“True warriors” - Fans love Takeru and Superlek’s show of respect following world title classic at ONE 165 in Tokyo

Superlek Kiatmoo9 and Takeru Segawa delivered an early Fight of the Year contender at ONE 165 that had fans marveling at their skill and mutual respect.

ONE Championship’s return to Tokyo, Japan delivered an unforgettable night of fights, none bigger than the flyweight kickboxing world championship clash between reigning and defending world titleholder Superlek and K-1 legend Takeru. After five epic rounds of back-and-forth action, ‘The Kicking Machine’ emerged victorious, spoiling Takeru’s long-awaited ONE debut.

Given the close and incredibly exciting nature of the scrap, everyone was immediately clamoring for a rematch between the two flyweight superstars.

“Respect beyond rivalry 🫡 Would you like to watch a rematch between these two warriors?”

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Is a “slugfest” with Rodtang next for Takeru following his war with Superbon?

Fans in the comments section on Instagram showed their appreciation for the war that Superlek and Takeru delivered at ONE 165.

“Great fight, only a very limited group of fighters would take those low kicks and stand all the 5 rounds”

“Good to see takeru being like this after that fight. All that talk prefight was a little bit over the top. Much respect for this words 🙌🔥”

“Great sportsmanship displayed by great fighters ❤️👏”

“I feel like when he was a fighter in Japan or even when he fought Tenshin himself. No one had ever supported and respected him this much. Including his opponent. Welcome to One Championship, a respect fighting organization. Hopefully these two will get to know each other in the future like Rodtang and Jonathan Haggerty.”

“Great fight. Think takeru v rodtang would be a slugfest.”

Originally, ‘The Natural Born Crusher’ was scheduled to square off with Rodtang Jitmuangnon at the event, but ‘The Iron Man’ was forced to withdraw due to an injury while training. Could we see ONE Championship rebook Takeru vs. Rodtang? Or would you prefer Takeru to run it back with Superlek inside the Circle?

If you missed any of the action or want to relive an epic night in ONE Championship history, the ONE 165 replay can be watched on demand via watch.onefc.com.