"You'll see me against a better MMA fighter in the future" – Rodtang eager to carry on with transition from Muay Thai to MMA

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Rodtang Jitmuangnon eyes more MMA fights in ONE Championship. [Photo: ONE Championship]

Rodtang Jitmuangnon will not be changing his plans to pursue a career in mixed martial arts, despite going down to a submission loss against Demetrious Johnson at ONE X last Saturday.

The Thai took to Instagram to reassure fans that he'll continue honing his craft in the all-encompassing sport.

With the help of a friend and translator, the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion responded to various questions, most of which focused on whether or not he'll continue in MMA.

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“You’ll see me against a better MMA fighter in the future. I will still continue to train my grappling, improve my ground game, and be better at MMA.”

The ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion is a complete athlete in the striking department. But his efficiency on the feet doesn't automatically equal success in MMA.

Rodtang knows this, and he seems more than happy to balance his Muay Thai training with Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.

However, he does feel slight remorse for failing to hang with Demetrious Johnson on the canvas for as long as he would have liked to in their special rules matchup.

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“I’m sorry to my fans for the loss. DJ’s technique and MMA was too good. If you got no control of [your opponent’s] wrist or no grappling [skills] when your neck is in the choke, you [will] die.”

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Rodtang reveals his plan to survive MMA round against Johnson

In the same Instagram Live video, Rodtang revealed that his game plan in the MMA frame was to keep an eye out for Johnson’s takedowns and avoid them at all costs.

'The Iron Man’ said:

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"The plan was to try and keep the distance, circle around Johnson, and keep an eye out for his takedowns.”

Unfortunately for the ONE Super Series star, he couldn't pull it off against ‘Mighty Mouse’.

The American MMA veteran scored a takedown just over a minute into the second round and worked his way to a rear-naked choke to secure the win.

Johnson's win, meanwhile, should give him some much-needed confidence before his next fight in ONE. In his last MMA appearance, the ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix Champion was put to sleep by longtime division king Adriano Moraes.

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