Before the highly touted battle, Smith’s teammate and training partner Liam "Hitman" Harrison expects a hard exchange of strikes in a barnburner of a match. The fellow Bad Company Gym representative said he was impressed by the improvement and progress of his teammate since his move to the gym and that he believed Rodtang could be in for a surprise in their match.

"Jacob has improved tenfold since joining us a couple of years ago," Harrison said. "I've never seen anyone improve so fast, that's down to the fact that he's obsessed with getting better and learning. Before, he was already tough, strong and durable. We've added a better skill set to that."

Smith was already a well-known name in the United Kingdom circuit prior to joining the Bad Company Gym as he had cultivated a reputation as a fearless warrior who relied on aggression and heart to win the fight.

However, Harrison remarked that his teammate had added so much more to his game, allowing the 29-year-old athlete to attain the top spot in the nation's flyweight Muay Thai division.

"Not only is he durable and tough, he now has a good set of skills to go with it, everything is just a lot better about him," Haggerty said. "He's always pushing forward [when we spar] and trying to turn it into a war, and now that we've taught him new skills, movements and all that stuff, he's really, really dangerous.

Read also: Grappling prodigies Tye and Kade Ruotolo aim to submit opponents at ONE 157

Jason Smith will need to give it his all to face the dominant ONE Muay Thai Flyweight World Champion, Rodtang Jitmuangnon, and "Hitman" expects to witness just that from his teammate. The Muay Thai star believes Smith has what it takes physically and mentally to take on the division king.

"[Smith] has a very good low kick, which he modeled after mine. His self-belief in going in to beat Rodtang is very strong, which I think makes him a very difficult athlete to beat," Harrison explained. "Those are his main weapons: the low kick, pressure, toughness and, added to that, his improved movement and defensiveness. He's very heavy handed, so I think it's going to be a good fight and I'm looking forward to it."

Watch ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot live on NETVERSE, Vidio, Kaskus TV or MAXstream beginning with the lead card at 4:00 p.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Friday, May 20.

The main card is broadcast live on NETVERSE, Vidio.com, Kaskus TV and MAXstream at 7:30 p.m. WIB. Also, NET TV will air a same-day delayed broadcast at 10:30 p.m. WIB.

This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship

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