Rebels (kickboxing)
Martial-arts entertainment planning and promotion
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rebels (Japanese: レベルス; stylized as REBELS) is a defunct martial arts entertainment planning and promotion brand, which was established in 2010 and merged into Knock Out in 2021.
History
Rebels was established by the former two-weight Martial Arts Japan kickboxing champion Genki Yamaguchi on December 1, 2009, with the aim of popularizing the sport of muay thai in Japan.[1] The inaugural event was held jointly by M-1 Challenge and Cross-Point on January 29, 2010, and was headline by a lightweight bout between Arashi Fujihara and TOMONORI.[2] Starting with the third event, Rebels-EX, Cross Point broke their partnership with M-1 and remained as the sole promoter and organizer of the events.[3]
On June 11, 2011, Rebels announced a partnership with the Dutch-based It's Showtime, which allowed cross-promotion and mutual exchange of fighters under contract.[4] The first joint event was held on July 18, 2011, under the name “Stand up JAPAN!” REBELS × IT'S SHOWTIME 〜 REBELS.8 〜 and was headlined by a -61 kg title eliminator between Rebels contracted Kan Itabashi and Genki Yamamoto.[5]
On October 28, 2012, Rebels announced events from that point forward would be held under two rulesets: Rebels rules, which was similar to K-1 and Rebels Muay Thai rules, which allowed for elbows, sweeps and five-round bouts.[6]
Rebels entered into a partnership with Knock Out on May 20, 2019, which likewise held events under kickboxing and muay thai rules.[7] On June 15, 2020, Bushido Road sold Knock Out ownership rights to Def Fellow, the operating company of Rebels.[8] The final Rebels event, "REBELS～The FINAL～", was held on February 28, 2021.[9] A month later, the brand was merged with Knock Out.[10]
Rules
- Rebels Rules: Strikes with the fist, knee and leg were allowed; elbow strikes, clinching and sweeps were prohibited. Matches were contested in three, three-minute rounds.
- Rebels Muay Thai: Strikes with the fist, knee, leg and elbows were allowed; clinching was allowed so long as one of the fighters remains active. Matches were contested in five, three-minute rounds.
- Fouls: Spitting, biting, strikes to the groin, strikes to the back of the head, strikes after the referee has called for a break and strikes thrown at an opponent in a state of knockdown were considered fouls under both rules-sets. Additionally, elbows strikes and prolonged clinching were considered founds under the Rebels Rules.
- Scoring: Number of knockdowns and presence or absence of damage was the primary scoring criteria, with three knockdowns in a single round resulting in an automatic technical knockout. Number of clean strikes and ring generalship was the secondary scoring criteria.
Championships history
Rebels Super Welterweight Championship
- Weight limit: 70 kg (154.3 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
 Hinata (def. Takuma Konishi) |
April 14, 2013 |
|
| Kaito Ono (def. Hinata) |
February 28, 2021 | |
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| T-98 (def. Kentarō Hokuto) |
April 19, 2015 | |
| T-98 vacated the title on June 14, 2019[11] | ||
| Eiji Yoshida (def. Yoshiro Tsuzaki) |
October 16, 2019 | |
Rebels Welterweight Championship
- Weight limit: 67.5 kg (148.8 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| UMA (def. Caz Janjira) |
October 6, 2019 | |
| UMA vacated the title on December 15, 2020, after suffering a retinal detachment | ||
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Naoto Itakura (def. Daisuke Tsutsumi) |
October 20, 2013 | |
| Itakura retired from professional competition on July 25, 2014 | ||
Rebels Super Lightweight Championship
- Weight limit: 65 kg (143.3 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Zen Fujita (def. Mohan Dragon) |
October 28, 2012 | |
| Fujita vacated the title on May 16, 2014, as he was unable to defend the title[12] | ||
| UMA (def. Hiroki Nakamura) |
July 25, 2014 | |
| Yōsuke Mizouchi (def. UMA) |
