Rebels (kickboxing) explained

Rebels
Type:	Private
Industry:	Martial-arts entertainment planning and promotion
Foundation:	2010
Founders:	Genki Yamaguchi
Location City:	Tokyo
Location Country:	Japan
Owner:	Def Fellow
Homepage:	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: 701NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Hinata (def. Takuma Konishi)	align=center	April 14, 2013	def. Kentaro Hokuto on March 16, 2014 def. Sibmean Sitchefboontham on February 17, 2019
align=left	Kaito Ono (def. Hinata)	align=center	February 28, 2021

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	T-98 (def. Kentarō Hokuto)	align=center	April 19, 2015
T-98 vacated the title on June 14, 2019^[11]
align=left	Eiji Yoshida (def. Yoshiro Tsuzaki)	align=center	October 16, 2019

Rebels Welterweight Championship

Weight limit: 67.51NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	UMA (def. Caz Janjira)	align=center	October 6, 2019
UMA vacated the title on December 15, 2020, after suffering a retinal detachment

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Naoto Itakura (def. Daisuke Tsutsumi)	align=center	October 20, 2013
Itakura retired from professional competition on July 25, 2014

Rebels Super Lightweight Championship

Weight limit: 651NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Zen Fujita (def. Mohan Dragon)	align=center	October 28, 2012
Fujita vacated the title on May 16, 2014, as he was unable to defend the title
align=left	UMA (def. Hiroki Nakamura)	align=center	July 25, 2014
align=left	Yōsuke Mizouchi (def. UMA)	align=center	April 19, 2015

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Yōsuke Mizouchi (def. Hiroyuki Norose)	align=center	October 26, 2014
align=left	Hachimaki (def. Yōsuke Mizouchi)	align=center	January 25, 2015	def. Shinji Suzuki on July 12, 2015
align=left	Fukashi Mizutani (def. Hachimaki)	align=center	November 30, 2016

Rebels Lightweight Championship

Weight limit: 62.51NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Keisuke Niwa (def. Tatsuya Inaishi)	align=center	April 20, 2019
align=left	Bazooka Koki (def. Keisuke Niwa)	align=center	August 30, 2020

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Hachimaki (def. Akihiro Kuroda)	align=center	July 21, 2013
Hachimaki vacated the title on May 14, 2014 to move up to super lightweight^[12]
align=left	Sho Ogawa (def. Yukimitsu Takahashi)	align=center	September 28, 2014
align=left	Hiroaki Raiden (def. Sho Ogawa)	align=center	July 12, 2015
Raiden retired from professional competition on June 11, 2017
align=left	Ryotaro (def. Santana Pilano)	align=center	November 24, 2017

Rebels Super Featherweight Championship

Weight limit: 601NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Hikaru Machida (def. Fukashi)	align=center	October 20, 2013	def. SHIGERU on October 26, 2015 def. Riki Goshu on July 12, 2015
Machida vacated the title on May 16, 2019^[13]
align=left	Hiroki Suzuki (def. Kenshiro Aoi)	align=center	June 9, 2019	def. Shely Santana on February 29, 2020
Suzuki vacated the title on December 20, 2020, after moving to boxing^[14]

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Yasuyuki (def. SHIGERU)	align=center	January 26, 2014

Rebels Featherweight Championship

Weight limit: 57.51NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Kazuki Koyano (def. Kenta Yagami)	align=center	October 23, 2016

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Yuya Kiyokawa (def. KING Kōhei)	align=center	December 23, 2014
Kiyokawa retired from professional competition on December 22, 2016^[15]
align=left	Kenta Yagami (def. Takahiro Sakuragi)	align=center	December 23, 2014
Yagami vacated the title on April 20, 2019, after losing in a non-title bout^[16]
align=left	Haruto Yasumoto (def. Shogo Kuriaki)	align=center	June 9, 2019

Rebels Super Bantamweight Championship

Weight limit: 551NaN1

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Ryuya Kusakabe (def. Taisuke Degai)	align=center	July 21, 2013
Kusakabe vacated the title on February 19, 2014 when he went to boxing.^[17]
align=left	Masahide Kudo (def. Takeo Oode)	align=center	May 10, 2015	def. Shuto Miyazaki on April 3, 2016
Kudo vacated the title in 2017 when he signed with the RISE promotion.
align=left	KOUMA (def. Hidemaru)	align=center	June 11, 2017
align=left	KING Kyosuke (def. KOUMA)	align=center	April 27, 2018
Kyosuke vacated the title on June 9, 2019, after losing in a non-title bout^[18]

Rebels Super Flyweight Championship

Weight limit: 52.51NaN1Rebels Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Ryuji Kato (def. Masataka Seki)	align=center	July 25, 2014
align=left	Eisaku Ogasawara (def. Yuki Ueba)	align=center	July 12, 2015
Ogasawara vacated the title on September 6, 2017, after winning the ISKA title^[19]

