“I don’t see it going any other way” – Johan Ghazali says Tawanchai’s Muay Thai weapons will be too much for Jo Nattawut

Malaysian-American Muay Thai sensation Johan Ghazali recently gave his thoughts on the upcoming rematch between Tawanchai PK Saenchai and Jo Nattawut at ONE 167 on June 7th.

Ghazali, who will also fight on the same card, says the shift from kickboxing to Muay Thai will benefit Tawanchai, as he will be defending his ONE featherweight Muay Thai world title.

Ghazali told Sportskeeda MMA:

“With this being in Muay Thai, I believe Tawanchai is going to use all that extra weapons, you know, the heavy elbows, knees, kicks, and everything, to just attack through Jo Nattawut. I don’t see it going any other way, really.”

Johan Ghazali's prediction holds water. With the rematch happening on Tawanchai's turf, which is Muay Thai, elbows, clinch strikes, and kick-catching will be allowed. This will significantly change the dynamics of every exchange, as opposed to the more limited ruleset of kickboxing.

Conversely, however, this change in rules can also be used by Nattawut to his advantage. We'll just have to see who takes advantage of it more on fight night.

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Jo Nattawut shocked the world by handing Tawanchai one of his hardest fights last year

While their first fight happened under kickboxing rules which bans a lot of Muay Thai techniques, it doesn't mean that it was boring. It was quite the opposite. Nattawut came in as a late-notice replacement for Superbon, who was originally set to face the world champion at ONE Fight Night 15.

With little time to prepare and coming out of back-to-back losses, 'Smokin' Jo was given little chance to win against the untouchable Thai featherweight king. He may have used this to his advantage as he surprised everyone - his opponent included - by unleashing attacks like a bat out of hell.

With nothing much to lose, Nattawut attacked the world champion like a demon and gave him more problems than most of his past opponents combined. Still, the world champion showed why he's the king by adjusting his game plan and pulling off a close decision victory.

ONE 167: Stamp vs Zamboanga will air live on US Primetime on June 7, free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America.