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Petchmorakot has established himself as one of the best Muay Thai fighters on the planet. However, the ONE featherweight world champion is intent on getting more recognition as he pursues his eighth victory inside the circle.
The Thai will star in the main event of ONE 157 in Singapore on May 20. He'll be defending his belt for the third time against France's Jimmy Vienot.
In an interview with ONE, Petchmorakot named two other stars he wants to emulate with regards to recognition:
“I feel very excited to be back to try to defend my world championship, so that everyone can see that I am still the champion, and I can show my Muay Thai to everyone... I want to make myself known as much as Nong-O [Gaiyanghadao] and Rodtang [Jitmuangnon]. I want to make myself accepted, and I will do that in this fight. I’ll show the world how good I am, so that they can accept me."
Nong-O is expected to defend his ONE bantamweight Muay Thai title against Liam Harrison next. He has also been linked to a high-profile mixed-rules bout against the newly-crowned king of ONE's bantamweight MMA division, John Lineker.
Rodtang, meanwhile, is undoutedly one of the most popular fighters in the sport. He has over 600k followers on Instagram and recently competed against MMA icon Demetrious Johnson in what was the first-ever mixed-rules bout in the history of ONE.
Petchmorakot believes more weapons will mean greater recognition
Petchmorakot recently celebrated the milestone of reaching 40k followers on Instagram. The Petchyindee athlete has been attracting new fans with his ferocious style, which encompasses some of the deadliest knees in the game.
The 28-year-old is intent on cementing his legacy as one of the greatest in the sport - and that means adding more tools to his arsenal.
“I just wanted to change my fighting style by having some punches and elbow strikes added in so that I can be more recognized by the world when I have more weapons... In each fight of mine, everyone will see my new weapons. No one will be able to beat me. I’ll remain number one like this for a long time. My dream is to hold on to my world championship for as long as possible."
His next opponent, Vienot, is a multi-time world champion and will be making his promotional debut when he walks out this month. The Frenchman is also riding an impressive four-fight winning streak.
If Petchmorakot can seal what will be his seventh straight win, it will certainly be an impressive scalp for his already glowing resume.
