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Jacob Smith does not make much of Rodtang Jitmuangnon's victorious outing against Denis Puric as he heads into his redo against the Thai megastar next month.
'The Iron Man' enters his ONE flyweight world title defense against the British slugger off a unanimous decision win over the Bosnian-Canadian fighter at ONE 167 this past June.
Both men treated the audience to a back-and-forth striking clinic. Unfortunately, it wasn't one that impressed Jacob Smith.
So much so, the Bad Company and Thaifist martial artist concedes it was one of the more forgettable displays from the divisional king in recent memory.
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Speaking exclusively to Cageside Press before his co-main event fixture at ONE 169 inside the Lumpinee Stadium, Jacob Smith criticized his foe's performance while hoping the Thai would bring his trademark style into their duel on Nov. 8.
He said:
"I thought he was poor, to be honest. I thought Rodtang was poor in that fight. I thought Denis was also poor in that fight. But I'm not expecting that Rodtang to turn up [at ONE 169]."
As a fellow fighter who loves to pedal to the metal and guarantee action, this doesn't come as much of a surprise. Smith prefers to participate in all-out brawls, whether or not he gets his hand raised.
With that mindset locked in — and should Rodtang be firing on all cylinders as usual – the real winner for this clash would be the fans who will enjoy a certified "Art of Eight Limbs" banger inside the Mecca of Muay Thai at ONE 169.
Watch the full interview here:
Jacob Smith dreaming of glory at ONE 169: "It would be life-changing"
In a separate pre-fight interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Jacob Smith envisioned what it'd mean to him to walk out of ONE 169 with the desired 26 pounds of gold wrapped around his waist.
The 32-year-old said:
"To win the ONE world championship, it'll be something that I can't put into words, like what that would mean to me. It would be life-changing. Yeah, it'll certainly be life-changing."
ONE 169 will be available to North American fans live in U.S. primetime for free with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
