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ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 might have learned a thing or two from ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.
They collided in a mega showdown last September at ONE Friday Fights 34, and Superlek showed his evolution as a result of it during his world title defense against Takeru Segawa.
Superlek put his 26-pound golden belt on the line against the former three-division K-1 world champion and showcased a technical approach to successfully fend off the challenge from the promotional debutant in the main event of ONE 165 last weekend inside the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.
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It was only an all-offensive display for ‘The Kicking Machine’, as he also pulled his best Rodtang-esque defense of absorbing multiple punches on the head but wasn’t knocked down. This crucial juncture happened during the last minute of the third round.
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This moment was posted by ONE Championship on Instagram:
“Relentless 😳 @k1takeru Watch the ONE 165 full event replay 🇯🇵 Abema 👉 link in bio 🌍 Global 👉 link in bio”
‘The Natural Born Crusher’ caught the defending world champion with an array of punches to the body, which opened up an opportunity to attack his head as his hand went low, and Takeru went all out on his power punches to Supelek. But he was able to circle around and move away from danger.
This incredible sequence and heart of a champion moment were lauded by fans on the social media platform. as users @lelukameli, @saucydasalesman, @pt_domzky, @clowguard, @_ottotheautopilot_, @ell.arif, and @usai12 praised the Thai superstar for his toughness and grit by commenting:
“The only big moment in the fight for takeru in my opinion and superlek ate all those shots”
“All that an still couldn’t knock him out”
“Looks fast forward but its real speed😱”
“Firing punches like machine.”
“Does Superlek enjoys being punched? Because he takes them like if he enjoys it… what a machine, both of them.”
“Superlek already damage takeru with lowkick, his fast punching like this looks good but sure doesn’t have much power to topple superlek down”
“Superlek is on another level. Both fighters are very tough.”
Superlek delivered on his promise to maximize his kicks against Takeru and received praise from Liam Harrison
Before their highly anticipated match happened, Superlek made known his fight plan going into the match, which was to employ his signature kicks to keep Takeru at bay and inflict damage on him. This is exactly what he did, and he found himself on the winning side because of that approach.
Also, due to his fantastic performance, Superlek was hailed by former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title challenger and British combat sports legend Liam Harrison as the best striker on the planet right now.
