“I had to attack back” - Takeru Segawa recounts how early knockdown woke him up in comeback win over Thant Zin

Takeru Segawa continued to prove that he is no ordinary fighter.

While some fighters get rattled when they touch the canvas, the Japanese megastar awakened something within him when he suffered a surprising knockdown against Thant Zin at ONE Friday Fights 81.

Takeru suffered a shock knockdown in the first round of his flyweight kickboxing fight against Thant Zin this past week at Lumpinee Stadium.

That setback, though, ignited Takeru's fire and he proceeded to show Thant Zin why he's regarded as one of the best kickboxers in history.

Takeru Segawa rallied back in the second round, dominated Thant Zin, and had his hand raised for the knockout win.

In his post-fight interview, Takeru admitted he initially got worried after getting knocked down. He knew he had to recover and showcase what made him such a terrifying striker.

He said:

"It’s been a while since I’ve been knocked down, and in my head, it was just like, ‘I had to attack back.’ Also, I had some worries that I might lose this fight but I got to be very calm and took it back in the second round."

After the first-round setback, Takeru went berserk in the middle round and channeled his karate roots. Takeru folded Thant Zin like a lawn chair when he connected with a textbook toe kick to the body to knock the Burmese rising star down.

Sensing that Thant Zin was out of it, Takeru threw his hands and connected with multiple crushing hooks for the knockout victory.

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Takeru Segawa throws down the gauntlet against Rodtang Jitmuangnon

It was the fight that was promised, and Takeru Segawa is ready to fulfill his end of the agreement.

Takeru was supposed to face Rodtang Jitmuangnon in his ONE Championship debut at ONE 165. However, the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion suffered an injury during training and was forced to pull out of the January card.

Rodtang has since recovered from his hand injury and looks ready to face Takeru.

Following his win over Thant Zin, Takeru Segawa said in his post-event interview that he's ready to finally face Rodtang in the circle:

"I came to ONE to fight Rodtang, and if I don’t win this fight, if I don’t get over this, I have no qualities to be in ONE. Right now, I get to meet Rodtang. I am ready. For Rodtang, I hope you win your next fight and I’ll be waiting here in the ring."

Rodtang, though, will first have to go through his world title defense against Jacob Smith at ONE 169: Atlanta on Nov. 8 at State Farm Arena before his super fight against Takeru.