Wei Rui (69-3), widely regarded as China's best kickboxer and one of the best fighters in the world, has signed with ONE Championship. The date of his debut with the promotion hasn't yet been made public, but he has previously stated he'd like to return sometime in April or May of this year.
This may come as a surprise to some, as the Henan native has hinted at him signing with K-1 for the last few months.
Despite a recent downturn in opposition quality, Rui has spent the majority of his career as a pound-for-pound great in the sport. Over the past decade, he's captured the K-1, Wu Lin Feng, and Glory of Heroes titles and has triumphed over the likes of Petchpanomrung, Kongnapa, Kenta Hayashi and Ren Hiramoto, to name just a few.
A big acquisition for ONE's stagnating Bantamweight division. Nonetheless, there are certainly a number of good, entertaining fights for the Chinese fighter to be made, such as Petchtanong or Hiroki Akimoto. What Rui wants most at the moment, however, is a meeting with the reigning two-sport champion Jonathan Haggerty. At 34 years old, the time to make that fight is definitely sooner rather than later.
