Superlek on why he showed no mercy against Takeru at ONE 165: "He could turn around and strike back"

Reigning two-sport, two-division king Superlek Kiatmoo9 says he couldn't afford to give Takeru Segawa any breeding ground during their massive kickboxing tilt at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan, just in case things backfired.

'The Kicking Machine' stepped in for an injured Rodtang to defend his ONE flyweight kickboxing world title against 'The Natural Born Crusher' inside the Ariake Arena in January last year. Many feared the worst for the Thai megastar given Takeru's homecourt advantage and preparedness for the duel.

Superlek, however, dominated the Japanese debutant, proved everyone wrong, and headed back to Thailand with 26 pounds of gold in his suitcase.

It was arguably one of his most wicked displays yet on the global stage. The Kiatmoo9 Gym man kicked the daylight out of his dance partner, leaving him with a badly bruised leg that forced him out of action for the next couple of months.

In a recent interview with Nickynachat at his Bangkok gym, Superlek explained why he held nothing back against the Japanese kickboxer. While he admitted in past interviews that he did feel bad about butchering Takeru's leg, he said there's no room for remorse or pity in a fight setting.

The 29-year-old offered:

"Not in the ring [I don't feel sorry for kicking his leg to bits]. If we feel sorry for our opponents, they could take advantage of us and attack. He could turn around and strike back."

Watch his full interview with Nickynachat here:

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Superlek has another war locked in for Japan next

Since beating Takeru at ONE 165, Superlek added two more wins over Kongthoranee Sor Sommai and Jonathan Haggerty, the latter pushing him into rarified air as a two-sport world champion in the promotion.

The reigning two-division, two-sport kingpin unifies his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship alongside interim king Nabil Anane in a rematch at ONE 172 inside the Saitama Super Arena on Sunday, March 23.

The striking wizard handed the Thai-Algerian six-foot-four machine a debut to forget and a knockout loss when they traded leather at ONE Friday Fights 22 in June 2023. Anane has turned the tide in some fashion since, racking up a six-match undefeated streak as he preps himself for his Superlek redo next month.

Tickets for the organization's stacked return to 'The Land of the Rising Sun' are available here. Fight fans around the world can tune in to the Saitama card via watch.onefc.com.