The Chief
Peter Graham
One of very few heavyweights other than Hug to land the axe kick at elite level — a Kyokushin import kept alive through a long gloved career.
Peter Graham came from a Kyokushin background and is one of the few fighters other than Andy Hug to make the axe kick work at the top of the heavyweight division — most famously against Badr Hari, in a finish that remains one of the most-replayed in the sport.
That technique is a direct import from a ruleset where the head can only be reached by foot. Graham kept it through a long career across K-1, the Australian circuit and GLORY, which is unusual: most Kyokushin converts quietly drop the vertical kicking game once punches to the head become legal and easier options exist.
His career is a useful demonstration that a technique built by one rulebook can survive translation into another, provided the fighter keeps drilling it after it stops being necessary.