“I’ll move forward” - Takeru admits he’s devastated with his ONE 172 defeat to Rodtang, vows to push harder in the future

Takeru Segawa admitted that his defeat to Rodtang Jitmuangnon in Japan marked one of the hardest moments of his legendary career. The Japanese kickboxing legend suffered a shocking first-round knockout loss to Rodtang in their flyweight kickboxing super fight at ONE 172 on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena.

Taking to Instagram, Takeru revealed that losing to Rodtang did a number on his psyche. Takeru, however, is confident he'll recover from the episode and bounce back in the only way he knows how.

He posted:

"The time was short, but it was an incredibly exciting exchange of lives. Every morning, I wake up feeling so regretful that I feel like I'm going crazy, but no matter how much I regret it, I can't change the past. I'll move forward, looking forward, and change the future."

The match between Rodtang and Takeru was billed as a landscape-shifting moment in striking history.

Rodtang is one of this generation's greatest Muay Thai artists, with an astounding professional record of 273-43-10, and holding the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title from 2019 to 2024.

His reign was cut short after he missed weight ahead of his supposed world title defense against Jacob Smith at ONE 169, a match he still won via dominant unanimous decision.

Takeru, meanwhile, is arguably the greatest Japanese kickboxer in history and the only three-division K-1 champion. With a ton of hype surrounding the match, fans expected a brutal barnburner, but Rodtang decided it would only last 80 seconds.

After absorbing a vicious overhand right to his face, Rodtang countered with a venomous left hook that put Takeru out for the count 1:20 into the fight.

---

Takeru says he laid it all on the line against Rodtang at ONE 172

Takeru Segawa was visibly dejected following his stunning defeat to Rodtang Jitmuangnon in front of his home fans at Saitama Super Arena.

In the card's post-event press conference, Takeru said he gave it his all against Rodtang in their blockbuster showcase at ONE 172.

"I haven’t seen the fight yet. But what I can say is what I did in the ring was the best I could do at this moment."