“Bit by bit, but practice is back” - Japanese superstar Takeru Segawa back in the gym after suffering leg injury against Superlek at ONE 165

Japanese kickboxing legend Takeru Segawa is back in the gym after suffering a devastating leg injury during his critically acclaimed clash with Thai superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9 in January.

Eight months after announcing that he had signed with ONE Championship, Takeru stepped inside the ring at ONE 165 in his home country for a showdown with one of the greatest strikers in all of combat sports. Through five rounds, both men battered one another, but it was Superlek who emerged victorious, earning a unanimous decision to retain his ONE flyweight kickboxing world championship.

Following the bout, Takeru shared some truly horrific images of the beating that his lead leg took during the 25-minute affair.

Fortunately, ‘The Natural Born Crusher’ has healed quickly and announced that he is already back in the gym and getting back in shape for his next potential fight inside the Circle. Taking it to Instagram, he said:

“Bit by bit but practice is back. I'm talking about practice and injury status on YouTube. Please take a look!

---

Superlek reveals going after Takeru’s legs was all part of the plan

Speaking with the South China Morning Post following their fight inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena, Superlek revealed that going into the bout, his entire strategy hinged up on attacking Takeru Segawa’s lead leg from beginning to end. He said:

“Apart from being happy that I got the victory and also being happy that I was able to stick to my game plan. So if you watch back the fight, I never kicked his body, my focus was just to keep kicking his leg as you can see because it was the gameplan. I was happy to stick with that.”

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.