“Wouldn’t it be funny if they offered Rodtang?” - Danial Williams recalls how a night at the pub led him to ONE Championship

ONE flyweight and strawweight contender, Danial Williams, is one of the few athletes who have competed in three different sports: Muay Thai, MMA, and kickboxing, under the world’s largest martial arts organization. He was also a former two-time world title contender.

Currently, Williams is in the final phase of his world title preparation against ONE strawweight kickboxing world champion Jonathan Di Bella as he challenges the Canadian-Italian for his 26-pound golden strap on October 6 at ONE Fight Night 15: Tawanchai vs. Superbon on Prime Video.

Ahead of this third world title opportunity, ‘Mini T’ appeared on the Fighters of Perth Podcast recently and looked back on the unusual path that led him to ONE Championship, where he took the chance by sending an email after getting drunk in a pub.

The 30-year-old narrated:

"Just one time, I emailed ONE Championship after a pub night. There was like a fight interest page and I thought that because of those shows were fighting in Thailand I have a Thai citizenship so I’m like I could actually get into Thailand. They’re probably looking for fighters because it would be hard like with the whole pandemic kind of thing, getting people into certain countries."

Williams also shared how ONE Championship contacted him days after sending the email and while he was with his partner. Just before talking to the promotion's representative, the Aussi-Thai joked about fighting Rodtang, and moments later, that statement turned into reality. The Kao Sok Muay Thai representative proclaimed:

"And then 10 days later, I got a message from one of their matchmakers... and I was walking the dog with my partner, and then I’m like, ‘Holy sh*t ONE Championship telling me to call them,’ and then as I called them, I was like, wouldn't it be funny if they offered me Rodtang? And then that’s exactly what happened. So it’s kind of spooky how it all happened, but I think it’s meant to be man. I think a lot of things in life are meant to be."

After that incident, he was able to sign with ONE Championship where he’s established a reputation with his relentless attitude and unbreakable will. Williams aims to maximize the world title opportunity against Di Bella to finally call himself a world champion and begin his quest to become a three-sport world champion.

ONE Fight Night 15 goes down at the historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium and will be streamed live and free on Prime Video in North America.