5 of Rodtang Jitmuangnon's most memorable performances in ONE Championship
You'll never find ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a boring fight. The Thai wrecking ball doesn’t have it in him to be timid inside the Circle. The ferocity with which Rodtang moves forward, eats his opponents' shots and throws his own combinations is scary to watch.
This is why the ONE world champion is one of the most, if not the most, recognizable and well-known Muay Thai fighters today. If Marvin Hagler and Mike Tyson had an Asian child and he learned Muay Thai, that would be Rodtang. This man is excitement personified.
Rodtang is currently undefeated in ONE Super Series and from the looks of things, it doesn't seem like that's going to change any time soon. Today, we'll look at 5 of Rodtang Jitmuangnon's most memorable fights in ONE.
These are the kinds of fights that can turn any new viewer into an instant fan. With that said, let's get on with the list.
#5. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Demetrious Johnson (ONE X)
Despite this fight being a loss for Rodtang, that doesn't mean it's not one of his most memorable. This was mostly due to the fact that this fight with the flyweight MMA legend and ONE Flyweight World Grand Prix winner Demetrious Johnson is the first mixed-rules bout in the promotion. It's also just the second fight of its kind to be showcased in a major MMA event.
The bout, which was fought in the historic ONE X event, was fought under mixed rules. Rounds 1 and 3 were Muay Thai, while rounds 2 and 4 were MMA. Johnson is largely considered to be the greatest MMA fighter of all time, achieving greatness in almost all facets of the game.
While fighting Rodtang, however, DJ was commended for surviving the first round with the legendary Thai. That's how well-respected and feared Rodtang is in Muay Thai. The second round saw DJ no longer messing with the stand-up with Rodtang and immediately going for the takedown and the sub.
Despite this being a loss, Rodtang was showcased as a frightening marauder in front of a global audience. He made one of the greatest and most well-known fighters in the world go into survival mode in the Circle with him. That's why this deserves a spot on our list.
Watch the full fight here:
#4. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Danial Williams (ONE on TNT 1)
This fight was awarded the 2021 ONE Super Series Fight of the Year. The fight between Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Australian fighter Danial 'Mini T' Williams, was an absolute barnburner with both fighters not backing down an inch.
Though it was clear that it was Rodtang who was the one swinging the hammer in the fight, what made this war so special was how much heart Williams showed. Battered but never beaten, Williams ate everything Rodtang threw at him and fought back bravely.
If the commentators are commending you for your heart, however, this usually means that your opponent is beating the crap out of you. That's exactly what Rodtang did here. This was straight world-class savagery by the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion from start to finish.
Watch the full fight here:
#3. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jacob Smith (ONE 157)
At ONE 157, Rodtang showed the world why he is one of the most dominant world champions the sport has ever seen.
Jumping into a pool of sharks to take part in the inaugural ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, the Thai living legend showed the world why he is to be feared. In his quarterfinal bout against the UK's Jacob Smith, Rodtang showed a new, much more frightening side to him: a patient assassin.
The fight was expected to be a back-and-forth brawl between the two powerhouses but instead, we saw a one-sided beatdown courtesy of the Thai dynamo.
We didn't see the anger and aggression Rodtang has been known for in his career. He was a relaxed, almost stoic hitman who had a gameplan and stuck to it flawlessly. The calculated pressure that Rodtang put on Smith piled up over the rounds until the Brit was wearing a crimson mask.
It was a clear-cut unanimous decision win and was perhaps the most well-balanced performance we've seen from Rodtang so far.
Watch the full fight here:
#2. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jonathan Haggerty II (ONE: A New Tomorrow)
Rodtang Jitmuangnon had quite the rivalry with former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Jonathan 'The General' Haggerty, the man he took the belt from. While their first fight was an instant classic, it was their rematch that officially introduced Rodtang into the elite of the sport today.
bit.ly/Watch157Will we see Rodtang vs. Haggerty III? 👀
#ONE157 | 20 May | How To Watch 👉 bit.ly/Watch157 https://t.co/i2LlSCaJCt
Much like their first fight, the two went at it from the get-go in their rematch. It was quite literally a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots fight. The two traded debilitating kicks, knees, elbows and punches with each other until someone wilted.
In the rematch, however, Rodtang Jitmuangnon found a glaring chink in Haggerty's armor: his weakness for body shots. And so the Thai superstar proceeded to murder the Brit's mid-section. The shift in focus paid off as the former divisional king went down three times consecutively, handing Rodtang the automatic TKO victory.
Watch the full fight here:
#1. Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Sok Thy (ONE: Warriors of Light)
Here it is. If you want to convert someone into an instant Rodtang Jitmuangnon fan after watching just one of his fights, show them this one. His methodical and rather savage destruction of Cambodia's of Sok Thy via his leg kicks defines everything we love about Rodtang. He is a man of sheer power, aggression, and grit.
This devastating TKO win by 'The Iron Man' gave him his much-deserved title shot and it's easy to see why.
The fight took place in 2019. Right from the opening bell, Rodtang Jitmuangnon stalked his prey while throwing kicks that could cut down a tree. Slowly and purposefully, the then-future ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion made the Circle feel smaller for Thy, who looked increasingly desperate as the fight wore on.
Once the Thai fighter saw that the Cambodian couldn't handle his leg kicks, he increased the aggression in that department. Rodtang's repeated battery of Thy's legs en route to a TKO win is as rough as it gets in this sport.
Watch the full fight here: