“I didn’t feel a single bit of fear” - Masaaki Noiri unfazed leading up to explosive finish of Tawanchai

Masaaki Noiri had no fear going into his fight with Tawanchai. Noiri walked into his first shot at 26 pounds of gold as a significant underdog at ONE 172 in Japan—and understandably so.

After all, he was going into a scrap with one of the hottest fighters in all of combat sports. However, none of that mattered to the former two-division K-1 champion.

Just under the two-minute mark of the third round, Noiri scored a jaw-dropping TKO over Tawanchai, snapping the Thai's nine-fight win streak and claiming the ONE interim featherweight kickboxing world championship.

Speaking with My Navi News, Noiri revealed that he never once felt fear ahead of his clash with Tawanchai. He couldn't say the same about his wife.

He said:

"I didn’t feel a single bit of fear. I just wanted to fight...My wife was next to me and she was sighing the whole time from tension and fear. But I wasn’t scared at all. All I could think was that I wanted to fight."

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Masaaki Noiri gave fans inside the Saitama Super Arena a moment to remember

Undoubtedly adding to the excitement was the raucous crowd inside the iconic Saitama Super Arena. Moments after Noiri put away Tawanchai, the arena came completely unglued with fans shouting and celebrating their hometown hero's shocking victory.

He added:

"I can say this because I won, but the excitement in the venue after I won was what I was looking for. That was when I knew I had done it."

What's next for Noiri remains to be revealed, but in all likelihood, it'll be a title unification clash with reigning ONE featherweight kickboxing world champion Superbon.

Is Noiri vs. Superbon the fight to make following the events of ONE 172?

If you missed any of the action, you can watch the full ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang replay on demand via watch.onefc.com.