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Top-ranked Superlek Kiatmoo9 wasted no time against Walter Goncalves to advance to the final of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix, knocking out the No.5-ranked contender in their semifinal match at ONE on Prime Video 1 on Friday night.
The Thai superstar had the Singapore Indoor Stadium crowd on their feet when he sent Goncalves to the shadow realm with a sharp elbow strike that ended the fight just 1:35 into the first round.
Superlek, the No.1-ranked flyweight Muay Thai contender, and Goncalves didn’t need much time to gauge each other with both fighters immediately going on the offensive following the opening bell.
It was Superlek, though, who landed the bigger and more punishing strikes when tagging the Brazilian star with some nasty combinations in just the first minute of the bout.
After scoring a quick knockdown in the early going, Superlek was clearly the superior fighter.
Goncalves survived the first knockdown, getting back up to his feet as quickly as possible, however, this gave the Brazilian false confidence, and Superlek went on a headhunting mission shortly after which he eventually produced the exciting finish.
The win not only pushed Superlek to the final round of the prestigious tournament, but also allowed him to secure the first $50,000 performance bonus of the night.
Superlek Kiatmoo9 knew exactly what Goncalves would do
Superlek Kiatmoo9 is the quintessential martial artist who did his homework weeks before he clashed with Goncalves.
The Thai star knew exactly what Goncalves’s style is and this prior knowledge practically gave him the advantage even before the circle door closed.
In his post-fight interview with Mitch Chilson, Superlek said he expected what Goncalves would do, therefore he built his offensive assault around his opponent’s style.
Superlek Kiatmoo9 said:
“I definitely indeed expected that this would be a quick one, so I prepared my weapon. That is exactly what we planned earlier because we knew that he’s a quick fighter and he’s going to attack quickly so this is what we set out to do.”
