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Rodtang Jitmuangnon is deep in training, preparing for his upcoming special rules super-fight with mixed martial arts legend Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson.
The 24-year-old is hard at work in the gym, sharpening his tools. He will undoubtedly be working on his grappling skills in order to be able to stand in the Circle opposite one of the most highly skilled grapplers in all of MMA.
Rodtang will face Johnson at ONE: X, ONE Championship’s historic 10-year anniversary extravaganza. The multi-part event is slated to be broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Saturday, March 26.
The special rules super-fight consists of four rounds of alternating rulesets. Rounds one and three will be contested under the ONE Super Series Muay Thai ruleset, while rounds two and four will be contested under ONE Championship’s global MMA ruleset.
In a recent interview with ONE Championship, Rodtang shared his initial thoughts on the matchup and how his training is coming along. He said:
“I’ve spent a lot of time training in mixed martial arts. I definitely want to see the result of that training. Whether it works out for me or not, we’ll see. I have worked on my ground game a lot, particularly my submission defense. But of course, I still prefer striking since I am more confident with it. If it does go to the ground, we’ll see if my training is enough to survive against one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.”
Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Demetrious Johnson: Striker vs. Grappler
Can Rodtang Jitmuangnon handle Demetrious Johnson’s wrestling? That certainly seems to be the nagging question, especially if ‘Mighty Mouse’ somehow makes it out of the first round.
This isn’t the first fight of its kind. Former ONE lightweight world champion Shinya Aoki took on K-1 World Max tournament winner Yuichiro Nagashima when he was with DREAM. Aoki ended up surviving the first round under the kickboxing ruleset.
Aoki found success in avoiding a striking battle with the striker, instead opting to play defense and clinch when it was available to him. However, Aoki shockingly lost by knockout just moments into the second round, which was under the MMA ruleset.
It goes to show that, in this sort of hybrid-rules matchup, anything can happen. Johnson could end up knocking Rodtang out, or Rodtang could end up submitting ‘Mighty Mouse'. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility.
