Rodtang Jitmuangnon calls out Tenshin Nasukawa and Takeru

Following his critically-acclaimed mixed rules bout at ONE X in March, Rodtang Jitmuangnon returned to the ONE circle at ONE 157 and scored a dominant win over Jacob Smith in the first round of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix.

Scheduled to face Savvas Michael in the semi-final round of the tournament, ‘The Iron Man’ took a moment during his training to call out a couple of cross-promotional rivals.

On his Instagram account, Rodtang Jitmuangnon uploaded a video clip of himself working the heavy bag and sending a message to Takeru Segawa and Tenshin Nasukawa.

“@k1takeru Take a good rest. Our styles would make for an explosive clash. I am ready for you anytime!! And @tenshin.nasukawa how can you retire since there is still no real closure between us??”

As a professional competitor since 2008, Takeru Segawa is the only fighter in K-1 history to win world championships in three different weight classes. Ranked as one of the top pound-for-pound kickboxers in the world, Rodtang has expressed interest in testing his skills against Takeru for quite some time, but the latter’s contractual obligations have prevented the bout from being a possibility thus far.

As for Tenshin Nasuakwa, ‘The Iron Man’ still has unfinished business with the Japanese kickboxer. The two met under the Rise banner in 2018, before Rodtang’s time in ONE, with Nasukawa earning a closely contested decision that was considered to be highly controversial.

Nasukawa famously competed in an exhibition boxing match against boxing icon Floyd Mayweather in Japan. Mayweather won via a first-round knockout.

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Could Rodtang Jitmuangnon have a future in mixed martial arts?

As the reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion, Rodtang Jitmuangnon has little left to prove in the ‘Art of Eight Limbs’, but he shouldn't find out about that. Entering the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, Rodtang is intent on leaving no doubt that he is the best Muay Thai fighter in the world today. But should he emerge as the tournament champion, what comes next?

In an interview with South China Morning Post, Rodtang suggested that a transition into mixed martial arts would be the next logical step for the combat sports superstar.

“If I became the World Grand Prix Champion, nobody in my division can come to challenge me for my Muay Thai title at the moment, so maybe I would like to have a kick-boxing challenge for the kick-boxing world title. If I also gain this championship, I think I will fully go to MMA, for sure.”

Rodtang’s first foray into MMA didn’t necessarily go the way he had hoped. Taking on former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson at ONE X in a special rules super-fight, Rodtang was submitted via a rear-naked choke in the 2nd round.

Despite the loss, Rodtang Jitmuangnon is far from discouraged from pursuing a future in MMA.

“MMA is one of the things in my focus, so let’s try after this Grand Prix. I will come back and train, and maybe one day I will have a chance to fight DJ again.”