Rodtang says attention will be on dream fight with Takeru after ONE 169: "Right after Jacob Smith, I will focus on that fight"
It's certainly not uncommon for Rodtang Jitmuangnon to go from a big fight straight into another big fight. Such is the profile of the Thai superstar that he's always involved in massive contests that attract a lot of eyes.
This is no different for 'The Iron Man' ahead of his return at ONE 169, where he was scheduled to put his ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship on the line.
On Nov. 8 at Lumpinee Stadium, he faces Jacob Smith in a rematch of their first fight from 2022. Unfortunately, after missing weight, the champion has been stripped of his title, though the fight will still go ahead at a catchweight.
While the champion is focused on beating the Brit for a second time, there's another fight looming overhead that the fans are very excited about.
Rodtang was set to collide with Japanese kickboxing star Takeru Segawa earlier this year but an injury to the Muay Thai world champion stopped it from happening.
The two men are now closer than ever to rescheduling the bout and have already signed an agreement for it to take place in the near future.
However, the champion believes that this isn't affecting his focus for the challenge that is right in front of him, as he told Nick Atkin during fight week:
"Absolutely not. I'm the kind of person focuses fight by fight. So it comes naturally to me to just focus on each fight. So right after Jacob Smith, I will focus on that fight."
Watch the full interview below:
Rodtang has respect for Jacob Smith
Rodtang may always be incredibly confident but that doesn't mean he underestimates his opponents.
This is clear in his mentality regarding ONE 169 and his rematch with Jacob Smith.
The challenger believes that he will face the best version of the former world champion. That's because in their first meeting, he got a focused and dialled in opponent.
'The Iron Man' has echoed this so any possibility of him being distracted by other options seems unlikely.