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ONE Championship chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has a ‘gut feeling’ he has a potential banger on his hands right now, especially if he can make it happen in the ‘land of the rising sun.’
Sityodtong appeared on South China Morning Post’s YouTube channel yesterday, and talked about Japanese kickboxing icon Takeru Segawa. He said Takeru has been ‘itching’ to make his ONE Championship debut.
Of course, the fight to make is obviously between Takeru and ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion ‘The Iron Man’ Rodtang Jitmuangnon. The fight could potentially go down as the bigest fight in Japan's rich martial arts history, which is why Sityodtong is so intent on putting it together.
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Sityodtong said he would try his best to make it happen. He told SCMP MMA:
“Yeah, we definitely want to do Rodtang-Takeru, but you know these big fights, just like Rodtang and Superlek, they take a lot of coordination because there are a lot of parties involved, believe it or not, to try to make it happen. So we'll see. We'll see. You know, I'm optimistic but I don't want to announce anything until everything is signed and done.”
But if Rodtang isn’t available, Sityodtong said Takeru would be perfectly okay taking on any of the top strikers on the ONE roster in his home country. The ONE Championship head honcho added:
“I think it would be Japan. You know, that's my gut right now. We'd love to do it in Tokyo. Takeru is the biggest combat sports star after Tenshin [Nasukawa] went to boxing, Takeru has become the face of combat sports whereas Tenshin is now the face of boxing in Japan.”
Rodtang Jitmuangnon returns on Friday, September 22 to headline ONE Friday Fights 34. He is set to defend his ONE flyweight Muay Thai gold against fellow Thai star and ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion ‘The Kicking Machine’ Superlek Kiatmoo9.
The event is available to fans in the United States and Canada via the ONE Super App, ONE Championship’s official YouTube channel, and other digital platforms.
