Chatri Sityodtong to "bring Japan back to the glory height of martial arts" with epic ONE 165

ONE Championship Chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong believes ONE 165 will be one of the promotion’s most iconic cards yet, and he even opened up about a personal motivation about the promotion’s return to Japan during a press conference this past Thursday.

The ONE head honcho feels a personal connection to helping the country return to being a major player in combat sports. And with ONE’s constant growing global fanbase, the promotion could bring whatever that has been lacking in the region.

They may have to wait a while for the Circle to return but now that it is back, this event appears to be making up for lost time.

With two incredible fights announced for the card on January 28, Chatri Sityodtong had this to say ahead of what looks like a must-watch bill inside Tokyo’s Ariake Arena next year.

The lifelong martial artist said:

“I really want to promote Japanese martial arts. I want to see Japanese superstars make it on the global stage of ONE Championship, and this is my main goal. I promised my mother that I would bring Japan back to the glory heights of martial arts, and take it even further and bring honor and glory to Japan.”

Watch the full press conference below:

---

Chatri Sityodtong says Rodtang-Takeru war will be fought in standard kickboxing rules

A return to Japan is amplified countless times over when you have an ace up your sleeve like Chatri Sityodtong did ahead of this press conference.

With the announcement of a flyweight kickboxing super fight between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa, he gave the fight fans a barnburner battle that will undoubtedly go down as an instant classic.

‘The Iron Man’ will be the one competing somewhat out of his comfort zone for this contest but he does have a decent amount of experience in kickboxing despite making his name in Muay Thai.

During the press conference, the self-made entrepreneur also made sure to clearly define the ruleset for this upcoming dream fight that fans thought they would never get to see:

“In ONE Championship there is no extended clinching allowed [in kickboxing]. You can knee to the opponent, of course, there will be no clinching. It will be standard kickboxing rules, standard kickboxing gloves, it’ll be big gloves, not small gloves. It’s a regular kickboxing fight.”

ONE 165 will air live and free via ONE Championship’s YouTube channel and the ONE Super App on January 28.