Japanese icon Takeru and Thai legend Nong-O go at it in no-holds-barred sparring session

In April 2023, three-division K-1 kickboxing world champion Takeru finally joined the world’s largest martial arts organization when he signed a multi-fight contract with ONE Championship. This announcement officially added another superstar to the already-loaded roster of the promotion.

Since the massive news, the Japanese hasn’t booked any fights yet, but is making sure that he is always ready for a callup. A great proof of this is his recent Instagram post, where he was seen sparring with former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion Nong-O Hama.

The 32-year-old shared the clip on September 23, and he captioned it with:

“Takeru vs Nong-O 🔥🙏🏼”

In the said video, Takeru was seen throwing a lot of strong punches and kicks, which seemed like a no-holds-barred sparring session. Both exchanged strikes with bad intentions, but thankfully, no one was badly hurt.

Much like any other friendly sparring session, the two embraced and shared smiles with each other after the striking exchanges. Takeru also posted another photo of him with the Muay Thai legend saying: (as translated into English)

“Today I had a great time sparring with Nong-O. Thank you! ! @nongogaiyanghadao @superbon.trainingcamp”

Takeru was in attendance at ONE Friday Fights 34 this past week inside the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium as he closely watched the mega fight between ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Superlek Kiatmoo9.

He is believed to be next in line to fight Superlek since he defeated Rodtang in the highly anticipated clash with ‘The Iron Man’ via unanimous decision, and especially since ‘The Kicking Machine’ is the reigning ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion.