- Name: Rena Kubota
- Height: 5″2 (160cm)
- Weight: 108-121 lbs (49-55kg)
- DOB: 6/29/1991 (29)
- Pro Debut: 7/1/2007 (MMA 12/31/2015)
- Record: 10-3 (MMA); 35-5-1 (Shootboxing and Kickboxing)
- Championship: Girls S-Cup (2009, 2010, 2012, 2014); Former Rise Queen Champion, Former Shootboxing Flyweight Champion
Background:
As the youngest of four tough sisters, Rena joined a Shootboxing gym when she was in 6th grade to defend herself. Rena then made her pro-debut when she turned 16. In her time as a Shootboxer, Rena fought a number of MMA fighters, including Miku, Saori Ishioka, VV Mei, Emi Fujino, Hisae Watanabe, Ham Seo Hee, and even Jessica Penne. However, in my opinion, the crowning moment of her striking career was when she defeated Erika Kamimura to win the inaugural Rise Queen title. The fight was heavily promoted and Rena was coming back a series of setbacks. She had suffered a series of injuries, lost a couple fights, and been dropped by Erika during an exhibition match.
Rena made her MMA debut in 2015, the year she moved to Tokyo from Osaka. She now trains at AACC with Ayaka Hamasaki. Despite her relative newness to MMA, Rena rose to the top of Rizin, with her fight with Miyuu Yamamoto gaining some of the highest ratings in Rizin’s history.
Notable Wins:
Miyuu Yamamoto, Andy Nguyen (MMA)
Interesting Facts:
- Is an avid dog-lover, she has 4 dogs
- Rena gave one of her puppies to Ayaka Hamasaki
- Has appeared on TV several times
- Rena has never been KO’d or TKO’d
Pre-Fight Comments:
“Hello everyone. I am Shootboxing and Rizin’s Rena. I received an offer from Mr. Sakakibara to participate in Rizin 24 on the 27th. Emi Tomimatsu was decided as my opponent, and ever since I started MMA, we thought that I would want to challenge such veterans as Tomimatsu, Kurobe, and Maezawa, but this time there is not a lot of time to prepare. To be honest, I wanted more time to prepare. However, Rizin, who gave me the opportunity to challenge MMA, opened the door to my second martial arts life and is just as important to me as Shootboxing. If Rizin is in a difficult position because of the Corona virus, all I can do is fight, so I decided to take the plunge this time. As long as I fight, I will do my best so that everyone who watched my match will find it exciting/interesting, so please look forward to it. Let’s do it Tomimatsu.”
Keys to Victory:
As a striker, Rena will need to keep her distance and strike with Emi. Emi will not be a large threat on the feet but she is a BJJ blackbelt so Rena should avoid the ground. This is a classic grappler vs striker match.
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