Thailand’s ‘Smokin’ Jo Nattawut is still getting used to wearing four ounce gloves for Muay Thai

Thailand’s “Smokin” Jo Nattawut is one of the most decorated Muay Thai practitioners to take his talents to the ONE Super Series stage.

A two-division Lion Fight Muay Thai World Champion, Nattawut is no stranger to mixing it up inside the ring, but he admits that with the slight differences with the ONE Super Series Muay Thai competition, he is still adjusting.

“The thing is I haven’t been hit yet, so I’m enjoying it for now,” Nattawut shared, talking about wearing four-ounce mixed martial arts gloves to a Muay Thai bout. “It won’t last forever. One day, I’m going to get hit. We’ll see about that, but I’m getting used to it because you have to move differently in the small gloves. You’ve got to be different.”

“The way you see things and the way you come in, it’s different than with boxing gloves. But I’m getting used to it. I’m training with these gloves, and the way I hit, I like that. “With these four-ounce gloves, it’s just about who is going to get hit first,” he continued.

After falling in his ONE Super Series debut to kickboxing icon Giorgio Petrosyan, Nattawut shifted to the ONE Super Series Muay Thai path, and has since been undefeated, knocking out Yohann Fairtex Drai in one round, and then coasted to a unanimous decision win over George Mann four months later to close out 2018 in style.

Now, with another big year ahead of him, the 29-year old Nattawut is looking to continue the momentum in 2019.

At ONE: CLASH OF LEGENDS on Saturday, 16 February in Bangkok, Thailand, Nattawut faces France’s Samy “AK47” Sana in what is sure to be an exciting matchup.

“He’s a crazy guy. He walks forward and fires off everything,” said Nattawut of his upcoming opponent. “We’re very much the same. I like to walk forward and bring the fight, too. I like the way he fights, and I like to watch him fight. It’s fun, and it will be fun to watch.”

Nattawut and Sana, two of the best strikers in the world, are set to showcase their skills in front of a fanbase that knows all about strikes in Bangkok.

The US-based Thai elaborated on what the fans can expect from his upcoming bout.

“This is real striking. We just march forward, and then we’re going to throw everything. We have so much speed and power, so you don’t know what’s going to happen. But if I hit him first, then we know what’s going to happen.”

“I just want to do good in every fight,” he says. “When this fight is done, I’ll move onto the next one,” he concluded.