is a Japanese martial artist and kickboxer. He competes in

ONE Championship ONE Championship (formerly ONE Fighting Championship) is a Singaporean combat sports promotion. Founded on 14 July 2011 by entrepreneur Chatri Sityodtong and former ESPN Star Sports senior executive Victor Cui, its events have featured mixed ...

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...

and

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

division, where he is the former ONE Kickboxing Bantamweight World Champion. As of June 2022, he is ranked as the second-best featherweight kickboxer in the world by Combat Press. He's been ranked in the top ten since December 2021. As of November 24, 2022, he is ranked #1 in the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing rankings.

Background

Japanese-born Akimoto began his martial arts journey at the age of eight. He took up

full contact karate Full contact karate is any format of karate where competitors spar (also called Kumite) full-contact and allow a knockout as winning criterion. History Full contact karate competition comes in several different formats developed for the art of k ...

and became a top talent over his years of training. Both of his parents were instructors in the Shichishu-Kai, but he was never forced to participate. It was not until he was involved in a fight at school did he decide to take up martial arts. As his skills grew, he turned to competition. He did not stick with karate, and also competed in Muay Thai and kickboxing bouts. To get the most of his talents, Akimoto moved from Japan to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

to train at Evolve MMA and pursue a world title in ONE Championship.

Kickboxing career

Akimoto got off to an incredible start to his professional career. He racked up 19 straight kickboxing victories that would lead him to be signed by ONE Championship.

ONE Championship

Early promotional career

Akimoto made his organizational debut with

on January 25, 2019 at ONE Championship: Hero's Ascent. It was his first kickboxing bout in nearly six years. Akimoto won the fight by unanimous decision. The now 20–0 striker returned to competition on March 31, 2019 at ONE Championship: A New Era against

Joseph Lasiri Joseph Lasiri (born July 19, 1991) is an Italian Muay Thai fighter. He is currently signed to ONE Championship, where he is the reigning ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Champion. Lasiri is a WBC Muay Thai World Bantamweight Champion and a 5- ...

. Akimoto lost the bout by majority decision, suffering the first loss of his professional career. Akimoto faced Kenny Tse at ONE Championship: Masters Of Destiny on July 12, 2019. He won the fight by unanimous decision, successfully rebounding from his loss to Lasiri.

Move to Bantamweight

Akimoto faced Zhang Chenglong at ONE Championship: Reign of Dynasties 2 on October 17, 2020. He won the fight by split decision. Due to the close decision, the pair were immediately booked for a rematch at ONE Championship: Fists Of Fury on February 26, 2021. Akimoto was more convincing in the rematch, as he beat Zhang by unanimous decision. Akimoto faced former

Wu Lin Feng Wu Lin Feng (), also known as WLF, is a martial arts competition televised by Henan Television. It is the longest running martial arts program in China. Since 2007 the competition has become more international in nature, bringing in more challe ...

kickboxing champion

Qiu Jianliang Qiu Jianliang () is a Chinese kickboxer. He joined the Chinese National Muay Thai Team in September 2012. In October 2013 he joined the Da Dong Xiang fight club to compete in professional kickboxing. As of December 2021, he is ranked as the fif ...

at ONE: Winter Warriors on December 3, 2021. He won the bout via unanimous decision.

Bantamweight kickboxing champion

Akimoto (then the #2 ONE Kickboxing Bantamweight contender) challenged the reigning ONE Bantamweight kickboxing champion

Capitan Petchyindee Academy Capitan Petchyindee Academy ( th, กัปปิตัน เพชรยินดีอะคาเดมี; born March 24, 1993) is a Thai Muay Thai fighter. He is the former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion and Lumpinee Stadium ...

at ONE: X on March 25, 2022. He won the fight by unanimous decision, after controlling the final four rounds of the bout. Capitan was twice warned for illegal clinching and was deducted a point for it in the fourth round. Akimoto was given the $50,000

Performance of the Night UFC Bonus Awards are three separate cash bonuses usually awarded to four fighters after each UFC event, based on internal decisions by UFC management. More/fewer bonuses have been awarded at some events, especially when no knockouts or submissions ...

award as well, and was named the March 2022 "Fighter of the Month" by ''eFight''. Akimoto made his first ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World title defense against #4 ranked contender

Petchtanong Petchfergus Petchtanong Petchfergus ( th, เพชรทนง เพชรเฟอร์กัส; born November 6, 1985) is a Thai Muay Thai kickboxer fighting out of Bangkok. He is currently signed to ONE Championship, where he is the reigning ONE Ba ...

ONE 163 ''ONE 163: Akimoto vs. Petchtanong'' was a Combat sport event produced by ONE Championship that took place on November 19, 2022, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Background A ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship b ...

on November 18, 2022. He lost the fight by split decision (and also his second loss on his kickboxing career).

