“Sometimes we feel weaker” - Walter Goncalves says he needed to make sacrifices to revive career at strawweight 

After making a name for himself in the flyweight division, Walter Goncalves will attempt to revive his career as a strawweight.

Emanating from the iconic Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand on Friday, Nov. 8, Goncalves will look to climb back into the win column for the first time when he makes his strawweight Muay Thai debut against fast-rising knockout artist Aliff Sor Dechapan.

Offering some insight into his move down, Goncalves admitted that dieting and weight-cutting have proven to be a difficult task, but one that admittedly comes with the territory (via ONE Championship):

“Since I was fighting in a heavier division, I didn’t need to diet. So, I think the biggest difficulty for me at the moment is the diet. This process of losing weight is difficult and also affects training, as sometimes we feel weaker. This is an annoying part, but it is normal. It is part of our job.”

After dropping four out of five inside the Circle, 'Iron Hands' hopes his hard work will pay off and get him back into the win column for the first time in more than two years.

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Walter Goncalves faces a tough test against Aliff in his strawweight debut at ONE 169

Standing in Walter Goncalves' way of a victory at ONE 169 is Aliff, one of the strawweight Muay Thai division's most exciting Muay Thai prospects.

Making his debut last year the Thai-Malaysian sensation secured four-straight wins, including a trio of highlight-reel knockouts against Rittidet Kiatsongrit, Ratchadej Sor Petjumrat, and Peyman Zolfaghari.

Unfortunately for Aliff, his streak was snapped after coming on the wrong side of a closely contest split decision against Ellis Badr Barboza in July. However, he bounced back a month later with another epic first-round knockout, this time against Morocco's Zakaria El Jamari.

Will Aliff kickstart a new win streak inside the Mecca of Muay Thai, or will Goncalves reinvigorate his career with a much-needed win on martial arts' biggest global stage?

Fans in the United States and Canada can watch ONE 169: Malykhin vs. ‘Reug Reug’ live on Amazon Prime Video on Friday, Nov. 8 in U.S. primetime.