Koji Takeda wants to know whether Kleber Koike Erbst has an opening on his calendar, and he asked in front of everybody.
“クレベル選手空いてるのかな？” he wrote on X on Nov. 8, tagging RIZIN’s official PR account. Loosely translated, Takeda was wondering out loud whether Kleber is available. There was no trash talk and no cryptic emoji, just a fighter pinging the promotion and letting the whole timeline read it. More of this, please.
The guy he’s asking about carries a long résumé. Kleber, 35-10-1, is a Brazilian-born Japanese fighter out of Bonsai Jiu-Jitsu and a former two-time RIZIN featherweight champion. Before RIZIN he held the KSW featherweight belt, winning it from Marcin Wrzosek by unanimous decision at KSW 39 in May 2017 at Stadion Narodowy. He currently sits at No. 40 in the Knockout Daily featherweight rankings.
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Anyone who wants this fight should know what’s coming. Kleber is a submission specialist whose favorite weapon is the triangle choke. He finished Anzor Azhiev with one in the first round at KSW 30 and did the same to Leszek Krakowski at KSW 36, picking up Submission of the Night both times. If you sign for Kleber, you spend the whole night thinking about where your arms and legs are.
The timing makes sense. Kleber’s last fight was Aug. 11, 2026, so by the time Takeda posted he’d been out about three months. That’s right around when a fighter starts wanting a date, which makes the question look a lot less random.
The obvious snag is weight. Takeda competes at lightweight for RIZIN and Kleber is a featherweight, so somebody would have to agree on a number. Kleber has been there before, for better and worse. He missed weight ahead of a KSW 41 title defense against Artur Sowiński in December 2017 and was stripped, then choked Sowiński out in the third round anyway. Six months later, when Wrzosek’s torn pectoral scrapped their rematch at KSW 44, Kleber took a catchweight fight with Marian Ziółkowski on the replacement slot and armbarred him in the first round.
So the man doesn’t flinch at an odd weight or a changed opponent. Takeda put the question to RIZIN in public. Now it’s on the matchmakers to answer it, and they should say yes.
