WATCH: New-look Tawanchai PK.Saenchai cracking the pads in the gym

One of the most dangerous Muay Thai fighters today, Tawanchai PK.Saenchai is getting ready to defend his ONE featherweight world title for the first time at ONE Fight Night 7. On February 24, the Thai superstar will face the surging Jamal 'Kherow' Yusupov at the legendary Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

In a recent video posted by ONE Championship on Instagram, we saw Tawanchai PK.Saenchai sporting a new buzz cut while hitting the focus mitts in the gym.

Here's the video:

"Tawanchai PK.Saenchai defends the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title for the first time on February 24 at ONE Fight Night 7 on Prime Video against Jamal Yusupov! 🏆 @tawanchay_pk⁠"

What's to be taken away from this video is the fact that Tawanchai is training his hands specifically here. Doing focus mitts and moving around like a boxer is definitely a new element in his already-dangerous repertoire. Traditional Thai fighters aren't known for their fancy footwork.

What we saw in this video is Tawanchai adding lateral footwork to his piston-like straight punches. He is already one of the fastest and most lethal kickers in the sport. Adding this new layer to his arsenal will make Tawanchai PK.Saenchai all the more difficult to deal with.

---

Tawanchai PK.Saenchai wins ONE Championship's 2022 Muay Thai Fighter of the Year

With three spectacular wins under his belt in 2022, Tawanchai PK.Saenchai won the coveted ONE Muay Thai Fighter of the Year award.

Producing two frightening knockouts, winning one $50,000 performance bonus and capturing the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world title, the 23-year-old phenom rose above the already-stacked ONE Muay Thai roster.

In January last year, Tawanchai knocked out his close friend and former teammate, Saemapetch Fairtex, in just under three minutes.

He followed it up with a move to featherweight, where he absolutely demolished Niclas Larsen with a crushing left cross. The win earned him a shot at then-world champion Petchmorakot Petchyindee.

The Thai prodigy reached his crowning moment of 2022 when he absolutely dominated Petchmorakot at ONE 161 in September. He near-effortlessly put an end to Petchmorakot's near-three-year reign atop ONE's featherweight division.

With one of the most successful years of his career in the rear-view mirror, expect Tawanchai to aim for bigger things this year. Look to see him try to kickstart a dominant 2023 campaign with a win at ONE Fght Night 7.