WATCH: Tawanchai’s picturesque head kick KO of Sean Clancy to kick things off on the global stage
Before Tawanchai returns to the Circle for a highly anticipated trilogy fight with 'Smokin' Jo Nattawaut, ONE Championship is looking back at where it all began for the reigning ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion.
With 10 fights inside the Circle and 133 career wins to his credit, Tawanchai is considered to be one of the best P4P strikers on the planet. It's almost crazy to think that the Thai sensation made his promotional debut just three short years ago in an entertaining clash with Sean Clancy at ONE: Dangal in May 2021.
Today, we look back at Tawanchai's epic third-round knockout of 'Clubber' in a fight that would set the stage for one of the greatest runs in ONE history.
Four fights later, he would shock the world with a unanimous decision victory over Petchmorakot Petchyindee to claim the ONE featherweight Muay Thai title.
Since then, he has successfully defended the crown three times, besting Jamal Yusupov, Superbon, and most recently, Jo Nattawut in a critically acclaimed, albeit somewhat controversial decision.
After securing back-to-back wins against Jo Nattawut in kickboxing and Muay Thai, the two will run it back on Friday, November 8 when ONE Championship heads to State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia for a massive ONE 169 card.
In the co-main event of the evening, Tawanchai is expected to put his featherweight Muay Thai strap on the line against Nattawut once again after seemingly everyone—including ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong—believes that the judges got it wrong during their ONE 167 showdown.
"I thought Jo Nattawut won," Sityodtong said during the post-fight press conference. "It was a very close fight, very close. But I thought Jo did enought to win. For me, I would have gone to damage. Tawanchai had more damage on him that Jo did."
Who leaves 'Hotland' with 26 pounds of gold when two of ONE Championship's most devastating strikers throw hands for a third and final time?
Following this link to register for ONE 169: Atlanta pre-sale tickets.