Japanese shoot boxing star Rena Kubota makes her return to kickboxing competition on Wednesday night at “No Kick, No Life 2015” in Tokyo. The four-time Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup winner is set to face off against Swedish Muay Thai champion Elli Maria Ekström in featured action on the card.

Event officials announced the three-round fight this past weekend. Kubota has spent the majority of her career competing under shoot boxing rules and is Asia’s top female shoot boxer. She faces a tough test against Ekström, who brings a significant edge in kickboxing experience into the fight.

Kubota (29-5-1 SB/KB) has been one of the most popular female fighters in Japan since early in her shoot boxing career. In 2009, she became the first-ever Shoot Boxing Girls S-Cup Champion, and she has since repeated that feat in 2010, 2012 and 2014. This past year, the 23-year-old defeated three international opponents in one night to win her fourth Girls S-Cup title. Her most notable kickboxing victory came in November 2011 when she defeated Erika Kamimura to win the Rise Queen title.

Ekström (30-2-1 KB), unlike many of Kubota’s other opponents who have had to adapt to shoot boxing rules, enters Wednesday’s kickboxing match with a decided edge in K-1 and Muay Thai experience. The EMF Women’s Flyweight Champion has tasted defeat just twice in her career and has honed her skills among the best fighters in Thailand. While small in stature, Ekström possesses a powerful right hand and a solid arsenal of kicks, and she plans to upset the highly-popular Kubota this week.

No Kick, No Life 2015 takes place on Wednesday, February 11th, at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. The bout between Kubota and Ekström will be contested over three 3:00 rounds with no elbow strikes permitted.

(Photo Credit: Shoot Boxing)