Masaaki Satake
Kimo made his kickboxing debut on March 3, 1995 at the K-1 Grand Prix '95 Opening Battle event in Tokyo, where he fought former world champion Masaaki Satake for the opportunity to compete in the K-1 Grand Prix '95 tournament. Kimo started aggressively, keeping his opponent on the defensive with powerful hooks. He tired as the round went on, allowing Satake to strike back with kicks to his head and body. In the second round, Satake scored three knockdowns over Kimo and thus earned a TKO victory.