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Jacob Smith was surprised by Rodtang's technical attributes in their first fight.
Smith started his professional Muay Thai career with a record of 15-5-1 before signing with ONE Championship. In mid-2022, the former British champion had a chance to shock the world in his promotional debut as he faced Rodtang in the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix semifinals.
At ONE 157, Rodtang proved there are levels in the flyweight division as he dominated Smith to a unanimous decision win.
Smith did an interview with Combat Sports Today, where he was asked about his loss against Rodtang. The 32-year-old reflected on the experience by saying:
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"In terms of Rodtang, I feel like there was nothing that he possessed physically that I didn't expect. And it's a thing that caught me by surprise was how good he actually was technically, something that I hadn't quite faced before."
Jacob Smith bounced back from his loss against Rodtang by knocking out Walter Goncalves in round one of their December 2023 meeting. Four months later, Smith endured another setback in his latest fight, as Denis Puric bested him at ONE Fight Night 21 to emerge victorious by unanimous decision.
Watch Smith's entire interview with Combat Sports Today below:
Jacob Smith faces massive opportunity to avenge Rodtang defeat
Jacob Smith's next fight is scheduled for the ONE 169 co-main event on November 8. The 32-year-old looks to secure a life-changing win, as he's been offered a chance to dethrone Rodtang for the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title.
Heading into ONE 169, 'The Iron Man' is coming off a kickboxing win that extended his promotional record to 3-0 in the sport. Meanwhile, the Thai megastar's last appearance in "The Art of Eight Limbs" didn't go as planned due to Superlek taking him out by unanimous decision in a non-title bout.
Rodtang seems more focused on inevitable super-fights against Takeru Segawa (kickboxing) and Superlek (Muay Thai). With that said, he can't overlook Smith due to the latter's desire to walk away with a legacy-defining win.
ONE 169 goes down inside the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The November 8 event can be seen live and for free by North American and Canadian viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.
