"The fight was extremely close"- 'Smokin' Jo Nattawut admits it's hard to judge his back-and-forth rematch with Tawanchai

It appears that Jo Nattawut himself was one of the people inside the Impact Arena this past weekend who was the least upset about the main event scorecards. He met Tawanchai in a rematch at ONE 167 with the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world championship on the line.

The fight, just like their previous encounter at ONE Fight Night 15 in kickboxing, was extremely close to call once it came to an end.

Once the fight was read out as a majority decision in favor of the defending champion, the scorecards themselves were booed by the fans inside the building. 'Smokin' Jo did a great job of making the fight competitive again, especially in the later rounds where he seemed to find his footing.

Nattawut gave his reaction to the fight and result during a post-fight interview where he said that he wasn't getting his hopes up and that he did enough before the decision was read out:

"I didn't expect myself to be champion because the fight was extremely close. I did really well, and Tawanchai did really well."

Jo Nattawut can take pride in his performance

Of course, pride does not equal the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world championship that some pundits believe should now be in the possession of Jo Nattawut.

But, for what it's worth, 'Smokin' Jo was able to once again push his opponent to the limit in a fight that many believed would go the way of the champion.

Nattawut and Tawanchai showed a lot of what makes them great in another entertaining contest which could still lead to a trilogy between them.

Nattawut lost the decision but he certainly earned the respect and adoration of the fans inside the building and watching around the world with his performance at the Impact Arena.

ONE 167 is available to watch back in full for free via Prime Video for US and Canadian fans with an active subscription.