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Who gets kicked in the head and smiles afterwards? ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon, apparently.
Sparring with fellow ONE Muay Thai champion and featherweight kickboxing king Superbon Singha Mawynn, Rodtang seemed to be having lots of fun.
In a Twitter video posted by Beyond Kickboxing, the two Muay Thai legends went at it in a playful spar.
Traditional Thai fighters, before reaching the age of 25, would commonly have fought upwards of 300 fights already. It's quite commonplace for them to "play" spar in the gym, throwing perfect technical strikes but with very little to no power behind them. This is how they remain fresh and undamaged while preparing in-between so many fights every year.
Still, even if these two world champions were pulling their punches, we can assure you that a normal human being wouldn't be able to take them.
Watch them sparring here:
You can clearly see the stylistic differences between the two masters. Rodtang Jitmuangnon prefers boxing in the pocket while throwing hard leg kicks inside. Superbon, on the other hand, throws head kicks and knees inside, since he is the taller and lengthier fighter.
Just look at the dexterity of Superbon's legs. The man can connect with a head kick from incredibly close range.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon steamrolls Jacob Smith to advance to the semi-finals of ONE flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix
Last month at ONE 157, Rodtang reminded everyone why he is the dominant ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion.
'The Iron Man' took part in the inaugural ONE flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix, despite not really needing to since he is already the champion. Still, the Thai sensation went out there to prove something and that he did at ONE 157.
Against what most consider his most formidable opponent stylewise, Rodtang Jitmuangnon utterly beat the UK's Jacob Smith from pillar to post. Though the fight was expected to be a mid-point collission between two unstoppable powerhouses, what we saw was a violently dominant decimation.
It was a one-sided beatdown, with Rodtang mostly swinging the hammer. We didn't see the overly wild and frightening Rodtang of the past. Instead, we saw a calculated, more technical champion that employed controlled chaos all throughout.
After his bloody, dominant win, Rodtang advanced to the semi-finals to face Savvas 'The Baby Face Killer' Michael. Something tells us that Rodtang will bring his new flavor of violence in that fight.
