“I couldn’t do anything” - Superbon says he was lost in the woods against Tawanchai’s power at ONE 170

Thai superstar Superbon admitted that in his recent title rematch with ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion Tawanchai PK Saenchai, he failed to handle the latter's power. He highlighted that when he got hurt, it was all downhill from there.

The featherweight kickboxing king made another go at the division's Muay Thai gold against Tawanchai at ONE 170 on Jan. 24 at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand. But like in their first encounter, he fell short, losing by TKO in the second round.

In an interview with ONE Championship following his latest match, Superbon shared what went down at ONE 170.

The 34-year-old Pattalung native said:

“Because I was fighting with smaller gloves, when I was hit hard on the chin, it was difficult to defend myself in the next moment because I was punched through my guard. I could only block, I couldn't do anything else at that moment."

At ONE 170, Superbon suffered three knockdowns in the second round to absorb the TKO defeat. The first was from a right-left combination from Tawanchai that instantly put him on the mat. He was able to answer the count, only to find himself down again from a flurry of strikes. The end came when the featherweight Muay Thai king landed a solid left that sent his opponent down for the third and final time.

The defeat ended a two-fight winning streak for Superbon, who was elevated to undisputed ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion status from interim titleholder in the lead-up to his rematch with Tawanchai.

The full replay of ONE 170 is available on watch.ONEFC.com.

Superbon still proud of stand against Tawanchai at ONE 170

Superbon may have lost again to Tawanchai PK Saenchai in their title rematch at ONE 170, but he remains proud of the fact that he was able to hang on and compete for as long as he could.

He shared this following his TKO defeat to the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion, telling ONE Championship:

"I feel like my body is still strong as ever. Because that day I was hit directly about 20 times, but I still got up after the game. Which makes me feel that I don't have a problem with getting punched. It's just that when I was hit on the chin directly, anyone would fall."

In their first encounter in December 2023, Superbon took Tawanchai to the limit before losing by majority decision.