Losing the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship has enlightened Nong-O Hama about what he needs to prioritize at this stage of his career.
The 37-year-old, after all, was fighting with reckless abandon throughout his dominant 10-fight winning streak in the world's largest martial arts organization.
However, his reign came crashing down after devastatingly surrendering his belt to Jonathan Haggerty last year. This was followed by another brutal knockout at the hands of Nico Carrillo just months later.
Apart from making sure his physical skills were still up to par, Nong-O admitted he needed a mental reset just to get things back on track.
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The Thai icon finally snapped his ugly two-fight skid at ONE Friday Fights 58 with a masterful dissection of Kulabdam Sor Jor Piek.
Speaking to Sportsmanor after his much-needed victory, Nong-O credited a shift in priorities that allowed him to regain his winning ways. He said:
"I just want to focus on my career, focus on improving, getting my style better. That's why my focus is just having nice meals with my friends and family. So I use all this time to come back better, fight better, and to achieve all my goals in my career."
Watch Nong-O Hama's full interview with Sportsmanor:
Nong-O got back to original technical style in win vs Kulabdam
Nong-O's epic knockouts in ONE has given him a reputation as a gun-slinger.
Given his desire to please the fans, the Evolve MMA product admits he got out of character and abandoned his methodical approach, which gave him his success early in his career.
In the same interview, Nong-O discussed how going back to his roots powered him to victory.
“What you saw, is my original style, me at my best. Also, my game plan as well. You can see the confidence is coming back because I decided to stick to my original style.”