#4. ONE Championship featherweight Muay Thai kickboxer Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong
Heavily favored to win the Grand Prix tournament is ONE Championship Muay Thai phenom Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong. The highly technical savant from Buriram, Thailand, is the perfect fighter to watch if you want to learn the fundamentals of the sport. He's so technical and precise and it's such a beauty to watch him go to work.
Sitthichai's razor-close contest with fellow Muay Thai stalwart Tawanchai is a solid example of a Muay Thai chess match. Every exchange was done with such a high level of technique, precision and timing that you'd think it's rehearsed. Not one competitor got the upper hand as both master tacticians seemed to cancel each other out.
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Come January 28, however, Sitthichai will face a different kind of beast in Davit Kiria in the main event. Though he has already beaten the Georgian twice in the past, it doesn't mean he cannot get caught by Kiria's deadly punches.
Kiria, who is very different from the highly technical Tawanchai, loves to swing hard with furious strikes while using his trademark toughness to push forward.
Fighting under ONE Championship kickboxing rules, Sitthichai will not be able to use his elbows nor be allowed to catch kicks as per usual in Muay Thai bouts. It would be interesting to see Sitthichai adjust to this change, while dealing with the onslaught from Kiria. Nonetheless, it would be an entertaining clash of styles to watch.
#3. ONE Championship featherweight knockout artist Tang Kai
The main card clash between featherweight knockout artists Tang Kai and 'The Fighting God' Kim Jae Woong is one of our most anticipated bouts on the card. Though Kim is the current No.1 featherweight contender at the moment, we'd like to put a spotlight on the surging Chinese dynamo Tang Kai.
The ONE Championship star is not the kind of man to be trifled with. The Chinese slugger has an 85% finish rate and all are by way of knockout. That's serious power.
Though Tang is at No.4 in the rankings right now, he's on an eight-fight winning streak. The powerhouse's winning streak is longer than anybody in the top five, including ONE Championship's featherweight champion and title challenger.
Though Kim looks at Tang as someone to keep him busy while waiting for his title shot, he might want to think twice. Tang's power is so innate that almost everything he throws, even the ones that don't look like much, are utterly concussive. He wovs to knock Kim out and "make him cry" come January 28.
Simply put, Tang is not the kind of fighter you underestimate under any circumstance. Period.