# Rebels (kickboxing)

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. 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. 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.
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. 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.
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.
Rebels entered into a partnership with Knock Out on May 20, 2019, which likewise held events under kickboxing and muay thai rules. On June 15, 2020, Bushido Road sold Knock Out ownership rights to Def Fellow, the operating company of Rebels. The final Rebels event, "REBELS～The FINAL～", was held on February 28, 2021. A month later, the brand was merged with Knock Out.

## 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 | def. Kentaro Hokuto on March 16, 2014 def. Sibmean Sitchefboontham on February 17, 2019 |
| Kaito Ono (def. Hinata) | February 28, 2021 | |
Rebels Muay Thai Rules
| Name | Date |
| T-98 (def. Kentarō Hokuto) | April 19, 2015 |
| T-98 vacated the title on June 14, 2019 |||
| 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 |
| Zen Fujita (def. Mohan Dragon) | October 28, 2012 |
| Fujita vacated the title on May 16, 2014, as he was unable to defend the title |||
| 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 | def. Shinji Suzuki on July 12, 2015 |
| Fukashi Mizutani (def. Hachimaki) | November 30, 2016 | |

### 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 |
| Hachimaki (def. Akihiro Kuroda) | July 21, 2013 |
| Hachimaki vacated the title on May 14, 2014 to move up to super lightweight |||
| 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 |

### Rebels Super Featherweight Championship

       Weight limit: 60 kg (132.3 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date | Defenses |
| Hikaru Machida (def. Fukashi) | October 20, 2013 | def. SHIGERU on October 26, 2015 def. Riki Goshu on July 12, 2015 |
| Machida vacated the title on May 16, 2019 |||
| Hiroki Suzuki (def. Kenshiro Aoi) | June 9, 2019 | def. Shely Santana on February 29, 2020 |
| Suzuki vacated the title on December 20, 2020, after moving to boxing |||
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 |
| Yuya Kiyokawa (def. KING Kōhei) | December 23, 2014 |
| Kiyokawa retired from professional competition on December 22, 2016 |||
| Kenta Yagami (def. Takahiro Sakuragi) | December 23, 2014 |
| Yagami vacated the title on April 20, 2019, after losing in a non-title bout |||
| 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. |||
| Masahide Kudo (def. Takeo Oode) | May 10, 2015 | def. Shuto Miyazaki on April 3, 2016 |
| Kudo vacated the title in 2017 when he signed with the RISE promotion. |||
| 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 |||

### Rebels Super Flyweight Championship

       Weight limit: 52.5 kg (115.7 lb)
Rebels Rules
| Name | Date |
| 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 |||
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 |||
| Ryuto Oinuma (def. Shinjiro Sato) | June 6, 2018 | def. Takuya Hasunuma on December 5, 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 |
| Eisaku Ogasawara (def. Hiroyuki Yamano) | May 6, 2013 |
| Ogasawara vacated the title on May 16, 2014 in order to move up in weight |||
| 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 | |