Chinese kickboxing phenom Rui Wei wasn’t
very impressed with his own performance at his recent ONE
Championship debut.
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Wei made his promotional debut in a bantamweight (145-pound) tilt
against Hiroki
Akimoto at
One on Prime Video 22 on May 3. Wei earned a controversial
unanimous decision win over Akimoto, which should have gone the
other way, according to ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong.
Wei admits his ONE Championship debut wasn’t his best night at the
office, and he wasn’t sure of the win before his name was
announced. Wei has vowed to put on a better showing next time.
“I think I just passed this test,” Wei said at the post-fight press
conference. “I [will] try my best to adjust to the ring in ONE
Championship. And I feel like next time, I will perform better…
Before they announced the result, I wasn’t 100 percent confident
that I would win. But I still believed everything went well for me
to get the victory… This is my debut in ONE Championship, and I
think it wasn’t really [my best showing]. But I’m super motivated
now. I will continue to focus on training and I will try harder the
next time. I will be back.”
While Wei has racked up an impressive kickboxing record on the
regional scene, the Chinese star acknowledged the step up in
competition he had to face in Akimoto.
“I think Hiroki is a very tough, strong, opponent,” he said. “As
you all know, his kicks and his attacks are always crazy and
powerful, and compared to my other opponents before, I feel [it’s a
harder matchup] with this kind of opponent. He did a lot of crazy
things. But he didn’t really dominate the fight as you could see
him struggling, he can’t fight at my pace and I’m always
unpredictable. That is also my greatest technique.”
Despite admittedly being unimpressed by his own performance, Wei
believes a win over the former ONE Championship bantamweight
kickboxing champ warrants a title shot next.
“Yes, definitely,” he said. “I think I am qualified to be the next
belt challenger. Because, as you know, Hiroki used to be the
champion, and I beat him. That means I can definitely [challenge
for] the belt… Challenging the champion, of course, is not an easy
thing to do. I have to prepare a lot, and I think, in the next
stage, I will focus on my training. I will follow a long-term,
systematic training plan.”