"This is something I’m waiting for to happen" – Rodtang hopes to see a ONE Championship X Rizin event so he can rematch Tenshin

Rodtang Jitmuangnon (left) wants to face Tenshin Nasukawa (right) once more in a dream ONE Championship X Rizin collaboration card. [Photos ONE Championship, Getty]
Rodtang Jitmuangnon (left) wants to face Tenshin Nasukawa (right) once more in a dream ONE Championship X Rizin collaboration card. [Photos ONE Championship, Getty]

Rodtang Jitmuangnon has been absolutely flying in the past four years, winning five straight matches and 16 of his last 17. It's hard to pinpoint a fighter on ONE Championship’s roster with a stock higher than the Thai fighter.

Rodtang has captivated audiences with his high-octane fighting style and entertaining personality. Despite his form, though, there is one moment he’d like to get back and that's his 2018 loss to Tenshin Nasukawa in RISE.

In an interview with Dylan Bowker, Rodtang said he’d like to have another match with the undefeated kickboxer, but admitted it would be near impossible as Nasukawa is under RISE and Rizin in Japan, while 'The Iron Man' is with Singapore’s ONE Championship.

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Rodtang said that for it to happen, either ONE Championship and Rizin need to do a cross-promotion event or Nasukawa must move to fight in the Singapore-based promotion.

He said:

“It depends on ONE Championship. If we have a chance to talk to Rizin and an event can be like ONE Championship X Rizin, that would be okay just to rematch with him, that’s okay... I’m not sure how I can rematch with him because I’m with ONE Championship, I really hope that one day Tenshin can come and join ONE so he can rematch with me under ONE Championship.”

Jitmuangnon, the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion, and Nasukawa, who holds the ISKA and RISE featherweight world titles, fought under kickboxing rules in June 2018 and were at a draw after the fourth round.

A fifth and tie-breaking round was implemented and Nasukawa was eventually declared the winner via unanimous decision. In doing so, he became the RISE featherweight world champion, although there were also those who felt the Thai Muay Thai specialist had done enough to secure a win.


Rodtang still waiting for a rematch

Jitmuangnon added that his and Nasukawa’s camps could’ve scheduled a rematch but the circumstances wouldn’t have allowed it as he eventually signed with ONE Championship in 2019.

Nasukawa, meanwhile, stayed in the Japanese promotions. On the failed matchup, the Thai striker said:

“That’s something that I always dream of after I lost to Tenshin. Before I signed with ONE, since that day I lost I wanted a rematch immediately the day after the fight. This is something I’m waiting for to happen.”

While he waits for his dream match to happen, Rodtang will first have to take on MMA legend Demetrious Johnson in a special mixed-rules fight at ONE Championship’s 10-year anniversary show, ONE X, on March 26.

Jitmuangnon and Johnson, a former UFC flyweight world champion and the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix winner, will feature in a four-round fight with Muay Thai rules implanted in the first and third rounds, while MMA will take hold in the second and fourth frames.

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Edited by Harvey Leonard
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