“He won’t let me bully him easily” - Tawanchai expects Masaaki Noiri to test him to the fullest at ONE 172

Tawanchai PK Saenchai is one victory away from attaining two-sport glory in ONE Championship.

While he's been in pristine form over the past few years, and all signs point toward him completing his dream at ONE 172 inside the Saitama Super Arena, the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion refuses to take anything for granted.

He is, after all, facing one of the best Japanese kickboxers, Masaaki Noiri, who has his sights firmly locked on the shiny ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world title that will be on the line this Sunday, March 23.

The PK Saenchai Muaythaigym star told ONE Championship in a pre-fight interview that he's not taking things lightly against Noiri despite his slow start to life in the organization:

"Even though he lost the first two fights in ONE, he's definitely not a weak opponent. He won't let me bully him easily. Trust me."

Noiri suffered back-to-back defeats to multi-time world champion Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong and Liu Mengyang.

The 31-year-old bounced back in some fashion with a second-round knockout of Iraqi striker Shakir Al-Tekreeti at ONE 170 in January this year.

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Masaaki Noiri will have a huge mountain to climb vs Tawanchai at ONE 172

As impressive as he was in his wicked highlight-reel win earlier this year, Noiri isn't going up against someone of the same level as the Iraqi dynamo.

Tawanchai has repeatedly strung in some epic performances under the ONE spotlight against punching specialists, kicking machines, or a more technical-based fighter like Noiri.

He can flick from defense to attack in the blink of an eye, and his dexterity on the feet should give him a massive headway in his bid to attain two-sport world championship status in Japan.

Tawanchai vs. Noiri will be one of five epic world title fights at ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang. Catch all the action live via pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com this Sunday, March 23.