Tagir Khalilov bares gameplan against Superlek: “I’ll need to deceive him”

Russian Muay Thai athlete and ONE Championship rising star Tagir Khalilov is bound for the first main event of his young career at ONE Fight Night 12. Doing the square dance with him will be ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 in a high-stakes Muay Thai bout.

With Superlek seemingly on a mission to conquer his division's Muay Thai throne, Tagir Khalilov will surely have his hands full come July 15. However, if there is anyone capable of halting the ascent of 'The Kicking Machine', it's someone like 'Samingpri'.

Speaking to ONE Championship, Khalilov had a simple plan to deal with the unstoppable Thai star:

"I’ll need to deceive him, throw power shots, and punch in combinations."

Dealing with someone called 'The Kicking Machine', one cannot just rely on one-hitter quitters. Tagir Khalilov is wise to put his strikes together to upset Superlek's rhythm.

'Samingpri' is amongst the few foreign fighters in ONE Championship today who found success against Thai fighters. His most recent wins include dominant victories Chorfah Tor Sangtiennoi and Black Panther. He also went to war with ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a razor-close decision loss in 2021. This time, the 30-year-old Russian standout will take on another Thai ONE world champion in Superlek.

He told ONE:

“If I win, my reputation as ‘The Thai Killer’ will be reinforced even more. I’m ready to shock the world.”

This bout came on the heels of the event's original headliner, a massive bout for the ONE light heavyweight kickboxing world title between world champion Roman Kryklia and Francesko Xhaja. The challenger withdrew from the bout due to injury.

ONE Fight Night 12 goes down at the iconic Luminee Boxing Stadium and will air live and for free to North American fans with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.