“My body froze up” – Superlek admits Takeru’s blitzing kick to the liver left him stunned

ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 was in cruise control for most of his five-round duel with Takeru Segawa at ONE 165.

This past Sunday, January 28, both striking icons met in the main event of ONE’s return to Tokyo, Japan. For the 15-minute scrap, they went toe-to-toe in a thrilling war that would go down as an instant classic.

Despite walking away from the contest with a unanimous decision victory, Superlek had to fend off a couple of tricky junctures in the fight, none trickier than the third stanza, during which ‘The Natural Born Crusher’ hit his stride in an attempt to turn things around.

The three-division K-1 world champion, who had his lead leg obliterated, burst into life and utilized his kicking game to push the Thai onto the ropes. Soon, he mixed targets and hit his foe with a clean swipe to the liver – one that ‘The Kicking Machine’ admits left him perplexed.

Speaking on the incident, Superlek told Sportskeeda MMA:

“In that third round, I got connected with a left kick to the liver, and my body kind of froze up. And then, when Takeru started throwing the furry punches, it connected, connected really well. And I was trying not to go down.”

Watch the full interview here:

Despite being on the receiving end of that seismic strike to the midsection, Superlek maintained his usual aggression and worked behind his jab and lightning-quick kicks to get things going in the championship rounds.

In the end, there was only one evident winner in this main event clash as the 28-year-old Thai megastar extended his winning run under the ONE banner to nine in a row.

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Superlek reminds Takeru that he is not here to make up the numbers

Takeru’s attempt at downplaying Superlek’s achievements did not sit well with the Thai star.

Having said he wants Rodtang after the Superlek fight in the lead-up to ONE 165, potentially implying that he has already got the win against ‘The Kicking Machine’ in the bag, the ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion was out to prove a point.

That he just did inside the Ariake Arena, and speaking to Sportskeeda MMA in the same interview, he took another chance to remind the Japanese sensation why he is now the best striker on the planet.

'The Kicking Machine' said:

“This is a good lesson for Takeru. Don’t think I’m a nobody. I'm no stepping stone.”