Japanese icon Takeru Segawa takes on Thai megastar Rodtang Jitmuangnon in highly anticipated ONE debut

Following months of anticipation, Japanese legend Takeru Segawa will finally make his ONE Championship debut in his home country of Japan.

Takeru will face ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a flyweight kickboxing super-fight at ONE 165 on January 28 at Ariake Arena in Tokyo. ONE Championship CEO Chatri Sityodtong confirmed the dream matchup in a press conference in Tokyo.

The promotion then released the fight poster on its Instagram account following Sityodtong’s media appearance.

ONE Championship wrote:

“The matchup we've all been waiting for 🔥 Rodtang welcomes Takeru to ONE in a five-round flyweight kickboxing super-fight on January 28 in Tokyo 🥊 @rodtang_jimungnon @k1takeru."

Rodtang is arguably the best pound-for-pound Muay Thai fighter on the planet, with a near-perfect promotional record of 12-1 in the sport.

‘The Iron Man’ has also held the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title since August 2019 when he beat Jonathan Haggerty for the strap in his fifth fight in ONE Championship.

Takeru, meanwhile, needs no introduction when it comes to kickboxing.

The 32-year-old is one of the most influential Japanese fighters ever and is the only three-division world champion in K-1 Kickboxing history. Takeru then signed an exclusive contract with ONE Championship in April this year.

ONE 165 marks the return of ONE Championship’s numbered events and is the first time the promotion stages a live event in Japan in almost five years.

The last time ONE Championship staged a live fight card in the country was with in 2019 with ONE: Century at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo.

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Takeru enlists help of ONE Championship’s top stars heading into debut

While Takeru Segawa is already one of the best to ever do it, he still enlisted the help of some of the best strikers in ONE Championship to further improve his craft. Over the past few months, Takeru trained across Japan, Thailand, and the United States in preparation for his impending promotional debut.

Takeru was in Bangkok in September to watch Rodtang’s mega-fight against ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9. Taking the most of the opportunity, the Japanese superstar trained with Superbon Singha Mawynn and Nong-O Hama at Superbon Training Camp.

This past month, Takeru flew to the United States and trained at California’s Boxing Works— the home gym of ONE atomweight kickboxing world champion Janet Todd and Jackie Buntan.