Chinese veteran Wei Rui set for ONE Championship debut against Hiroko Akimoto on back of 20-bout winning streak
- The 34-year-old will appear in a bantamweight kickboxing contest at ONE Fight Night 22
- Wei’s last defeat came in 2018, in a career that has seen him fight in Europe, America, Australia for just three defeats
Wei Rui makes his ONE Championship debut in Bangkok this weekend, but the Chinese fighter is no rookie.
The 34-year-old, who made his professional debut more than a decade ago, goes into his bantamweight kickboxing contest against Hiroko Akimoto at ONE Fight Night 22 on the back of a 20-fight winning streak.
Wei’s last defeat came in 2018, when he was knocked out by Koya Urabe in a K-1 super lightweight title fight. In the intervening years, he has enjoyed sustained success at home and abroad, and in the year before his defeat held the K-1 title in Japan.
A career that has seen him fight opponents in Europe, America, Australia and elsewhere includes just three defeats, and comes with a mindset that does not fear failure.
“There will always be winners and losers, and I will be very open to the results,” Wei said. “Because, if I chase a result, the pressure will actually be very high. So in every match, I keep a normal mind, and failure is acceptable to me.”
While Wei has fought and beaten high-profile Japanese fighters in the past, Akimoto is a former ONE bantamweight kickboxing champion, and with a greater punch will be no pushover.
