Tawanchai views Jo Nattawut as a "warm-up" for tougher kickboxing fights in the future

ONE Fight Night 15, Tawanchai PK Saenchai was originally gearing up for the biggest fight of his career to date.

Still only just 24 years of age, the Thai striking prodigy has already accomplished great things in his career that have seen him become the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion.

In U.S. primetime, this Friday, October 6, the defending champion was set to face the most dangerous opponent of his career.

In one of the best striking match-ups of the year, the former ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion, and pound-for-pound number one, Superbon Singha Mawynn was set to challenge for the belt.

Unfortunately, a few weeks before the fight, Superbon was forced to pull out of the contest due to an injury.

Instead of letting the missed opportunity affect his own trajectory, the Muay Thai champion is taking some positives out of this situation that he has found himself in.

Facing a replacement opponent in Jo Nattawut, Tawanchai will instead compete in the featherweight kickboxing division as he looks to produce back-to-back wins in the division to continue his climb up the rankings.

Though his title defense would have been a huge occasion at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, the world champion has hopes of becoming a two-sport titleholder and he will look to progress in that area instead on October 6.

In an interview with ONE Championship, he spoke about the benefits of finding a replacement opponent and how he intends to use this fight to stay busy and keep pushing forward:

“This fight will be like my warm-up, so I can stay active which is good for me. It’s better than training for a long period without a fight. That makes me feel sluggish. I will use this chance to gain experience and level up in kickboxing as well.”

ONE Fight Night 15 will air live and free in U.S. prime time for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.