"I take full responsibility for my mistake" - Rodtang explains what went wrong in shocking weight miss at ONE 167
ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon says there's no one to blame for him missing weight other than himself. At ONE 167 last weekend, 'The Iron Man' came in 6.25 pounds over the limit for his supposed flyweight kickboxing match with Denis Puric.
The bout pushed through at catchweight and Rodtang still came away with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over 'The Bosnian Menace'.
However, the Thai megastar received flak for failing to meet the demands of the scales. In his ONE 167 post-event interview, Rodtang owned up to his mistake:
"I had time to train, but there's a little bit of mishap too. I thought I had time to make weight and reduce by 1.5 kilograms. I had to do other activities that made me not fully focused on my weight. But all in all, I take full responsibility for my mistake."
Rodtang certainly dealt with a lot of adversity in his return fight from a hand injury. The 26-year-old striker was understandably emotional shortly after getting his hand raised in a tough fight against Puric.
Then again, the greats are determined by how they overcome their shortcomings.
The replay of Rodtang's epic return at ONE 167 is available free on demand for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.
Rodtang denies that his passion for soccer is affecting his fighting career
While speaking to the media, Rodtang also addressed concerns about the amount of time he spends on the football field.
'The Iron Man' has been known to play soccer religiously, and some pundits questioned if it's been cutting into his training time.
Rodtang explained:
"Every time I would go and play, I would train Muay Thai before. When I know I have a fight incoming, I take a break from all of it. For this one, the camp I took was more than one month and a half. I want everyone to know that [non-professionals] cannot play football for a living every day."
Here's the full ONE 167 post-event press conference: