“I did my part” - Rodtang says diabolic left hook finish of Takeru was a product of his meticulous preparation 

The highly-anticipated main event card of ONE 172: Takeru vs. Rodtang was well worth the hype as the Thai legend downed the Japanese star only 80 seconds into their long-awaited kickboxing super-fight.

Fired up by the prospect of a double bonus, Rodtang was all gas going in the right. A well-timed left hook had the 'Natural Born Krusher' hitting the mats and unable to answer the count despite his best efforts, effectively ending the bout.

"I didn't expect that knockout to happen in the first round, but he did train very hard for it, to find a way to finish Takeru. Back home in Thailand, I've been training very hard for this fight," Rodtang said. "I have studied all the weaknesses, and all the openings of Takeru, and that left hook is one of the moves that I trained. I feel like I did my part, but I didn't expect that finish that quickly."

The night didn't all go to plan, and the elusive double bonus remained out of reach, but 'The Iron Man' did get to go home with a hefty $50,000 performance bonus.

Watch the post-event press conference below:

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Rodtang admits a renewed sense of focus led to his statement-making knockout of Taker

Perhaps being in the spotlight for so long had led to a sense of complacency for the Thai legend, but that's in the past. Now, 'The Iron Man' Rodtang is moving forward with a renewed sense of purpose and a smarter approach to nutrition, thanks to ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong's (and now, also Rodtang's) nutritionist Peter Miller.

"I remind myself every day during training on how successful I was and why I became famous in the first place, and now I'm really dedicated. I have no break. I train every day, and I want to say thank you to Chatri for recommending Peter [Miller], his nutritionist, who's been helping him very much with his condition. It feels like this is a new world for Rodtang right now."