"You are a legend" - Fans root for Rodtang Jitmuangnon to shut Takeru Segawa down in front of Japanese home fans at ONE 172

Muay Thai superstar Rodtang Jitmuangnon will be headlining ONE Championship's much-anticipated return to the Land of the Rising Sun when he engages hometown hero Takeru Segawa in a potential Fight of the Year winner in the main event of ONE 172 on March 23.

The former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion will have to tweak his strategy well, as their bout will be contested under kickboxing rules. Takeru will have a slight advantage owing to his championship-winning experience in the sport.

In an Instagram post shared by ONE, 'The Iron Man' declared how ready he is to fight 'The Natural Born Crusher' in his home country:

"I'm ready for everything. 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻"

The Jitmuangnon Gym star's most vocal fans trooped to the comments section to show their support, writing:

"I believe you! You are a legend! 🔥"

"Kickboxing is different but I think he will be okay."

"He look sharper than ever, GL Takeru 🔥🔥🔥"

"I am ready too come let's fight."

"I can't trust Japanese fighters but Takeru is good and it's a kickboxing fight but I will be rooting for Rodtang."

Screenshot of comments. [ONE Championship/Instagram]

ONE 172 will take place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will be available live on pay-per-view at watch.onefc.com.

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Johan Ghazali expects Takeru to struggle with Rodtang's fight IQ

Muay Thai rising star Johan Ghazali is raring to see Rodtang trade leather with Takeru in just a few days. He believes the latter will have trouble dealing with the former's highly chaotic, yet still organized, fighting style.

'Jojo' said as much in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA:

"I feel Takeru's experience can't match Rodtang. Rodtang's fight IQ is the best. I feel like the only person who can beat Rodtang right now is Superlek. Other than that, there's not much competition for him."