The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon has faced both Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9 in Muay Thai. The Thai-born striker…
The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon has faced both Jonathan Haggerty and Superlek Kiatmoo9 in Muay Thai. The Thai-born striker offers his prediction on the ONE 168 Muay Thai title match upcoming on September 6.
Rodtang on Haggerty vs. Superlek
The General’ Jonathan Haggerty is an English-born striker who has grown up fighting in ONE Championship. Last year, in the first round, he knocked out the legendary Nong-O Hama to capture gold in Muay Thai. Next, he knocked out Fabricio Andrade to earn the kickboxing world title. Most recently, he defended his Muay Thai crown via TKO against Felipe Lobo. Despite early struggles in ONE, it’s been smooth sailing since going up in weight.
‘The Kicking Machine’ Superlek Kiatmoo9, of Thailand, is carving out a legendary legacy in Muay Thai. Throughout his career, the top pound-for-pound athlete has earned titles in True4U, WBC, Lumpinee Stadium, and ONE Championship.
Between Muay Thai and kickboxing, Superlek is on an impressive 12-fight win streak with notable wins over Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, K-1 Champion Takeru Segawa, kickboxing champion Daniel Puertas Gallardo, and the ultra-talented Panpayak Jitmuangnon, among others.
Now, Superlek is going up in weight to challenge the two-sport king Haggerty for his Muay Thai crown. Rodtang offered his prediction for the title fight going down at ONE 168. He said:
“Haggerty’s strength is he has been fighting in this division for a long time. He can punch very hard and violently. Superlek’s strengths are his powerful kicks and exceptional defensive abilities. I’ve never seen anyone that can knock Superlek out before.
“I’m confident that we’re going to see an exciting fight, full of thrills every second. I’m looking forward to watching this fight. Both are number one in Muay Thai and kickboxing. No matter who they fight, that fight is a must-see.
The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon has his next booking to defend his Muay Thai world title, and fans are…
The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon has his next booking to defend his Muay Thai world title, and fans are not impressed. Later this year at ONE 169 hosted in Atlanta, USA, ONE Championship paired the Muay Thai champion against Jacob Smith.
Fans laugh at Rodtang vs. Jacob Smith
The Thai-born Rodtang has been a superstar for ONE Championship. The Muay Thai champion is popular on social media and has over 270 victories. Many of his recent fights have been brought into question as they are largely unworthy of facing a champion in Muay Thai. The Jacob Smith fight is one more to add to this list and fans are unhappy.
Some of the recent opponents of ‘The Iron Man’ include the debuting Edgar Tabares, winless in ONE Jiduo Yibu, lower weight class fighters such as Joseph Lasiri and Danial Williams, plus a loss to Superlek Kiatmoo9. Now, he has been paired against the UK-born Smith, an opponent ‘The Iron Man’ already defeated in a dominant fight years ago. In his most recent fight, Smith is coming off of a loss and has only had a single victory in ONE since signing with the organization three years ago. Fans let ONE know their discontent with this matchup.
“Honestly not sure how anyone can like Rodtang Hitting new lows even I didn’t think were imaginable As much as I like Jacob, he was embarrassed by Rodtang last time out, he’s coming off a loss, & that loss was to the guy Rodtang just beat Piss poor matchmaking once again Shameful.”
“I like Jacob but this match literally makes zero sense. Jacob gets merked by Rodtang, then loses to Denis Puric who fights Rodtang and loses in Kickboxing. Now, Jacob for whatever reason gets a title shot?!?”
“A truly pathetic slice of matchmaking, a fight that absolutely no one needs to see. Rodtang is a fighter not even worth paying attention to while he’s in fights like this (that we’ve already seen, and do not need to see again at all) while there are so many better options.”
“Just why? Rodtang easily beat Smith last time and Smith hasn’t done anything to earn this. All the title fights in ATL are beyond lopsided. Man @ONEChampionship thinks we’re really stupid out here in the west.”
ONE Championship’s Rodtang Jitmuangnon has been ordained as a Buddhist monk. The 25-year-old has entered monastic life ahead of his marriage next month. In a video posted to Facebook, Rodtang shaved his head and was doused with cold water as part of a traditional ceremony. He later joined a monastery for two weeks. “Another step […]
ONE Championship’s Rodtang Jitmuangnon has been ordained as a Buddhist monk.
The 25-year-old has entered monastic life ahead of his marriage next month. In a video posted to Facebook, Rodtang shaved his head and was doused with cold water as part of a traditional ceremony. He later joined a monastery for two weeks.
“Another step in my life. Thank you everyone,” Rodtang wrote on Facebook.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon Wants Add Another Belt to His Resume
The Muay Thai Champion is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jiduo Yibu on January 14 on ONE Fight Night 6.
Rodtang recently spoke with the South China Morning Post about his desire to win a kickboxing title. He named new ONE flyweight kickboxing champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 as a potential opponent.
“Absolutely my goal is to claim the kickboxing belt, so once I achieve that, I will move to MMA.” Rodtang said. “Any time for the title fight is OK, it depends on Chatri [Sityodtong, ONE chairman and CEO].” (h/t South China Morning Post)
Sityodtong has expressed interest in the proposed fight for a kickboxing or muay thai setting but is focused on the upcoming openweight $1 million muay thai grand prix. No additional details have been revealed about the date, seedings, and location. In the meantime, Rodtang is preparing for his wedding as a buddhist monk.
Ahead of his return at ONE on Prime Video 4 tomorrow in Kallang, Singapore, footage has remerged, detailing a stunning knockout loss suffered by decorated Muay Thai striker, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, at the age of 16, against opponent, Sangtiennoi Sor Sornsing back in 2013 just below the strawweight limit at 112lbs. Rodtang, who has most recently […]
Ahead of his return at ONE on Prime Video 4 tomorrow in Kallang, Singapore, footage has remerged, detailing a stunning knockout loss suffered by decorated Muay Thai striker, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, at the age of 16, against opponent, Sangtiennoi Sor Sornsing back in 2013 just below the strawweight limit at 112lbs.
