Fight fans will get an early Christmas present when one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport hits Prague.

K1 — in which fighters from disciplines such as boxing, kickboxing and martial arts go head-to-head in the ring — will kick off a new season at Sazka Arena Dec. 16. It will be the first such event in the Czech Republic in five years.

"We've been working for six years to get it here," said Jan Dominec, the Prague round's chief organizer. "It's going to be the biggest and the greatest fighting tournament ever held in this country."

Eight contenders, including four Czechs, will participate in a one-day single-elimination tournament, with the winner advancing to the next round in Amsterdam. The Dutch round will be a qualifier for the Elimination Tournament in Osaka, Japan, next fall, with the K1 Final traditionally held in Tokyo.

The upcoming tournament in Prague will be the third K1 event ever held in the Czech Republic. The city hosted qualifiers in 2000 and 2001. At that time, the Czech Republic was the first venue outside Japan to host the series.

Dominec said the upcoming event at Sazka Arena will be more glamorous than previous matches.

"This time, it will be the only preliminary qualification before the Amsterdam round, which is another step toward hosting the K1 Elimination round in Prague one day," he said.

The event's 7.5 million Kč ($353,000) budget makes it the most expensive fighting event held in the Czech Republic, and it will broadcast live to Asia and North America.

"It'll be the first time ever that the Japanese and the Americans will be able to watch a live fight from Prague," Dominec said.

Aside from the qualification tournament, the event will also feature three "prestige fights" featuring well-known fighters on the circuit. The main box-office draw will be American Michael McDonald, Czech team coach Petr Macháček predicted.

"McDonald is certainly the biggest name in Prague," he added, "but it'll also be very interesting to watch Swede Jörgen Kruth in the tournament because he's in terrific shape right now."

World champion kickboxer Ray Sefo from New Zealand will be in attendance, but will not fight.

Coach Macháček said the Prague tournament is a lifetime opportunity for the Czech fighters: Petr Vondráček, Roman Kracík, Daniel Jerling and Stanislav Klíma.

"Their opponents will be much more experienced, so we need to remain down-to-earth, but anything can happen during the fight," he said.

Thanks to regular showings on the Eurosport TV channel, the series is gaining popularity in the Czech Republic, and the Prague round will boost fighting sports' image, Macháček said.