April 19, 2015 | |
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Yōsuke Mizouchi (def. Hiroyuki Norose) |
October 26, 2014 | |
| Hachimaki (def. Yōsuke Mizouchi) |
January 25, 2015 |
|
| Fukashi Mizutani (def. Hachimaki) |
November 30, 2016 | |
| Fukashi vacated the title in 2017 | ||
 Suarek Rukkukamui (def. Shinji Suzuki) |
November 24, 2017 |
|
Rebels Lightweight Championship
- Weight limit: 62.5 kg (137.8 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Keisuke Niwa (def. Tatsuya Inaishi) |
April 20, 2019 | |
| Bazooka Koki (def. Keisuke Niwa) |
August 30, 2020 | |
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Hachimaki (def. Akihiro Kuroda) |
July 21, 2013 | |
| Hachimaki vacated the title on May 14, 2014 to move up to super lightweight[13] | ||
| Sho Ogawa (def. Yukimitsu Takahashi) |
September 28, 2014 | |
| Hiroaki Raiden (def. Sho Ogawa) |
July 12, 2015 | |
| Raiden retired from professional competition on June 11, 2017 | ||
| Ryotaro (def. Santana Pilano) |
November 24, 2017 | |
| Suarek Rukkukamui (def. Shunsuke Miyabi for the interim title) |
October 6, 2019 | |
Rebels Super Featherweight Championship
- Weight limit: 60 kg (132.3 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Hikaru Machida (def. Fukashi) |
October 20, 2013 |
|
| Machida vacated the title on May 16, 2019[14] | ||
| Hiroki Suzuki (def. Kenshiro Aoi) |
June 9, 2019 |
|
| Suzuki vacated the title on December 20, 2020, after moving to boxing[15] | ||
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Yasuyuki (def. SHIGERU) |
January 26, 2014 |
Rebels Featherweight Championship
- Weight limit: 57.5 kg (126.8 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Kazuki Koyano (def. Kenta Yagami) |
October 23, 2016 |
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Yuya Kiyokawa (def. KING Kōhei) |
December 23, 2014 | |
| Kiyokawa retired from professional competition on December 22, 2016[16] | ||
| Kenta Yagami (def. Takahiro Sakuragi) |
December 23, 2014 | |
| Yagami vacated the title on April 20, 2019, after losing in a non-title bout[17] | ||
| Haruto Yasumoto (def. Shogo Kuriaki) |
June 9, 2019 | |
Rebels Super Bantamweight Championship
- Weight limit: 55 kg (121.3 lb)
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Ryuya Kusakabe (def. Taisuke Degai) |
July 21, 2013 | |
| Kusakabe vacated the title on February 19, 2014 when he went to boxing.[18] | ||
| Masahide Kudo (def. Takeo Oode) |
May 10, 2015 |
|
| Kudo vacated the title in 2017 when he signed with the RISE promotion.[16] | ||
| KOUMA (def. Hidemaru) |
June 11, 2017 | |
| KING Kyosuke (def. KOUMA) |
April 27, 2018 | |
| Kyosuke vacated the title on June 9, 2019, after losing in a non-title bout[19] | ||
Rebels Super Flyweight Championship
- Weight limit: 52.5 kg (115.7 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Ryuji Kato (def. Masataka Seki) |
July 25, 2014 | |
| Eisaku Ogasawara (def. Yuki Ueba) |
July 12, 2015 | |
| Ogasawara vacated the title on September 6, 2017, after winning the ISKA title[20] | ||
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Kiminori Matsuzaki (def. Michael FlySkyGym) |
October 23, 2016 | |
| Haruto Yasumoto (def. Kiminori Matsuzaki) |
June 11, 2017 | |
| Yasumoto vacated the title in December 2019[21] | ||
| Ryuto Oinuma (def. Shinjiro Sato) |
June 6, 2018 |
|
| Yusei Shirahata (def. Ryuto Oinuma) |
February 28, 2021 | |
Rebels Flyweight Championship
- Weight limit: 50.8 kg (112.0 lb)
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Eisaku Ogasawara (def. Hiroyuki Yamano) |
May 6, 2013 | |
| Ogasawara vacated the title on May 16, 2014 in order to move up in weight[12] | ||
| Kiminori Matsuzaki (def. Naoya Yajima) |
March 4, 2015 | |
| Kazuya Okuwaki (def. Matsuzaki Kiminori) |
January 24, 2016 | |
| Satsuma 3373 (def. Kazuya Okuwaki) |
August 7, 2016 | |
Rebels Women's Atomweight Championship
- Weight limit: 46 kg (101.4 lb)
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
|---|---|---|
| Panchan Rina (def. MISAKI) |
August 30, 2020 | |
