ONE Championship: Rodtang breaks down in tears, says fans "went too far" with comments after weight miss

Rodtang Jitmuangnon hit back at his critics following his victory at ONE 167 in Bangkok, calling out the "harsh comments" that crossed the line in the wake of his weight miss.

'The Iron Man' defeated Denis Puric by unanimous decision in the co-main event on Saturday morning as ONE Championship returned to the 12,000-seat Impact Arena for the first time in nearly 18 months.

After he danced down to the ring, a full house roared their home favorite on to victory before he broke down in tears during his post-fight speech in the Circle. He embraced his clamoring public on his way to the back before opening up about his emotions to Sportskeeda at the post-event press conference.

"I feel relieved right now. Especially on the day that I missed weight, I felt bad for myself and there was heavy drama and harsh comments online. I couldn't even pick up my phone to check it. That's OK, but the comments took it too far. They took it to the people that I love, and the people around me, and that made me really sad."

Rodtang has not fought since a decision loss to Superlek Kiatmookao at Lumpinee Stadium last September, in which he sustained a hand injury.

The issue eventually ruled him out of a January kickboxing main event against Japanese star Takeru Segawa in Tokyo.

"It's been a while, almost a year since I last fought. I could not really move my hand for three months, and I kept that as a secret from many people. I had time to train yes, but there was a little mishap too. I thought i had time to lose 1.5kg [this week] but then I had to do all the press conference and all the activities which made me not really focus on my weight. But all in all I take full responsibility for my mistake."

Rodtang's boss, Sor Ae Jitmuangnon, revealed on Friday he had asked to train at his wife Aida Looksaikongdin's gym for this fight.

Rodtang at the ONE 167 ceremonial weigh-ins.

She said Rodtang struggled to lose the weight over the previous two weeks but did not want to disappoint fans or ONE Championship chairman Chatri Sityodtong, who gave his thoughts on the matter to Sportskeeda at the post-event press conference:

"Rodtang, I have told this to him, fame and success and money can cause the greatest man – we've seen it throughout history – it can change their work ethic, it somehow kills their desire, it quenches their fire. That's why it's very hard to be the very best for a very long time and to be a legend."

He added:

"We spoke briefly, I told him, if you want to be a legend, you have to do everything above... I would say, where the losers quit is the starting point for winners, and legends have the bar even higher. You take 99 per cent of the population, they would have quit a long time ago."

"Rodtang has got to look deep in his heart. Of course I was disappointed he missed weight by so much. I understand he had an injury and was out for nine months, but i think you take another athlete who loves what they do, they train around an injury, they stay fit and in shape."

Sityodtong spent around 30 seconds hugging Rodtang at the end of the press conference, hoping to cheer him up after a chastening week.

The ONE boss concluded:

"Rodtang took a lot of heat from the Thai fans, they were very angry. Social media blew up after he missed weight. He took it very personally, he was crying in his room because he was torn to shreds by the fans. There are high expectations of him as one of Thailand's greatest heroes."