REBELS (レベルス) is a defunct martial arts entertainment planning and promotion brand, which was established in 2010 and merged into

KNOCK OUT A knockout (abbreviated to KO or K.O.) is a fight-ending, winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, mixed martial arts, karate, some forms of taekwondo and other sports involving striking, a ...

in 2021.

History

REBELS was established by the former two-weight Marital Arts Japan kickboxing champion Genki Yamaguchi on December 1, 2009, with the aim of popularizing the sport of

muay thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. 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 is a Japanese kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. Martial arts career He defeated Noboru Yamamoto by TKO during WBC Muay Thai The Path to the World Champion to capture the WBC Muaythai World Bantamweight champion. Fujihara first fought Nattap ...

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 is a retired Japanese kickboxer. A professional competitor between 2005 and 2014, Itabashi is the former RISE (kickboxing), RISE and Krush (kickboxing), Krush super featherweight champion. Kickboxing career RISE Early career Itabashi made his pr ...

and

Genki Yamamoto is a Japanese professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team . Career Yamamoto won the third stage of the Tour de Hokkaido twice while still a student at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya, first in ...

. 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

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