“This victory will be for my family” - Rodtang says beating Takeru will be redemption for all the hardships he endured

Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangon is out to get redemption when he battles his Japanese counterpart Tageru Segawa in a tent pole event later this month in Japan.

The two martial arts icons are featured in the headlining match at ONE 172 on March 23 at the Saitama Super Arena. They are to battle in a much-awaited flyweight kickboxing showdown in the event marking the return of ONE Championship to the 'Land of the Rising Sun' for the second straight year.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Rodtang opened up about his upcoming match, including how he is fighting for redemption and pride not only for himself but also for his family.

'The Iron Man' said:

"If I happen to win this time, this victory will be for my family. When I missed weight and got my belt taken away, of course, the first reaction was I cried. All of the emotions, once it happened, I couldn’t go back to fix anything."

Rodtang won in his last match over British striker Jacob Smith back in November by decision. It was a title match for the flyweight Muay Thai championship belt, which he was stripped of in the lead-up for missing weight, leaving Smith as the only one eligible to claim it with a victory.

Meanwhile, his opponent, Takeru, is coming off a bounce-back victory in his last match in September, where he knocked out rising Burmese star Thant Zin, after losing in his promotional debut in January last year.

ONE 172 is available live on pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.

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Rodtang excited to share the stage against Takeru

Rodtang Jitmuangnon is excited that his long-planned showdown with Takeru Segawa is finally going down at ONE 172. He said that like the fans, he, too, is pumped for the marquee contest.

He shared this in one of the earlier press conferences for the match last year, underscoring that it is a battle that had to happen.

The 27-year-old Jitmuangnon Gym standout said:

"I've also been waiting for this fight with Takeru for a long time."

Rodtang was originally the opponent of Takeru in his ONE Championship debut in January last year. The former, however, had to withdraw from it because of injury. He was replaced by ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9, who, in turn, defeated 'The Natural Born Crusher' by decision in their title fight.