LOOK: Takeru, Rodtang trade barbs and hype up potential showdown in ONE Championship

Things are starting to heat up between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Takeru Segawa.

The newly-signed ISKA kickboxing world champion, Takeru Segawa, has long called for a matchup with one of the fiercest strikers in ONE. In fact, part of his decision to sign with the promotion as a free agent had something to do with Rodtang, the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion.

Since 2021, the pair have been answering each other’s call outs in the form of Instagram posts online. They are both willing to put their fighting skills to the test against the best in the world, so what’s keeping ONE Championship from making the call?

This week, Takeru reiterated what he had said two years earlier. He wants Rodtang as his first fight in ONE Championship. However, Rodtang has since backtracked a little with the following response on Instagram:

“Before you call my name,” he warned, “get some wins in ONE first.”

Check out the post below:

Fight fans have been waiting patiently for a matchup of this caliber to arise in ONE Championship. Thus far, Rodtang’s toughest battles can only be counted in one single hand. The three names that come to mind are Jonathan Haggerty, Walter Goncalves, and Danial Williams.

They were mind-blowing battles in every sense of the word. But Rodtang has defeated them all. His last opponent Edgar Tabares, as most fans observed, wasn’t at Rodtang’s level by any stretch of the imagination.

So, now the fans have called for tougher matchups for ‘The Iron Man.’ The ultimatum stands: Superlek Kiatmoo9 or Takeru Segawa. These are the two fights they are most waiting to see.