In March 2005, Akebono was granted a place in the K-1 Korea Grand Prix, whose first round saw him facing Nobuaki Kakuda, a 44 years old Seidokaikan Karate fighter who usually refereed his matches. Through his usual strategy, Akebono surprisingly dominated the match, as Kakuda was unable to mount an offense. After wearing Kakuda down with knees and uppercuts while leaving him no space to counterattack, Akebono was given his first win by unanimous decision. He would advance round to face a fellow superheavyweight, Choi Hong-man, who had just defeated another former sumo in Wakashoyo. It would be the first time Akebono found an enemy capable to outwrestle him, given Choi's 350 pounds and strong ssireum background, and it showed when the Korean stopped Akebono's first charges, capitalizing too on his large reach to strike freely. However, the match was stopped at only 24 seconds when the yokozuna's corner threw the towel.