Danial Williams admits he felt like ‘a fish out of water’ during Superlek fight

Coming into ONE Fight Night 8, Danial Williams was preparing to face Portugal’s Rui Botelho at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.

His preparations were thrown out the window following a massive change to the card that showed Williams’ character as a fighter.

Stepping in to replace the injured Rodtang Jitmuangnon, ‘Mini T’ found himself in the main event, challenging Superlek Kiatmoo9 for the ONE flyweight kickboxing world title.

Attempting to stop the dominant run of the champion with no time to prepare, it was fair to say that the odds were stacked against him. However, Williams chose to gamble on himself to try and save the event.

In an entertaining contest, the Australian-Thai striker came up short against ‘The Kicking Machine’, being stopped in the third round.

Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda MMA about how the opportunity played out from his perspective, Danial Williams admitted that he was out of his depth on that occasion:

“I was trying to stick straight away with my power. I just did not carry forward, and I was doing a whole new game plan, which I never prepared for before. I just felt that I was slightly out of my comfort zone. It was a fish out of water in that fire.”

What he gained from that fight was the love and admiration of the fans and some valuable experience that he will carry into his next clash.

At ONE Fight Night 15 on Friday, October 6, Williams will once again step into the fire - with more time to prepare on this occasion - to challenge for Jonathan Di Bella's ONE strawweight kickboxing world championship.

The stacked card will air live and free in U.S. primetime for North American viewers with an active Amazon Prime Video subscription.