“Her cheers that day should be deafening” - Phetjeeja prepared to enter enemy territory in title defense versus Kana in Japan

Despite coming in as the champion, Phetjeeja Lukjaoporongtom knows the crowd inside the packed Saitama Super Arena won't be in her favor.

After all, the reigning atomweight kickboxing world champion will put her 26 pounds of gold on the line against Japan's own Kana Morimoto in the historic ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang on March 23.

While confident that her world-class striking skills are superior to the Japanese challenger, Phetjeeja admitted that basking in the energy of her hometown crowd should give Kana an advantage.

'The Queen' shared in an exclusive ONE Championship interview ahead of this massive five-round slugfest:

“Kana’s advantage could be that this event is held in her home. She should be familiar with the atmosphere and the energy from the fans. Her cheers that day should be deafening.”

'Krusher Queen' should indeed fight inspired in front of her darling fans in the biggest fight of her career. Still, fighting through adversity is nothing new for Phetjeeja.

With an unbelievable 208 career victories to her name, the 23-year-old prodigy has already proven that she brings her A-game when the lights shine the brightest.

The Team Mehdi Zatout athlete remains perfect in six appearances under the ONE banner, with her last two victories coming against two of the most decorated female strikers in the world, Anissa Meksen and Janet Todd.

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Phetjeeja guarantees non-stop entertainment against Kana

Phetjeeja expects Kana to rush forward and push the pace as soon as the bell rings in their high-stakes encounter.

'The Queen', though, made it clear that she won't back down from a firefight and will gladly trade heavy leather with the former K-1 flyweight world champion.

In her face-off with Kana at Bangkok's Lumpinee Stadium last month, the Thai striker vowed to give fans their money's worth at ONE 172.

"To put it frankly, I think it's going to be very explosive. On that day, whoever stands in the ring will be the victor of the fight," Phetjeeja said.

Don't miss ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang, airing live via pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.