Rodtang ONE 172 Takeru: "Congratulations champ" - Aung La N Sang, Nieky Holzken, fellow fighters laud Rodtang's epic KO of Takeru at ONE 172

"Congratulations champ" - Aung La N Sang, Nieky Holzken, fellow fighters laud Rodtang's epic KO of Takeru at ONE 172

Modified Mar 26, 2025 16:57 GMT

Rodtang knocking out Takeru during ONE 172. (inset from L-R: Aung La N Sang, Nieky Holzken) [Photo via: ONE Championship]

Thai megastar Rodtang Jitmuangnon received immense praise for producing one of the most impressive finishes in ONE Championship history this past Sunday, March 23.

Going toe-to-toe with Japanese kickboxing legend Takeru Segawa in a flyweight kickboxing bout in the main event of ONE 172, 'The Iron Man' silenced the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan with two left hooks that knocked out 'Natural Born Krusher' early in the first round.

Following his highlight-reel finish, the Jitmuangnon Gym star took to Instagram to celebrate his victory, which can be seen below:

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Rodtang's peers in ONE, led by former two-division ONE MMA world champion Aung La N Sang and Dutch kickboxing icon Nieky Holzken, trooped to the comments section to give him his flowers:

"Congratulations champ! 🙌🔥👏"

"Congratulations 🐐"

"🔥 congratulations"

"👑👑👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻"

Screenshot of comments. [Rodtang/Instagram]

Even football legend Lionel Messi's personal bodyguard, Yassine Cheuko, chimed in:

"🙌🙌🔥"

Fans also participated in the celebration:

"Best in the world!"

"Let's f***ing go!!!!! Rodtang for president!!!! 💪💯🍻"

The show-stealing knockout gave Rodtang his 17th victory, fourth by way of a finish, under the ONE banner.

Rodtang feels vindicated following ONE 172 triumph

Rodtang received harsh criticism for missing weight in his last two bouts against Denis Puric and Jacob Smith in June and November 2024, respectively. The weight miss ahead of the Smith encounter led to him being stripped of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship in what was supposed to be his sixth defense of the gold.

During the ONE 172 post-event press conference, the 27-year-old said:

"It feels like I just woke up from a bad dream. In the two past fights, I've been missing my weight, and I lost something that I cherish, that I love the most, my Muay Thai belt. I have to fight the criticism."

Watch the entire press conference below:

About the author

Karl has been an MMA writer at Sportskeeda since 2023. He holds a Bachelor of Arts major in history, which helps him pay attention to the finer details while writing, and also has first-hand experience in boxing. He has a total experience of 5 years, and has worked for the International Business Times.

Karl turned into an MMA fan back in 2011 after watching Tito Ortiz defeat Ryan Bader via first-round submission at UFC 132. He has interviewed ONE world champions like Eduard Folayang, Joshua Pacio, Stamp Fairtex, and Tawanchai in his career so far.

On the non-MMA side of things, he interviewed WWE superstar Matt Riddle in 2021 and his question about Roman Reigns elicited an interesting answer which was widely covered by outlets like Sportskeeda and Cultaholic Wrestling's YouTube channel. He has also interviewed NBA stars Dwight Howard, Nick Young, Andre Roberson, Shabazz Muhammad, Jason Williams and Brian Scalabrine plus Filipino women's volleyball star Alyssa Valdez.

Karl ensures to double-check facts before using them in articles, and reads up on potential topics for pieces a day before. In his off time, he likes to play video games, and keep up with basketball and pro wrestling.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard