British slugger Jacob Smith knew what he had signed himself up for in his promotional bow on the global stage of ONE Championship against Rodtang Jitmuangnon at ONE 157 in May 2022.
The Bad Company and Thaifist product, unfortunately, had a debut to forget as 'The Iron Man' outstriked him throughout their nine-minute ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix Championship quarterfinal clash inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
While there were some shortcomings on his end, Smith refused to take anything away from the Thai fighter, who walked away with a well-deserved win on the scorecards.
Looking back on the fight during a chat with Sportskeeda MMA, the Liverpool native said:
"I knew he wasn't going to show any respect to me in there. But I also know he knew how tough I just was and he seemed ready for an absolute war."
Jacob Smith pumped to run it back with Rodtang in Atlanta
Despite strapping on the four-ounce gloves and going up against someone of Rodang's caliber in his debut, the 32-year-old's hardy style won the hearts of many.
Smith has since picked up his first win under the ONE banner against Walter Goncalves via first-round knockout, and he'll look to build on that impressive display when he runs it back against Rodtang, this time for the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title, at ONE 169: Atlanta on Nov. 8.
On his initial reaction to receiving the offer, Jacob Smith had this to say in the same interview:
"My initial reaction to getting the Rodtang fight was excitement. I was absolutely made up [delighted]. I was really happy that ONE Championship gave me this fight. Yeah, that was my initial thoughts."
Rodtang vs Jacob Smith will be one of four world title matchups on the promotion's stacked return to North America. Tickets for ONE 169: Atlanta are available on Ticketmaster.