"That's when Takeru realized he was being dominated" - Superlek says his punishing kicks forced Takeru to change strategy

Superlek Kiatmoo9 proved why they call him 'The Kicking Machine' in his last fight at ONE 165 in Tokyo, Japan.

His first fight of the year came as a replacement for injured flyweight Muay Thai king Rodtang Jitmuangnon, and it was one he would go on to remember for a long time.

The ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion put his title on the line against debuting star Takeru Segawa in front of the Japanese fans inside the Ariake Arena.

Both men showed a lot of heart in the fight but, ultimately, the contest was decided early on by an onslaught of leg kicks delivered to Takeru's foundation.

The world champion came into the fight with the clear goal to take away his opponent's footwork and base for generating power in his strikes.

Superlek told JSL Global Media in a recent interview that he believes the game plan forced his opponent into changing up his approach but that didn't deter him from hammering away with the kicks:

"That's when Takeru realized he was being dominated. He quickly changed his game to focus on punching. But I still stuck to my game plan, focused on kicking him until his leg was badly hurt."

Watch the full interview below:

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Superlek put on another kicking masterclass at ONE 165

Takeru had his moments in the fight where he was able to demonstrate his lighting fast hand speed. However, it wasn't enough to overcome the kicking game of Superlek.

The low kicks caused some significant injuries to the Japanese superstar, making it impressive in the first place that he was able to go the distance after withstaining so much damage.

There aren't many fighters that would have been able to hang in there after falling victim to that many leg strikes but that is the heart and toughness of Takeru.

At the same time, there are very few fighters that could have that much success against the former K-1 star but then again, there's only one man in the martial arts realm known as 'The Kicking Machine'.

North American viewers with an active Prime Video subscription can rewatch all the action from ONE 165 via the free event replay.