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If there's a man who encapsulates perfection in ONE Championship, it has to be Nong-O Hama.
The reigning ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion holds a perfect 10-0 record in ONE Championship, with eight of those wins happening in world title fights. While several people have tried to dethrone the Thai legend, none have succeeded or even come close to the feat.
Jonathan Haggerty, the former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion, will look to achieve the nearly impossible goal on April 21 at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
As we head into that explosive card, which will be aired live and for free to North American Prime Video subscribers, let’s look back at the three fights that pushed Nong-O into a galaxy of his own.
#3. Nong-O starts his reign against Han Zi Hao
Nong-O was two fights deep into his run when he was presented with the opportunity to fight for the inaugural ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world title in 2019.
Facing the Thai megastar was Chinese striker Han Zi Hao at ONE: Clash of Legends in February 2019. Taking on Nong-O was a hard enough task, but competing in front of a raucous Bangkok crowd also put Han at a massive disadvantage.
The fight, too, proved to be a reflection of just how far Nong-O was in terms of skill and experience.
Nong-O immediately went to work and knocked Han down in the first round with a blitz of an elbow. From that point on, it was clear as day that the Thai legend was on his way to becoming the inaugural ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world champion.
#2. A masterclass against Saemapetch Fairtex
Nong-O’s perfect 10-0 record is as perfect as anything in this world, it’s also perfectly balanced in terms of how he won that decalogue of matches.
His first five fights in ONE Championship ended in dominant unanimous decisions, while his last five all came via knockouts. Those string of stoppages began in November 2019 when he defended the bantamweight Muay Thai crown against fellow Thai fighter Saemapetch Fairtex at ONE: Edge of Greatness.
Singapore Indoor Stadium played host to the world title fight between the Thai compatriots, and Nong-O showed why he’s in a class of his own.
Nong-O was a blistering machine of strikes and he quickly put down Saemapetch twice in the final 45 seconds of the second round. Saemapetch was able to recover in the third, but that proved to be a false pretense for the Fairtex Gym standout.
Heading into the final minute of the fourth, Nong-O blasted Saemapetch with a thunderous straight right that immediately ended the contest.
#1. Alaverdi Ramazanov realizes his hubris
When ONE Championship started its ONE Friday Fights series at the iconic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok, the promotion knew the perfect man to headline such an event.
Nong-O was already a multi-time Lumpinee Stadium world champion and he was tasked to headline ONE Friday Fights 1 opposite Russian striker Alaverdi Ramazanov.
While Nong-O was already an established name in the mythical arena, Ramazanov did his part in becoming the perfect heel. The faceoff had the typical mean-mugging between the competitors, but Ramazanov pushed the envelope further when he did the gun gesture and pointed at the Thai legend.
Ramazanov’s confidence, though, proved to be his downfall.
The 5-foot-11 Russian was on target in the first two rounds, using his height and reach advantage to tag Nong-O, who was four inches shorter, from afar.
Feeding off his early offense, Ramazanov tried to push further but Nong-O already had him trapped in the third. Nong-O started chopping away at Ramazanov’s midsection throughout the round, and the crowd at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium immediately knew that their hometown hero had the fight in his hands.
Nong-O sensed that Ramazanov was fading, and he quickly pounced on the opportunity and bludgeoned the Russian’s body further to score the knockout win and retain the ONE bantamweight Muay Thai world championship.
