Rodtang Jitmuangnon on former opponent Jonathan Haggerty's GP bout at ONE 157

Rodtang Jitmuangnon may be focused on his upcoming match, but he can’t deny that the clash between Jonathan Haggerty and Walter Goncalves will also be a fun matchup.

The two fighters will meet in a quarterfinal pairing of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix at ONE 157: Petchmorakot vs. Vienot on Friday, May 20.

‘The Iron Man’ has already faced both men in the circle before and knows just what they are capable of when they step into battle.

In an interview with SCMP MMA, Rodtang shared his thoughts on the matchup, noting that it can be quite difficult to predict a clear winner between them.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon said:

“I think it will be a good fight. Both of them have already lost to me, but it’s up to how they prepared their gameplan. If Walter is aggressive, maybe Haggerty will have a hard time. But if Walter is not aggressive and counter-striking, Haggerty will be the one coming on top. So it’s up to them, how they approach [the match], but it will be a great fight to watch.”

Catch the full interview below:

Rodtang Jitmuangnon is not looking too far ahead in the tournament

Rodtang Jitmuangnon has grand aspirations of winning the entire tournament and adding more hardware to his trophy collection.

Holding the world title and having an undefeated ONE Super Series record would also give anyone the same self-confidence that the Thai superstar exudes.

However, he understands that his match against Jacob Smith at ONE 157 is just the beginning of his journey to the top of the tournament. As such, he declined to name a particular opponent that he would like to see in the final round of the Grand Prix, choosing instead to focus on what's directly in front of him first.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon said:

“I think I would like to focus on one fight at a time, I want to pass this first fight. My opponent, he’s really good. We almost fought once in the past. His style is similar to [mine]. He’s aggressive, [has a] good low kick and punches. He’s got good technique, so that’s why I really need to focus. I apologize if I cannot give you [an] answer because I just want to focus on one person at a time. If I just say [a name] and I cannot [reach the finals], then it woudn’t look good.”

Rodtang's GP journey begins this Friday, May 20 at ONE 157.