Takeru Segawa wants to represent Japanese combat sports in ONE Championship

Japanese kickboxing sensation Takeru Segawa hopes to represent his country as he begins a new chapter with ONE Championship.

Last month, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong revealed that the former three-division K-1 world champion had signed with the promotion. Appearing at a ONE Championship press event, Segawa spoke about signing with the promotion and what he hopes to accomplish. Namely, doing his country proud and bringing more exposure to combat sports in Japan:

“As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to ONE as a representative of Japan,” Segawa said. “I have the pride of having fought in K-1 and being the K-1 champion. By my success, I want K-1 and Japanese fighters to receive more attention, and I want the Japanese combat sports world to become more exciting.”

For those that don’t know, Takeru Segawa is widely considered to be the greatest kickboxing alive. Competing under the K-1 banner for nearly a decade, the ‘Natural Born Crusher’ captured the K-1 super featherweight, featherweight, and super bantamweight championships, becoming the first and only fighter to hold titles in three different divisions in the history of K-1.

ONE Championship has not yet announced a date or opponent for Segawa’s highly anticipated promotional debut, but one man already has his sights set on squaring off with the Japanese legend.

Following his impressive second-round knockout against Edgar Tabares at ONE Fight Night 10, Rodtang Jitmuangnon called out Segawa for a potential clash inside the Circle. Fans for years have debated who would win between the two striking sensations. It now looks like we may be closer than ever to seeing the dream match become a reality.

Who do you think wins between ‘The Iron Man’ and Takeru Segawa?