‘I Didn’t Let My Spirit Break’ – Hiroki Akimoto Details His Grueling Road Back To A World Title Shot At ONE SAMURAI 4
· Yahoo Sports
Four years after Hiroki Akimoto first wrapped ONE Championship gold around his waist, the Japanese veteran is finally back within reach of the mountaintop.
On Saturday, October 17, he challenges British striking superstar Jonathan “The General” Haggerty for the ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Title in the blockbuster main event of ONE SAMURAI 4 at Tokyo’s iconic Ariake Arena.
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The road back has been anything but straightforward. Akimoto lost the belt to Thai legend Petchtanong Petchfergus in his first defense in 2022, then suffered two further defeats, rapidly spiraling into a devastating three-fight skid.
What followed was not a sudden overnight turnaround, but a patient, agonizing rebuild heavily shaped by the exact same ironclad discipline that carried him to the top in the first place. Three consecutive hard-fought victories have since brought the 33-year-old back to the championship stage, this time in his home country and with an even deeper emotional connection to the 26 pounds of gold he once held.
For Akimoto, becoming Japan’s very first ONE Kickboxing World Champion at ONE X remains a defining, historic moment in a career that began inside the promotion in 2019. The World Championship became the ultimate reference point for everything that followed, including the difficult, turbulent years after it left his possession.
He recalled:
“For me, that belt is – I trained incredibly hard for it, over and over again thinking, ‘This is tough,’ but still pushing through. It’s the belt I earned that way.
“I lost it once, and then after that I lost two more in a row – three losses in total. But I didn’t let my spirit break, kept my mindset intact, and just kept training the whole time. Finally, I’ve made it back here.”
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The most precarious point came during the absolute depths of that losing run.
After dropping a close unanimous decision to Wei Rui, Akimoto suffered another crushing defeat at ONE Friday Fights 81 to Ilias Ennahachi. It left him entirely without a victory since losing his belt in 2022.
He said:
“Honestly, after that second loss – before the third – I remember thinking, if I lose the next one, it might be over.
“And then I lost again. It was really tough, but my family, my teammates, and the fans supported me, and somehow I was able to break out of that losing streak.”
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The vital support system around Akimoto helped him mentally navigate the most difficult stretch of his ONE career. But eventually, the ultimate responsibility for what came next rested strictly on his shoulders.
There was no dramatic reinvention or desperate attempt to become a completely different fighter. Instead, Akimoto simply continued holding himself to the exact same elite standards that had guided him since his earliest days in the promotion. That meticulous approach remained remarkably consistent even when the results around him were anything but.
He explained:
“I hear that some fighters lose focus in training during periods without a fight coming up. But that’s never been the case for me. Whether there’s a fight scheduled or not, I always just do what needs to be done that day. That’s my style.
“So this motivation, I guess, hasn’t really changed – I think it’s been the same since the very first time I came to ONE Championship.”
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Akimoto Rebuilt Himself One Test At A Time
Hiroki Akimoto finally had the opportunity to turn that grueling behind-the-scenes work into tangible results against former ONE Bantamweight MMA World Champion John “Hands of Stone” Lineker in a high-stakes kickboxing battle at ONE 172 in March 2025.
Lineker’s fearsome punching power presented an unforgiving, dangerous assignment for a man desperately trying to halt a three-fight skid. The Brazilian’s compact boxing and relentless forward pressure offered zero margin for error at close range.
He explained:
“There might have been easier ways to win – like kicking to rack up points or landing more low kicks.
“But I felt I had to properly tackle my own weaknesses, or I wouldn’t be able to become champion again. In that sense, it was a really important fight in my career.”
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The crucial split-decision victory stopped the slide, but the immediate next challenge demanded a completely different kind of performance.
At ONE 173, Akimoto met Wei again after their closely contested first encounter. Rather than Lineker’s heavy-handed brawling exchanges, the Chinese veteran brought a highly measured style that required the Japanese star to solve a complex tactical problem.
This time, Akimoto emphatically earned the unanimous decision and successfully avenged his previous loss.
He said:
“Wei Rui is really skilled at scoring points. He’s very good at winning on points, so my focus was on not letting him do that. I was able to properly show what I’d been working on.
“Technically speaking, those two fights were completely different. In the Lineker fight, it was more about exchanging punches and fighting at close range. And in the Wei Rui fight, the key was the battle for points. Those two fights were really a big plus for me.”
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Akimoto then returned to Tokyo at ONE SAMURAI 1, where 20-year-old rising star Taimu Hisai represented another entirely different test.
A hard-fought split-decision victory made it three straight wins and officially completed the total transformation of Akimoto’s position in the division. The man who had recently wondered how much longer his competitive career might continue was once again firmly entrenched among the bantamweight kickboxing elite.
Now, the ultimate prize at the very end of that long rebuild is the exact same championship that once marked the greatest achievement of his career. Jonathan Haggerty will be the man standing across from him this time, but Akimoto’s deep connection to the opportunity goes back much further than his upcoming opponent.
He concluded:
“If I had to describe that special feeling, it’s simply that this is my belt. I truly believe that. So no matter what, I’m going to take my belt back.”
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