Tawanchai glad he was able to trade fists with ‘heavy hitter’ Davit Kiria before signature finish

At ONE Fight Night 13, Tawanchai P.K. Saenchai continued his stellar run in ONE Championship with another statement performance.

Taking a break in between defenses of his ONE featherweight Muay Thai world championship, the titleholder debuted in a new division this past weekend. Facing Davit Kiria, the Thai striker returned to kickboxing on the hunt to become a two sport world champion under the ONE Championship banner.

On the night, the Muay Thai champion's ruthless kicks were once again the story of the contest, delivering sickeningly fast and ferocious strikes to his opponent from distance.

Whilst his kicks got the job done inside the ring, ending the contest in the third round due to an injury to Kiria’s arm, Tawanchai was pleased with a different element of his striking.

Adapting his style to suit the kickboxing ruleset, the champ has been working on his boxing during his camp for the fight and was able to implement it against a powerful opponent like Georgia’s Kiria.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post after the fight, the 24-year old reflected on his performance, specifically when it came to his hands:

“Well, my opponent is a heavy hitter. So I've been also like training my punches as well. So today was a good opportunity to like you know, try something new.”

Watch the full interview below:

North American viewers with an active Prime subscription can relive all the action from ONE Fight Night 13 via the free event replay on Prime Video.