Titles and accomplishments

Kickboxing

Amateur *Martial Arts Japan Kickboxing Federation ** 2008 MAJKF All Japan Tournament Bantamweight Winner & event MVP * K-1 ** 2010 K-1 Koshien Tournament Runner-up Professional *

ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship This is a list of ONE Championship champions in each weight division of each sport. Current champions Men's championship history Heavyweight World Championship ::''Weight limit: '' Light Heavyweight World Championship ::''Weight lim ...

(One time) **

(One time) *MA Japan Kickboxing Federation **2012 MAJKF Featherweight Champion *WBC Muay Thai **2012 WBC Muay Thai Japan Featherweight Champion Awards *eFight.jp **2x Fighter of the Month (October 2012, March 2022) *Beyond Kickboxing **2022 Beyond Kick "Fight of the Year"

Karate

*Japan Karate Judge Organization ** 2005 JKJO Karate-Do MAC Japan Cup Middle School -40kg runner-up ** 2006 JKJO Karate-Do MAC Japan Cup Middle School -50kg runner-up ** 2007 JKJO Karate-Do MAC Japan Cup Middle School -40kg runner-up ** 2007 JKJO All Japan Junior Championship Middle School -55kg runner-up *Japanese Fullcontact Karate Organization **2015 JFKO All Japan Full Contact Championship Lightweight Runner-up **2016 JFKO All Japan Full Contact Championship Lightweight 3rd Place **2017 JFKO All Japan Full Contact Championship Lightweight Champion *Kyokushin World Federation **2016 KWF Russian Open Lightweight 1st Place **2017 KWF Karate Grand Prix Lightweight Champion **2017 KWF Karate European Championship 70 kg 3rd Place **2018 KWF Karate Grand Prix Lightweight Runner-up Professional Kyokushin *World Fighting Kyokushin Organization **2018 WFKO World Pro Kyokushin -65kg Champion

Fight record

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, , Decision (Split) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2019-07-12, , Win , , align=left, Kenny Tse , , ONE Championship: Masters Of Destiny , , Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#fbb;" , 2019-03-31, , Loss , , align=left,

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, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 5 , , 3:00 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2012-07-15, , Win , , align=left, Daiki Fujisawa, , MAJKF KICK GUTS 2012 , ,

, , TKO (Doctor Stoppage/Left Elbow) , , 1 , , 1:28 , - ! style=background:white colspan=9 , , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2012-05-06, , Win , , align=left, Kenryu, , MAJKF BREAK-25 ～CANNONBALL～ , ,

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, , KO (Left High Kick) , , 1 , , 2:40 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2011-08-21, , Win , , align=left, Atsushi Masukura, , BigBang 6 , ,

, , KO (High Knee), , 3 , , 0:18 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2011-07-24, , Win , , align=left, Pinsiam Sor.Amnuaysirichoke , , MAJKF J-1 time ～signal of start～, , Aichi Prefecture, Japan , , KO (Left hook to the body), , 2 , , 0:54 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2011-05-15, , Win , , align=left, Shota, , BigBang 5 , ,

, , KO (Left Knee), , 1 , , 1:46 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2011-02-05, , Win , , align=left, TURBO, , BigBang 4 , ,

, , KO (Flying Knee), , 2 , , 1:05 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2010-09-23, , Win , , align=left, Seidou Yamaguchi, , BigBang 3 , ,

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2010-05-04, , Win , , align=left, Kyoji Bancho, , MAJKF Explosion-1 , , Japan , , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2010-04-04, , Win , , align=left, Toshiya Sudou, , MAJKF Boukohyouga Sono Ichi , , Chiba, Japan , , TKO (Corner Stoppage) , , 2 , , 1:17 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2010-03-14, , Win , , align=left, Tadashi Matsumoto, , NAGOYA KICK ～CENTRAL RHYTHM～ , , Chiba, Japan , , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2010-01-31, , Win , , align=left, Shoya Suzuki, , NAGOYA KICK ～KICK Hopping！～ , ,

Nagoya, Japan is the largest city in the Chūbu region, the fourth-most populous city and third most populous urban area in Japan, with a population of 2.3million in 2020. Located on the Pacific coast in central Honshu, it is the capital and the most pop ...

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2009-03-08, , Win , , align=left, Masayuki Ishibashi, , NAGOYA KICK 〜Boogie Fight 07 Black Sunday〜 , ,

, , Decision (Majority) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2008-12-23, , Win , , align=left, Norifumi Yamamura, , NAGOYA KICK ～2008 FINAL Nagoya vs Muay Thai Drum Roll Please!!～ , ,

, , Decision (Unanimous) , , 3 , , 3:00 , - style="background:#CCFFCC;" , 2008-10-19, , Win , , align=left, Shin Takashiro, , MAJKF BREAK THROUGH-7 ～CHAMPION CARNIVAL～ , ,

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Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

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, , Decision , , 2 , , 3:00 , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

ONE Championship profileShichishu-kai profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akimoto, Hiroki 1992 births Living people Japanese male kickboxers Japanese male karateka Kyokushin kaikan practitioners Featherweight kickboxers Lightweight kickboxers People from Toyota, Aichi Sportspeople from Aichi Prefecture ONE Championship kickboxers Kickboxing champions ONE Championship champions