BUZZ Koike calls out Ren Hiramoto on X; no bout announced

Kleber Koike has put Ren Hiramoto on notice, and he did it in Japanese. Tagging Hiramoto directly on X, the former two-time RIZIN featherweight champion asked whether he was scared, whether he would hide again and run again. He added that he had heard Hiramoto does not want to fight him, and told him to back the talk up in the ring.

The ducking claim is Koike's alone. Nothing shows Hiramoto turning down a fight with him, and Hiramoto's side has not answered publicly. There is also no sign of RIZIN being in talks, so for now this is a callout and nothing more.

Mikuru Asakura gave it a wider audience. He quote-posted the message with four words that ignored the beef entirely, roughly "his Japanese is growing fast" (translated).

Koike brings a long résumé to the challenge. The São Paulo native moved to Japan at 14, is also a former KSW featherweight champion, and is 35-10-1 according to Knockout Daily. He fights out of Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu, and the triangle choke is his signature weapon. His last fight was August 11, 2026.

Hiramoto is 28 and competes at featherweight in RIZIN after a kickboxing career that began with a first-round left hook knockout at K-1 in January 2015. He was runner-up in both the 2016 Krush lightweight tournament and the 2017 K-1 lightweight tournament.

The styles make the matchup easy to picture: Hiramoto's hands against Koike's grappling and submissions, in the same division and the same promotion. What to watch next is whether Hiramoto replies, and whether RIZIN shows any interest in booking it.