Teenage Sensation Reiji Meets Hardened Portuguese Veteran Rui Botelho In Tokyo
Reiji is 18 years old, unbeaten in ONE Championship, and already the owner of domestic titles in Japan. His next opponent has spent years in the ring with world champions.
The Nanseikaikan prospect faces European Kickboxing Champion Rui Botelho in strawweight kickboxing at ONE SAMURAI 5 on Wednesday, November 18, at Tokyo’s EBARA WAVE Arena Ota. The event is headlined by Joshua “The Passion” Pacio defending his ONE Strawweight MMA World Title against Keito “Pocket Monk” Yamakita.
Reiji holds a 10-3 professional record and has started his ONE run perfectly. He beat Sheng Yi Hang by unanimous decision in his debut at The Inner Circle 11 in April, then outpointed fellow Japanese prospect Shoma Okumura at ONE SAMURAI 2 four months later.
Slick footwork and razor-sharp counters carried him through both outings. Botelho, however, represents a completely different level of experience.
The Portuguese veteran has shared the ring with ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Di Bella and “The Angel Warrior” Panpayak Jitmuangnon. He also owns two split-decision wins over former World Title challenger “Fighting Rooster” Zhang Peimian, the most recent in September 2025.
That history of spoiling the division’s brightest young talents makes him a dangerous assignment for a teenager on the rise. A win would mark Reiji as one of the most promising names in Japanese kickboxing.
The matchup pits youthful momentum directly against hard-earned experience, and Tokyo will be watching closely.
Another home-grown bantamweight kickboxing bout joins the card as well. GUMP “Mr. No Damage,” a 23-year-old Team Teppen product with a 19-5 striking record, faces 29-year-old Shuto Inui, who makes his ONE debut.
GUMP arrived in ONE in 2025 and won twice on ONE Friday Fights, and he now competes in front of a home crowd that will only sharpen his determination to keep his winning streak alive. Inui, by contrast, gets the chance to turn his first appearance on the global stage into a career-changing upset.
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