30–27) victory over Glaube Feitosa at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 Final Elimination on October 5, 2002. At the K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 on December 7, 2002, Aerts was eliminated from the Grand Prix at the quarter-final stage for the fourth year running when he was beaten by Ray Sefo via split decision (29-30, 30–28, 30–29). 2003–2005: Becoming "Mr. K-1" Although Aerts did not have as much success in the 2000s as he did in his earlier K-1 career, he continued to be a competitive challenger. And while Andy Hug died and other old-school legends Branko Cikatić, Mike Bernardo, Sam Greco, Ernesto Hoost and Stan Longinidis all retired, Aerts continued to face the new generation of stars. Stefan Leko defeated Peter Aerts for the second time on March 30, 2003, at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Saitama. He rebounded from two consecutive defeats, however, and knocked out Tsuyoshi Nakasako with a high kick at K-1 Beast II 2003 on June 29, 2003 before qualifying for the 2003 K-1 WGP by beating Jerrel Venetiaan via unanimous decision (30-29, 30–29, 30–28) at K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final Elimination on October 11, 2003. In the quarter-finals of the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 Final on December 6, Aerts went up against Alexey Ignashov. After a close three rounds, the fight was scored a draw and went to an extra round. Aerts was judged the winner unanimously (10-9, 10–9, 10–9) and advanced into the semis for the first time since he won the Grand Prix in 1998. Against Musashi in the second stage was another close decision. This time, however, the judges went in favour of Aerts' opponent and Musashi won a majority decision (30-30, 30–29, 30–29). In 2004, Aerts left Mejiro Gym to found Team Aerts, training out of Kops Gym in Amsterdam under Henri Hooft and Jan Plas. After six months out of the ring, he returned against Gary Goodridge at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 in Nagoya on June 6, 2004. After withstanding the Trinidadian brawler's initial onslaught, Aerts brutalised Goodridge with low kicks over two and a half rounds. Although Goodridge was still game, he could barely stand and the referee stopped the fight in round three. Aerts then defeated Michael McDonald by unanimous decision (30-29, 30–29, 29–27) at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2004 Final Elimination on September 25, 2004, to qualify for