Takeru Segawa admits he has to watch out for Thant Zin's "very heavy" striking game ahead of ONE Friday Fights 81

Former ONE flyweight kickboxing world title challenger Takeru Segawa has acknowledged that he cannot take Thant Zin lightly in the upcoming flyweight kickboxing showdown at ONE Friday Fights 81 on Sept. 27. The two striking maestros will go head-to-head in front of a packed Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

Before they exchange strikes, Takeru has praised his opponent. In the virtual conference of the event, 'The Natural Born Crusher' mentioned that the 19-year-old phenom has heavy hands, and that his power is something he needs to be cautious of. He said:

"As I have watched Thant Zin's videos, I know [and] I realized that Thant Zin has a very heavy punch and also a very heavy kick."

The young Burmese star's perfect record of 2-0 under the world's largest martial arts organization with a 100% finish rate is enough for Takeru to be wary of his power.

The Taw Win Ayeyar Club representative holds a win over Jaising Sitnayokpansak in February 2024 at ONE Friday Fights 52 and Tai Sor Jor Piek Uthai in August 2024 at ONE Friday Fights 76.

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Takeru admits that fighting Rodtang is the ultimate goal in joining ONE Championship

The Team Vaselius representative recently revealed that his main reason for signing with ONE Championship was to face the reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon.

But Takeru quickly put this aside as he reiterated that his sole focus is getting his first dub this Friday against Thant Zin. He shared this in an interview with the South China Morning Post, saying:

"The reason why I came to ONE Championship is to fight against Rodtang. So if I win on Friday, the next fight should be against Rodtang. But right now, I'm totally focused on the fight this Friday. This one first, before anything else."

ONE Friday Fights 81 will air live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.