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Rodtang primed to continue dominant run against lasiri at ONE Fight Night 4
Rodtang Jitmuangnon is one of the most fearless fighters on the ONE Championship roster.
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Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
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a href="https://www.onefc.com/athletes/rodtang/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rodtang Jitmuangnon is one of the most fearless fighters on the ONE Championship roster. He consistently pushes himself to take up any challenge inside the Circle and has produced electric performances time and again opposite a slew of impressive opponents.
The ONE flyweight muay Thai world champion steps back into action on Saturday to defend his divisional crown against strawweight muay Thai king Joseph Lasiri in the co-main event of ONE Fight Night 4 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Rodtang understands his upcoming foe’s motivation for wanting to take him on, and it goes deeper than a simple lust for a second crown. Nonetheless, “The Iron Man” is confident he’ll be able to handle Lasiri in every aspect of their matchup.
“He had already lost to many people in the flyweight division before. So, I think it is his determination to challenge himself to win in this division. Like, if you lose to one opponent every time, then you definitely want to beat that guy someday,” Rodtang said.
“However, I’m not afraid of his game plan because I also believe in my adaptive skills in the Circle. I can handle him in any way. I expect to knock him out in round three. I want to knock him out with a high kick. But it would be tricky because he is too tall to reach. So, I think I'd knock him out with my killer punch and elbow instead.”
“The Iron Man” enters his fourth World Title defense with a wealth of experience behind him. He holds a professional record of 268-42-10, including winning the illustrious Omnoi Stadium Championship twice, and he has a perfect 11-0 slate in ONE’s striking divisions.
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Lasiri is on a hot streak inside the Circle, too, having gained the ONE strawweight muay Thai world title with an emphatic defeat of Prajanchai PK Saenchai in May.
Rodtang sees the move to flyweight as a logical step for the Italian-Moroccan star, as it has infinite positives and very few negatives, and he likens it to his mixed rules super-fight against MMA GOAT Demetrious Johnson earlier this year.
“If I were him, I would do the same. There is nothing for him to lose even if he loses that fight. On the contrary, if he wins, he will get a massive reward,” Rodtang said.
“It is just like when I accepted to fight with Demetrious Johnson. Although I lost that match, I didn't feel the loss at all. Because I was willing to take a challenge and risk. But if I had won, I would feel like I have made a great step further.”
Catch the lead card of ONE Fight Night 4: Abbasov vs. Lee live on NETVERSE, Vidio.com, Kaskus TV and MAXstream at 8 a.m. Western Indonesia Time (WIB) on Saturday, Nov. 19. The main card will follow on NETVERSE, Vidio.com, Kaskus TV and MAXstream at 10 a.m. WIB. Also, NET TV will air a same-day delay at 10:30 p.m. WIB.
This article was published in collaboration with ONE Championship.
