Rodtang “Surprised” After Knocking Out Takeru in Just 80 Seconds at ONE 172

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The last time Rodtang Jitmuangnon knocked out an opponent was in May 2023. But his concussive power came full circle in the main event of ONE 172 at Saitama Super Arena this past weekend, where it took him only 80 seconds to demolish legendary Takeru Segawa.

The five-round flyweight kickboxing super-fight had been years in the making, and fans were expecting a close contest between these two generational greats. However, nobody expected the fight to end so fast - not even Rodtang himself.

During the post-event press conference, the former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion admitted that he didn't plan to finish Takeru so early, although he had worked hard for this fight and studied his opponent diligently.

"I didn't expect that knockout to happen in the first round. Back home in Thailand, I've been training very hard for this fight. I have studied all the weaknesses, and all the openings of Takeru, and that left hook is one of the moves that I trained," Rodtang said.

"I wanted to take the first two rounds to box, box it up with Takeru, to see who's gonna be the one left standing. But it's incredible. I didn't even realize that my hands had that much power to knock him out. Even I'm surprised."

Before this fight, "The Iron Man" was under a lot of pressure due to missing weight a few times and losing his belt in the process. In fact, many fans and pundits were criticizing his attitude toward fighting.

Now, the 27-year-old Thai megastar stated that losing belt on the scales felt like a nightmare. He motivated himself to show the world the real Rodtang, and getting a nutritionist helped his cause a lot.

"It feels like I just woke up from a bad dream. In the two past fights, I've been missing my weight, and I lost something that I cherish, that I love the most, my Muay Thai belt. I have to fight the criticism," Rodtang said.

"I remind myself every day during training on how successful I was and why I became famous in the first place. I train every day, and I want to say thank you to [ONE CEO] Chatri [Sityodtong] for recommending Peter [nutritionist]. It feels like this is a new world for Rodtang right now."