reserve fighters (for more detail on this see bulleted list below). In total there were ten fighters at the event, representing eight countries.