Rodtang, who has most recently competed under the Chatri Sityodtong-led ONE Championship banner back in May of this year in the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix quarter final bracket, defeated Jacob Smith, which followed prior wins over both Danial Williams, and Tagir Khalilov.
Set to return to competition tomorrow, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who boasts a mesmerizing 268-42-10 professional record in Muay Thai, is set to face off against Moroccan-born Italian flyweight striker, Joseph Lasiri in a co-main event slot.
The event, which is set to feature at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in southeast Asia, also fields a vacant ONE welterweight title fight between former champion, Kiamrian Abbasov – who lost his title to the scales this morning, as well as Christian Lee. Cosmo Alexandre also makes his combat sports return at the event, while Jonathan Haggerty features on the lead card. Former ONE Championship bantamweight best, Bibiano Fernandes also returns on the promotion’s main card.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon suffers heavy KO loss at the age of 16
Ahead of his co-main event return tomorrow before Abbasov’s clash with Lee, footage has emerged online of Rodtang suffering a brutal, faceplant knockout loss against the above-mentioned, Sor Sornsing – who drops Rodtang with a left hook following a separation in their action-packed back-and-forth battle.
Headlining a ONE Championship X event back in March of this year in a special and long-awaited mixed rules fight, Rodtang Jitmuangnon suffered a second round rear-naked choke submission loss against former UFC flyweight titleholder and current ONE flyweight best, Demetrious Johnson. The mixed rules bout included 3-minute limit rounds, with each rounds alternating between Muay Thai and mixed martial arts rulesets.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon puts on yet another clinical display of violence as he booked his place in the semi-finals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix. The ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion dominated Jacob Smith over three rounds, leaving the Englishman bloodied and battered by the end of the bout. The first two minutes […]
Rodtang Jitmuangnon puts on yet another clinical display of violence as he booked his place in the semi-finals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix. The ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion dominated Jacob Smith over three rounds, leaving the Englishman bloodied and battered by the end of the bout.
The first two minutes of the fight were relatively competitive, but Rodtang soon began to employ a series of hellacious elbow strikes, cutting Smith open. The second and third rounds were more of the same, as he continued to use his elbows to lethal effect, mixing in a spearing rear straight and debilitating leg kicks.
Credit to Smith for making it to the final bell, but it was not a hard decision for the judges, as Rodtang’s hand was raised, and he progressed into the semi-finals. He was also granted a 50k bonus for his efforts.
Check out the highlights of Rodtang’s dominant victory over Jacob Smith below:
UFC veteran Dan Hooker has detailed why he believes that the special-rules fight between Demetrious Johnson and Rodtang Jitmuangnon was “silly.” March saw ONE Championship host its 10-year anniversary extravaganza, ONE X, live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium. The event, which spanned well over nine hours, featured 20 fights that were split across three cards,…
While a host of MMA, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and submission grappling bouts were on offer, there was one unique contest that drew most of the global attention. In a first-of-its-kind clash, Johnson and Rodtang collided in a mixed-rules four-round fight.
While the first and third rounds were set for Muay Thai rules, Rodtang’s wheelhouse, the second and fourth were to be fought in MMA, significantly benefiting all-time mixed martial arts great “Mighty Mouse.”
The bout certainly delivered, with the first frame seeing the Muay Thai champion chase Johnson down and throw heavy leather. But not only did the former UFC flyweight king survive, but he also landed good shots of his own. When the second round began, Johnson went to work, eventually taking Rodtang’s back and choking him out.
While the contest was undoubtedly entertaining, Hooker has questioned how it could have gone any differently given Rodtang’s grappling inexperience.
Recalling Johnson and Rodtang’s Circle meeting, “The Hangman” described it as a “silly fight” and one that was always going to fall in Johnson’s favor during the first MMA round.
The New Zealander pointed out that jiu-jitsu isn’t something a striker can learn in a short space of time, especially if they’re expected to battle a legend like “Mighty Mouse” on the mat.
“Silly fight. Silly fight. Just silly. What did you think was gonna happen? He (Rodtang) doesn’t know any jiu-jitsu? [LAUGHS]” Hooker said. “This is not The Matrix, you can’t just like, download jiu-jitsu and be good at jiu-jitsu. I can understand (if) he just didn’t even bother. How are you gonna get better than Demetrious Johnson at jiu-jitsu in a couple of months? Absolutely no chance.
“I like seeing things for fun. If we’re just doing it for fun, I want the promoter to come out and just tell me it’s just for fun. Let’s get a sumo wrestler to fight a luchador, for fun. I love a bit of fun,” continued Hooker. “But let’s not sit around and pretend this is serious, like Francis Ngannou fighting Tyson Fury is like, serious, because we actually wanna see what happens… In a car crash way you wanna see what happens, not, ‘I legit wanna see who’s better.’”
Hooker went on to explain that just because he or other combat sports enthusiasts will be willing to pay for bizarre and unique fights, it doesn’t mean that they’re ‘legitimate activities’.
“Let’s just make a cage drop down from the top and then throw a bear in there. I would like to see that. If you get Francis Ngannou, Tyson Fury, and then put a cage, and put a bear in there, I would pay good money for that… But that doesn’t mean it’s a legitimate activity,” suggested Hooker.
ONE Championship recently asked fans which of its fighters they’d like to see face off in a hybrid-rules bout next. With that in mind, it seems Hooker may be witnessing a few more “silly” contests in the coming months and years.
Do you agree with Dan Hooker’s take on special-rules fights?