“It’s his homeland” - Superlek says Takeru will feed off Japanese crowd’s support against Rodtang at ONE 172

Superlek Kiatmoo9 isn't expecting a hostile Japanese crowd to welcome his old friend Rodtang Jitmuangnon, but he does foresee a fervent homebase coming down to support Takeru Segawa.

Rodtang will take on the Japanese icon in a flyweight kickboxing super fight in the main event of the stacked ONE 172 card on March 23 at the historic Saitama Super Arena in Japan.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Superlek recalled the immense support Takeru received when they squared off at the ONE 165 main event at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.

Superlek, who holds the ONE flyweight kickboxing and bantamweight Muay Thai world titles, said:

"I believe that Takeru won't back down, especially since it's his homeland. I've been there, done that."

Superlek defended his ONE flyweight kickboxing world title against Takeru in the January card and experienced firsthand how much love Japanese fans give their heroes.

The Tokyo crowd gasped when Takeru got hit and screamed every time their hero landed his shots.

That intense support reached fever pitch midway through the third round when Takeru unloaded a storm of punches that nearly took Superlek down.

Although he was focused on the fight, Superlek noticed that Takeru fed off the intense atmosphere that the Japanese fans provided during the match.

Superlek, however, took the energy out of the building when he beat Takeru via unanimous decision.

While his old friend Rodtang will take center stage this time in ONE Championship's return to Japan, Superlek will also have a huge task at ONE 172.

Superlek will take on interim world champion Nabil Anane in a unification match for the undisputed ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in one of the card's five world title matches.

Fans worldwide can catch ONE 172 live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

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Superlek roots for Rodtang at ONE 172

Superlek will always back his fellow Thai fighters.

In the same interview with ONE Championship, the two-sport king is going all in with the former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion:

"This is the fight everyone wants to watch the most. For Rodtang vs. Takeru, of course I'm supporting Rodtang... Anyway, I'm supporting the Thais and I'd love to see Rodtang claim victory."