“I'm very excited to watch this fight” - Denis Puric can’t wait to see Rodtang finally fight Takeru at ONE 172

Denis Puric is among the millions of fight fans who can't wait to see Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa square off.

The pair will figure in a flyweight kickboxing bout as the headliner for ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang on Sunday, March 23, inside the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Fans can check out watch.onefc.com for details on how to watch the event wherever you are in the world.

The epic showdown has the world buzzing, including Puric, who has a personal investment in this matchup. For one, he has fought Rodtang before, and he is aiming to fight Takeru in the future.

At ONE 167 in June last year, 'The Bosnian Menace' shared the ring with the Thai star in an intense three-round kickboxing fight. While the fight didn't end in his favor, it fulfilled a bucket list for him of sorts as he had called for a fight against 'The Iron Man' since he arrived in ONE Championship.

Puric admits that the Thai star was extra tough in their fight as he came in at more than five pounds over the 135-pound flyweight limit. It wasn't the first time the Jitmuangnon representative had to deal with weight issues, so Puric is intrigued by how Takeru would handle it if it happened to him.

In an interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Puric said:

"It just depends if [Rodtang] comes on weight right. If he doesn't, then yeah, I don't know, man. I'm very excited to watch this fight to see how Takeru will deal with it."

Takeru's debut fight in the world's largest martial arts organization saw Superlek pepper his legs through five rounds and resulted in multiple injuries that sidelined the Japanese star for a few months. As such, Puric is curious as to how well "The Natural Born Crusher" has recovered and if can hold up against Rodtang.

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Rodtang gets his revenge on Demetrious Johnson

Rodtang Jitmuangnon is already a household name thanks to his combat sports resume, but his mainstream popularity skyrocketed even further at ONE X in 2022 when he figured in a mixed-rules match against arguably the greatest of all time in MMA, Demetrious Johnson.

'Mighty Mouse' survived the all-striking first round well, and then went to work in the second round, which was fought under MMA rules. Johnson found his opponent's back and choked him out to win the historic match.

It took him almost three years, but it seems 'The Iron Man' has finally avenged his loss against Johnson during their sparring session in Thailand recently.

Watch the hilarious clip here: