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.

Rebels
Company typePrivate
IndustryMartial-arts entertainment planning and promotion
Founded2010
FoundersGenki Yamaguchi
Headquarters,
OwnerDef Fellow
WebsiteRebels

History

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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

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  • 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

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Rebels Super Welterweight Championship

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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

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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

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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
  • def. Shinji Suzuki on July 12, 2015
  Fukashi Mizutani
(def. Hachimaki)
November 30, 2016

Rebels Lightweight Championship

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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

Rebels Super Featherweight Championship

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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[14]
  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[15]

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

Name Date Defenses
  Yasuyuki
(def. SHIGERU)
January 26, 2014

Rebels Featherweight Championship

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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

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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
  • def. Shuto Miyazaki on April 3, 2016
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

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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
  • def. Takuya Hasunuma on December 5, 2018
  Yusei Shirahata
(def. Ryuto Oinuma)
February 28, 2021

Rebels Flyweight Championship

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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

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Weight limit: 46 kg (101.4 lb)

Rebels Muay Thai Rules

Name Date Defenses
  Panchan Rina
(def. MISAKI)
August 30, 2020

References

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  1. ^ "【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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  2. ^ "【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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  3. ^ "【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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  4. ^ "7・18SHOWTIME JAPANカウントダウン興行「山本元気x板橋寛」発表". miruhon.net. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  5. ^ "【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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  6. ^ "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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  7. ^ "REBELS代表・山口元気氏が「KNOCK OUT」プロデューサー就任". excite.co.jp. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  8. ^ "【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. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  9. ^ "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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  10. ^ "【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. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  11. ^ "【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. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  12. ^ a b "【レベルス】小笠原瑛作、藤田ゼンが王座返上". efight.jp. 19 May 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  13. ^ "ハチマキがREBELS-MUAYTHAIライト級王座返上!". livedoor.jp. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  14. ^ "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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  15. ^ "【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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  16. ^ a b "【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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  17. ^ "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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  18. ^ "【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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  19. ^ "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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  20. ^ "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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  21. ^ "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. Retrieved 1 February 2023.