left hook, and soon after dropped him with a second left hook. Tetsu was able to beat the eight-count, but was quickly floored once again with a right hook. The was stopped at the 2:14 minute mark of the first round, after Tetsu was knocked down with an uppercut. K-1 Featherweight champion K-1 Featherweight Grand Prix Egawa was scheduled to participate in the 2019 K-1 Featherweight World Grand Prix, held at K-1 World GP 2019 Yokohamatsuri on November 24, 2019. He was set to take on 2018 K-1 Featherweight Grand Prix semifinalist Jorge Varela in the quarterfinal bout. Egawa won the fight by a first-round knockout. He forced Varela to shell up with several body shots midway through the round, before finally dropping him with a left hook to the body at the 1:49 minute mark. In the tournament semifinals, Egawa faced Arthur Meyer, who earned his place with a second-round technical knockout of Haruma Saikyo. Egawa won the fight by a first-round knockout, once again finishing his opponent with a body blow, landing a spinning back kick near the end of the round. He faced Jawsuayai Sor.Dechaphan in the tournament finals, and once more won the fight by a first-round knockout. Egawa was aggressive from the opening bell and knocked Jawsuayai down with a body shot 40 seconds into the fight. He knocked Jawsuayai out with a liver shot 20 seconds later. His success in the Grand Prix prompted K-1 to award him the 2019 "Fighter of the Year" honors, while Combat Press named him their 2019 "Breakout Fighter of the Year". Egawa vs. Tsubakihara duology Egawa vacated his Krush title on February 3, 2020, to focus on defending his K-1 title. Egawa was scheduled to face the divisional newcomer Tatsuya Tsubakihara in a non-title bout at K-1 World GP 2020 in Osaka on September 22, 2020. As he was at the time considered to be the second best 57 kg kickboxer in the world, and due to Tsubakihara's recent arrival to the division, Egawa entered the fight as a significant favorite. Tsubakihara won the fight by majority decision, with two judges awarding him scores of 30-29 and 30–28. He kept distance from the advancing Egawa and scored with a combination of jabs and front kicks, while Egawa was unable to successfully cut off the ring. Egawa complained of a hand injury during the post-fight conference and asked for