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Rodtang Jitmuangnon vows to improve himself after being stripped of his ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title.
Last Friday marked Rodtang's 14th Muay Thai appearance in ONE Championship. The Thai megastar continued his winning ways with a unanimous decision win against Jacob Smith at ONE 169, extending his promotional record to 13-1 in the sport.
Unfortunately, Rodtang's latest fight week started with controversy, as he missed weight for the flyweight bout. As a result, 'The Iron Man' was forced to vacate his Muay Thai world title, leaving the throne without a champion.
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Following ONE 169, Rodtang participated in a post-fight press conference and had this to say about missing weight:
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"Trust me, this is the second time that I made a mistake, but I won't be making mistakes all my life. I will improve myself, and I will adapt, and one day I will come back to flyweight, hopefully."
The replay of ONE 169, including Rodtang vs. Jacob Smith, is available on demand for Amazon Prime Video subscribers in the United States and Canada. The Nov. 8 event also featured 'Reug Reug' Oumar Kane pulling off an upset against Anatoly Malykhin for the heavyweight MMA world title.
Check out the ONE 169 post-event press conference below:
What's next for Rodtang in ONE Championship?
Shortly after getting his hand raised, Rodtang was featured in an intense faceoff against Japanese kickboxing superstar Takeru Segawa. 'The Iron Man' was scheduled to fight Takeru in January before pulling out with an injury.
Fans have continuously called for a kickboxing bout between Rodtang and Takeru. With that said, the 27-year-old might have to fight in Muay Thai first considering the ONE flyweight world title needs a champion.
Rodtang is guaranteed to be featured in the inevitable ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title fight. Furthermore, the division is also one of the best in ONE, making it a priority not to have a vacant throne for an extended period.
The Thai megastar could focus on a must-see kickboxing match against Takeru or potentially fight another superstar like two-sport world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the vacant flyweight throne.
'The Iron Man' and Superlek fought in September 2023, with the latter winning by unanimous decision. Superlek missed weight for the historic matchup, making him ineligible to dethrone Rodtang of his Muay Thai world title.
