Did Danial Williams provide the blueprint on how to beat Rodtang Jitmuangnon?

Danial 'Mini T' Williams had a three-round war with ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in 2021. The bout was voted ONE Super Series Fight of the Year. Although 'Mini T' is having an impressive run in ONE's strawweight MMA ranks at the moment, he is perhaps best known for his Muay Thai classic battle against the unstoppable Rodtang.

The Muay-Thai kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter is now slated to face China's Zelang Zhaxi in the opening bout of the main card of ONE 159. Today, however, we'll look at his barnburner classic against 'The Iron Man'.

The bout was quite close and with Rodtang being absolutely dominant in his undefeated run in ONE Championship, we'll study what made Williams' effort different from the rest. Right off the bat, Williams did something most, if not all, of Rodtang's opponents didn't. He willingly met Rodtang inside the pocket.

That would typically be a recipe for disaster for anyone facing the undeniably dangerous Rodtang. Remarkably, Williams was largely successful at it. If not for the knockdown in the second round and the visible damage to his face, we wouldn't have been surprised if Williams got a split decision win.

Let's look and see how 'Mini T' managed to not just survive, but also threaten Rodtang inside the pocket.

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Danial Williams matched Rodtang Jitmuangnon's aggression

If you look at the other fighters who came close to beating Rodtang, like Jonathan Haggerty, Walter Goncalves and Tagir Khalilov, all of them kept their distance, picked their shots and preferred to snipe the champion out. However, Williams didn't.

The most exciting moment was in round 2, when Rodtang Jitmuangnon dropped Williams with a debilitating left hook. For most sane human beings on the planet, once you eat a flush punch from Rodtang, you typically run away like your life depends on it. Not for 'Mini T', however.

Williams, instead of running away, welcomed the "Rodtang Storm" and met the champion in the pocket, swinging with bad intentions. He didn't win all of the exchanges, but the fact that he stood inside the pocket allowed him to connect with a few good licks.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon largely uses his offense as defense, overwhelming his opponents with strikes. If you stay in the pocket with him, however, you might get a chance to connect as the champion doesn't really care much about defense. He even allows his opponents to hit him in the face for fun.

Williams matched Rodtang's aggression inside and managed to keep the fight exciting and close. We're not sure exactly how his intestinal fortitude managed to keep him standing, but it did and it gave the Aussie an edge.

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Danial Williams' courage to fight fire with fire against Rodtang made the difference

This is an intangible aspect of fighting and we understand that the idea of 'courage' is something easier said than done. With all our technical analysis, however, this is perhaps the biggest difference in the fight that we can think of. Williams' willingness to eat shots from Rodtang so he can connect with his own made it difficult for the champion to impose his will dominantly.

'Mini T' wouldn't be as successful in his gameplan if he didn't have an almost madman-like level of bravery.

By the third round, Williams was already going after Rodtang Jitmuangnon as if he wasn't hurt at all. It was absolutely entertaining and harkens back to the slobber-knocker fights of old. He may have lost the fight on the scorecard, but the moral victory here was that Williams was able to make Rodtang think twice about eating a punch from him.

That, in itself, is a remarkable achievement.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon will face Savvas Michael at ONE on Prime Video 1: Moraes vs. Johnson II in the semi-final round of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix tournament. If Michael wants to edge out Rodtang Jitmuangnon, he better study Williams's match against 'The Iron Man'.