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ONE bantamweight kickboxing world champion Hiroki Akimoto is considered one of the very best kickboxers in the world today. Akimoto's combination of hard-hitting Kyokushin karate and swift Muay Thai techniques make him an overwhelming opponent to handle. Just watching his five-round dismantling of Capitan Petchyindee to capture the belt tells fans that the Japanese striker is a cut above the rest.
One of Hiroki Akimoto's most effective and awe-inspiring attacks is his lethal question mark kick. The kick is one of the most elusive and devastating attacks in both kickboxing and Muay Thai. It combines speed and misdirection to blindside an opponent and potentially knock them out.
In a video posted by ONE Championship on Instagram, we saw the ONE bantamweight kickboxing king showing ONE commentator Mitch Chilson how to do his own version of the question mark kick:
"We've got questions; they've got answers 😎 Hiroki Akimoto defends the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Championship for the first time against Petchtanong Petchfergus on November 19 at ONE 163."
It takes a high level of balance, dexterity and speed to pull off such a kick. Raising your knee high towards the middle and then changing directions midway to land a roundhouse kick is almost impossibly difficult. It misdirects your opponent's attention towards an oncoming knee, only to hit them with a kick on the side of their head.
Hiroki Akimoto makes first defence of ONE bantamweight world title at ONE 163
Hiroki Akimoto will defend his newly-won strap against No.4-ranked ONE bantamweight contender Petchtanong Petchfergus in the main event of ONE 163.
The Japanese world champion will enter the world title bout on a five-fight win streak, which was capped off by his thrilling domination of Capitan Petchyindee at ONE X last March.
Meanwhile, though former WBC Muay Thai world champion Petchtanong has only fought twice in ONE Championship, that's on top of a mind-blowing 357 career victories in kickboxing and Muay Thai. It's no mystery why the Thai legend got a world title shot at ONE 163.
Petchtanong also keeps lofty company in the gym. One of his teammates is ONE featherweight kickboxer Superbon Singha Mawynn and legendary Muay Thai world champion Buakaw Banchamek. Regardless of belts and promotions, Petchtanong might be Akimoto’s toughest test of his career so far.