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Kiminori Matsuzaki (def. Michael FlySkyGym)	align=center	October 23, 2016
align=left	Haruto Yasumoto (def. Kiminori Matsuzaki)	align=center	June 11, 2017
Yasumoto vacated the title in December 2019^[20]
align=left	Ryuto Oinuma (def. Shinjiro Sato)	align=center	June 6, 2018	def. Takuya Hasunuma on December 5, 2018
align=left	Yusei Shirahata (def. Ryuto Oinuma)	align=center	February 28, 2021

Rebels Flyweight Championship

Weight limit: 50.81NaN1Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Eisaku Ogasawara (def. Hiroyuki Yamano)	align=center	May 6, 2013
Ogasawara vacated the title on May 16, 2014 in order to move up in weight^[21]
align=left	Kiminori Matsuzaki (def. Naoya Yajima)	align=center	March 4, 2015
align=left	Kazuya Okuwaki (def. Matsuzaki Kiminori)	align=center	January 24, 2016
align=left	Satsuma 3373 (def. Kazuya Okuwaki)	align=center	August 7, 2016

Rebels Women's Atomweight Championship

Weight limit: 461NaN1Rebels Muay Thai Rules

width=25%	Name	width=15%	Date	width=45%	Defenses
align=left	Panchan Rina (def. MISAKI)	align=center	August 30, 2020

Notes and References

Web site: 【レベルス】1・23ムエタイ普及を目的とした新大会に藤原あらし、増田博正参戦！ . gbring.com . 31 January 2023.
Web site: 【レベルス】7・19藤原あらしがバンゲリングベイに移籍、TOMONORIとメインで激突！ . gbring.com . 31 January 2023.
Web site: 【レベルス】7・19渡辺久江が公開練習で大暴れ！「私からダウン奪ったら賞金出す」 . gbring.com . 31 January 2023.
Web site: 7・18SHOWTIME JAPANカウントダウン興行「山本元気x板橋寛」発表 . miruhon.net . 31 January 2023.
Web site: 【レベルス】"最強"ペトロシアンが日菜太に完勝、梅野はムエタイ現役ランカーをKO . gbring.com . 31 January 2023.
Web site: REBELS 12.5 後楽園ホール：スアレック、宮越慶二郎と肘有り5Rで対戦 . boutreview.com . 27 September 2018 . 31 January 2023.
Web site: ＲＥＢＥＬＳ代表・山口元気氏が「ＫＮＯＣＫＯＵＴ」プロデューサー就任 . excite.co.jp . 8 February 2022.
Web site: 【KNOCK OUT】ブシロードがKNOCK OUT事業から退き、山口元気プロデューサーが引き継ぐ＝新型コロナも影響 . gonkaku.jp . 8 February 2022.
Web site: REBELS 2.28 後楽園ホール：潘隆成「最後のREBELSで他団体選手に勝たせちゃダメ。と言っても僕もREBELSは久々なんですよね」×重森陽太「しっかりとREBELSの幕を引くお手伝いをさせていただきたい」｜ツイキャスとサムライTVで大会生中継 . boutreview.com . 14 February 2021 . 31 January 2023.
Web site: 【KNOCK OUT】ブシロードがKNOCK OUT事業から退き、山口元気プロデューサーが引き継ぐ＝新型コロナも影響 . gonkaku.jp . 8 February 2022.
Web site: 【レベルス】吉田英司、先輩T-98が巻いたベルトに王手 . efight.jp . 14 June 2019 . 31 January 2023.
Web site: ハチマキがREBELS-MUAYTHAIライト級王座返上！ . livedoor.jp . 31 January 2023.
Web site: REBELS 6.9 後楽園ホール：葵拳士郎×鈴木宙樹、揃って3R決着を予想。栗秋祥梧、新鋭・安本晴翔には「気持ちで向かう」。日菜太「やりたい相手にたどり着くまで絶対に負けられない」 . boutreview.com . 16 May 2019 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: 【ボクシング】またひとり、キック無敗王者がボクシング界へ。鈴木宙樹が初回ＫＯデビュー . bbm-japan.com . 1 February 2023.
Web site: 【REBELS】工藤政英・清川祐弥が王座返上。清川は引退へ。 . royalroa-d.com . 22 December 2016 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: REBELS 6.9 後楽園ホール：葵拳士郎×鈴木宙樹、浜本"キャット"雄大×栗秋祥梧、KING強介×大野貴志、耀織×与座優貴が決定 . boutreview.com . 26 April 2019 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: 【レベルス】55kg級王者・日下部竜也が引退、ボクサーを目指す . efight.jp . 19 February 2014 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: REBELS「爆腕ビッグダディ」ＫＩＮＧ強介インタビューを公開！ . miruhon.net . 19 January 2020 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: 9.30名古屋大会・"尾張の闘将"大石駿介選手が挑むISKA世界タイトルとは！ . hoostcup.com . 1 February 2023.
Web site: REBELS 4.27 後楽園ホール：REBELS-MUAYTHAIスーパーフライ級王座決定リーグ戦第2戦組み合わせ決まる . boutreview.com . 22 February 2018 . 1 February 2023.
Web site: 【レベルス】小笠原瑛作、藤田ゼンが王座返上 . efight.jp . 19 May 2014 . 1 February 2023.