"Two top competitors" - Fans loving Rodtang and Denis Puric's newfound friendship following ONE 167 firefight

ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Muay Thai veteran Denis Puric had one of the best kickboxing bouts of the year at ONE 167 last month.

While both men had no issues trading strikes inside the circle, their mutual respect for one another developed into a full-fledged friendship forged in the fires of competition outside of it.

Check out the before and after of Rodtang and Puric's ONE 167 clash below, as shared by ONE on Instagram:

Fans marveled at the sight of Rodtang and 'The Bosnian Menace' finding common ground and shared their reactions in the post's comments section, which can be read below:

"Maximum respect, great to see 😎"

"Two top competitors, great fight👍"

"Let it out in the ring, forget about it once you go out of it 🙌🔥🔥"

"Rematch in Muay Thai would go crazy"

"That's the point of the whole thing, we make new friends through our fist"

The seeds for their newfound closeness appear to have been planted following their all-out war that 'The Iron Man' won via unanimous decision.

After settling their differences inside the cage, Puric approached Rodtang backstage to console him following the social media backlash that the Thai hero received on social media for missing weight.

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Rodtang set for ONE world title defense in November

Rodtang will have his sixth defense of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship at ONE 169: Atlanta on November 8 inside the State Farm Arena.

Seeking to knock him off the throne is third-ranked ONE flyweight Muay Thai star Jacob Smith. He and Rodtang fought once before in May 2022, which the latter won via unanimous decision.

Two years removed from that defeat, Smith promised to showcase a much better version of himself when he rematches the Thai megastar at ONE 169.

Tickets for ONE 169 are available via Ticketmaster.

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