"There's been a lot of changes" - Jacob Smith says he tweaked his defensive game to hang with Rodtang at ONE 169
Jacob Smith is confident that he has made the correct adjustments to ensure a different outcome in his upcoming rematch.
The Bad Company and Thafist fighter believes that he has become a far better and more defined Muay Thai striker during his time in ONE Championship.
His debut with the promotion was a trial by fire as he faced off with the biggest star in the sport, Rodtang Jitmuangnon. Smith's toughness saw him make it through the fight but he wasn't able to make it competitive. Still, he believes this will be far from the truth at ONE 169.
On Nov. 8 at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, they meet again with Rodtang's ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship on the line.
In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post ahead of the fight, the challenger spoke about one of the key areas that he has made significant improvements in since his first meeting with the world champion:
"I didn't move my feet once, I didn't move my head once. I stood in front of him with the long guard and I realized you can't use the long guard as a main defensive tool in 4-ounce gloves. So there's been a lot of changes, adaptions, to the defensive game which will show on the 8th of November."
Watch the full interview below:
Jacob Smith expects a high level encounter at ONE 169
Being defensively sound is so important for Jacob Smith if he's going to take the crown from Rodtang on Nov. 8.
'The Iron Man' is incredibly dangerous and often very aggressive when trying to pressure opponents and break them down.
Though this can make him reckless from time to time, Jacob Smith does not believe that he will face the careless version of the world champion in their rematch.
He believes that the champ respects him too much to come out all guns blazing, meaning that we could be in for a tactical and technical battle.
ONE 169 will be available to active Amazon Prime Video subscribers in North America live in U.S. primetime for free this Friday, Nov. 8.