ONE 172: Masaaki Noiri confident that his mastery of kickboxing will propel him to victory against Muay Thai king Tawanchai

The anticipation is at an all-time high as we count down the hours to ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang. Masaaki Noiri knows what to expect as he walks into his title shot against Thai icon Tawanchai PK Saenchai, and he's ready for it.

He has no plans of backing down. Instead, he's bringing his A-game with world-class kickboxing.

In this case, where the fighter's stats are so close, the rule set makes all the difference.

"If I were to fight him under Muay Thai rules, I know there’s a 90 to 100 percent chance that I wouldn’t win," Noiri told ONE Championship. "Tawanchai has his own history in the sport, but I’ve spent my entire career fighting under kickboxing rules.

And that's where his edge lies. The Circle is a different place when it's set up under his rule set.

"How should I put it? I’m not trying to say, ‘kickboxing isn’t that easy,’ but I do have confidence in my ability to win under kickboxing rules."

---

“That’s the case for every fight” - Masaaki Noiri determined to knock Tawanchai out in front of hometown fans at ONE 172

In combat sports, there's no clearer outcome to a fight than a finish. Noiri's the type who likes to get certain, so he's coming in with the clearest plan ever: finish the fight.

"That's the case for every fight, but my style is always to aim for the knockout," he said, "Since this fight has five rounds, I can use all five rounds to go for the finish, or I can go for the KO right from the start."

And with a home-turf crowd behind him, Noiri's motivation is on another level.

ONE 172: Takeru vs Rodtang is at 2 PM ICT. Fans in Canada and North America can catch the action via PPV on watch.onefc.com.