ONE Championship: Rodtang misses weight badly for ONE 167 fight, opponent Denis Puric reacts
Rodtang Jitmuangnon was the biggest casualty of Thursday's ONE Championship weigh-ins in Bangkok, on a night of high drama at The Peninsula hotel.
'The Iron Man' came in for his first attempt with less than half an hour to go in the official three-hour window, but failed his hydration test.
He then stepped on the scales 3.5 pounds over the flyweight limit (135 pounds), shaking his head, and did not return to retest within the official window. His ONE 167 kickboxing co-main event against Denis Puric at Impact Arena on Saturday morning could now be in doubt.
Rodtang later returned more than two hours after the end of the testing window and narrowly passed hydration with a reading of 0.0244 – just under the 0.0250 threshold.
He then weighed in officially at 141.25 pounds – 6.25 pounds over the flyweight limit – with Puric now left to decide whether he will accept a catchweight that is closer to the division above the one they were scheduled to fight in.
The 39-year-old can ask for a minimum of 25 per cent of Rodtang’s hefty 10 million baht (US$270,000) purse.
'The Bosnian Menace' earlier made weight with no problems ahead of the biggest fight of his career. Speaking to Sportskeeda in the aftermath of Rodtang's miss, Puric didn't hold back, branding his Thai opponent unprofessional:
"I really don't know what to say. I want to be humble and just say nothing. But come on man. Hydration and weight. That's their superstar bro. It's not professional."
Liam Harrison and Katsuki Kitano also both failed to pass checks for their bantamweight Muay Thai fight.
Rodtang's history with missing weight in ONE
Rodtang also missed weight for his last kickboxing fight, also at Bangkok’s Impact Arena, against Jiduo Yibu of China in January 2023.
Five months earlier he did not even give a hydration sample for his flyweight Grand Prix semi-final against Savvas Michael, and was replaced by Panpayak Jitmuangnon. Sportskeeda understands he arrived in Singapore for that fight badly overweight.
ONE Championship also flew in Superlek Kiatmoo9 as a back-up for the ONE Fight Night 10 co-main event in Denver in May 2023, with Rodtang believed to be in danger of missing weight for his fight against Edgar Tabares.
He managed to avoid losing his belt on the scale in Colorado and went on to retain his title via second-round knockout in what was his most recent title defence.