ONE Championship: Buakaw praises Masaaki Noiri for taking out Tawanchai's legs en route to TKO in Saitama: "It was a smart plan"

Muay Thai and kickboxing legend Buakaw Banchamek said that Masaaki Noiri devised a clever fight plan against Tawanchai PK Saenchai and executed it well during their ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world title showdown last March 23 at ONE 172 inside Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Buakaw gave his perspective on the match during the video reaction of the championship battle on his YouTube channel, with several fans and pundits saying that Noiri got lucky for landing a vicious punch against Tawanchai that led to the third-round TKO finish.

According to the Thai icon, the Japanese striking maestro successfully chopped down the legs of the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion, which helped him set up his offense up top. He explained:

"A lot of people actually didn't realize how much Noiri attacked Tawanchai's legs. It was a smart plan but if Tawanchai did better defensively it would have been Tawanchai's fight."

Watch Buakaw's video here:

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This incredible win by Masaaki Noiri was the first stoppage loss of Tawanchai under the world's largest martial arts organization, and it punched him a ticket against the current ONE featherweight kickboxing king, Superbon, in a unification match.

Buakaw says that fans counted Masaaki Noiri out ahead of his fight against Tawanchai at ONE 172

In the same YouTube video, Buakaw also mentioned that most fans counted Masaaki Noiri out and never gave him the chance to beat Tawanchai because they thought that he was not on the same level as the Thai superstar.

However, the Team Vasilues representative quickly proved them wrong and eventually scored the massive win to capture the interim gold in front of his home crowd. Buakaw stated:

"But fight from, his fighting style, heading into this fight, most agree that he's not quite on Tawanchai's level. So yeah, many fans saw this as kind of a test drive for Tawanchai."

Fans can rewatch all the action at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang via watch.onefc.com.

About the author

Anatoly is an MMA writer with six years of experience. He covers ONE Championship at Sportskeeda, where he has contributed over 1000 pieces. He previously served as the lead MMA writer for BetMGM’s blog.

Anatoly holds a bachelor's degree in communication, which he feels has had a significant impact on his career.

Jon Jones’ submission win over Lyoto Machida at UFC 140 in 2011 got him hooked to MMA. His favorite fighters include Eduard Folayang, Demetrious Johnson, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Anatoly provides Sportskeeda with exclusive pieces and has previously interviewed the former ONE flyweight MMA world champion, Adriano Moraes. While writing his pieces, he follows an extensive research process, referring only to credible sources like the UFC’s official website, Sherdog, and ESPN. He also likes to provide insights to his readers by keeping in mind important pillars of communication like media literacy and audience dynamics.

Anatoly advocates for a healthy and fit lifestyle by including boxing in his routine. He also loves to travel.

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Edited by Krishna Venki