Hinata (kickboxer)

Hinata Watanabe (born August 26, 1986 in Hiratsuka), or HINATA, is a Japanese welterweight kickboxer fighting out of Hiratsuka, Japan for the Shonan Kakuto Club. He is the 2008 R.I.S.E. champion currently competing in R.I.S.E. and K-1 MAX.

Hinata made his pro debut with R.I.S.E. at the G-Bazooka Tournament event in 2005 losing in a non-tournament match. Over the next couple of years he had a fairly unspectacular fight record on the local circuit winning nine and losing six between 2005 and 2007. He had his first taste of success in 2008 winning a playoff at R.I.S.E. 46 to earn himself a shot at the organizations middleweight title, against a fighter who had defeated Hinata the previous year, at R.I.S.E. 48. This time Hinata would have his revenge, beating Ryuji to win the R.I.S.E. middleweight title -70 kg. As champion he had an additional bonus - qualifying for the following year's K-1 MAX Japan tournament – as R.I.S.E. was a feeder for the larger K-1 organization.

In 2009 Hinata entered the annual K-1 World MAX Japan tournament with the victor having a chance at qualification for the K-1 World MAX final later that year. Hinata caused an upset by defeating the reigning K-1 MAX Japan champion Yasuhiro Kido by decision in the quarter finals. This victory did, however, come at a cost, with the young fighter being unable to continue in the tournament due to a broken nose suffered in the win. His performances at the K-1 MAX Japan lead to him being called up for a super fight at the K-1 World MAX 2009 Final 8 where he lost to The Contender Asia Series 1 fighter Dzhabar Askerov. He made a further appearance for K-1 before the end of the year at the K-1 World MAX 2009 Final in another super fight, this time shocking MAX regular and multiple world champion Mike Zambidis by taking a unanimous victory.

By now a well known face on the local circuit Hinata re-entered the K-1 World MAX Japan 2010 where he caused another upset by defeating 2009 K-1 World MAX semi finalist Yuya Yamamoto in the quarter finals, only to suffer a KO defeat to fellow up and coming fighter Hiroki Nakajima in less than a minute of their semi final bout. This defeat meant that Hinata would miss out on qualification for the MAX final and showed that he still had some work to do. In his very next fight Hinata burst on to the global scene where he upset top five middleweight fighter and heavy favourite Artur Kyshenko with a spectacular crescent kick TKO. The victory meant that Hinata moved up to 12 in the international middleweight division rankings on HeadkickLegend in their October 2010 rankings.

He lost to Warren Stevelmans via unanimous decision (30-28, 28-27 and 29-28) at Shootboxing 2012 - Act 4 on September 17, 2012 in Tokyo, Japan, failing to qualify for the 2012 S-Cup.

Hinata knocked out Norihisa Amimoto in round two at REBELS.13 on October 28, 2012.

He rematched Andy Ristie in a reserve bout at the Shoot Boxing World Tournament 2012 in Tokyo, Japan on November 17, 2012 and lost by TKO in the first round once again.

He beat Masatoshi Hyakutake by unanimous decision at Shoot Boxing 2013 - Act 1 in Tokyo on February 22, 2013.

He defeated Takuma Konishi via unanimous decision for the vacant REBELS -70 kg/154 lb title at REBELS 15 in Tokyo on April 14, 2013.

He knocked out Kanai Kenji with a second round high kick at Shootboxing 2013 - Act 3 in Tokyo on June 23, 2013.

He stopped Johann Fauveau with low kicks in round three at Glory 10: Los Angeles - Middleweight World Championship Tournament in Ontario, California, United States on September 28, 2013.

He defeated Josh Jauncey by unanimous decision at Shoot Boxing Battle Summit Ground Zero Tokyo 2013 in Tokyo, Japan on November 15, 2013.

• 2013 REBELS -70 kg/154 lb Championship (1 title defence)
• 2010 K-1 MAX Japan 3rd place -70 kg
• 2008 R.I.S.E. champion -70 kg