Danial Williams believes matchup with Superlek was “destiny” turned into reality

It may have been a shocker to see Rodtang Jitmuangnon pull out of a world title fight, but Danial Williams seemed to have a proverbial hand in it.

Rodtang, the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion, was set to take one Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the ONE flyweight kickboxing world title at ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video this Friday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The fight, however, did not push through after Rodtang pulled out due to injury. With one of the headliners out for the match, ONE Championship decided to bump Williams into the main event to challenge Superlek for the gold.

During the card’s press conference, Williams said that he used to joke that he could fill in for the main event in case one of the two Thai stars had to suddenly pull out.

Those jests, though, took form, and Williams was incredibly added to the world title fight. Danial Williams said:

“When people asked me, just in my past fights who I’m fighting next, I always jokingly say Superlek. It’s funny because it’s a half-joke, full truth. And even before I found out when I’ve seen the card, Rodtang and Superlek were on there. I was like, ‘Man, I hope one of them pulls out because I’ll be the perfect fight for them.' It’s almost like I feel like it’s destiny. You got to put it out to the universe what you want.”

Williams was supposed to take on Rui Botelho down the card, but the Portuguese star will now face Russia’s Aslanbek Zikreev in a catchweight Muay Thai bout.

ONE Fight 8 is ONE Championship’s third Amazon card of the year and will be broadcast live and for free to all Prime Video subscribers in North America.