Muay Thai’s Pound-For-Pound King Returns To U.S. Primetime For ONE 161

Much like its 10th-anniversary extravaganza back in March, ONE Championship is expected to stack the bout lineup for its maiden offering on Amazon Prime Video—numbered “ONE 161”—with the who’s who on its active roster.

Attesting to the importance of the occasion is its feature mixed martial arts attraction as ONE flyweight champion Adriano Moraes of Brazil will run it back with American rival and former UFC 125-pound kingpin Demetrious Johnson.

Most recently, the aforementioned combat sports organization added another luminary to the highly-anticipated card, which airs live in U.S. primetime on Friday, August 26 from the 12,000-capacity Singapore Indoor Stadium.

The American audience will once again get to see Rodtang Jitmuangnon, who is universally regarded as the best pound-for-pound Muay Thai fighter in the world today, strut his wares inside the cage.

Rodtang—the reigning ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion—made his first impression on a U.S. primetime broadcast when he figured in a three-round war of attrition against Australian spitfire Danial Williams at ONE on TNT I in April 2021 and then cruised to a clear-cut unanimous decision win.

At ONE 161, the 24-year-old hard-hitter will lock horns with Cyprus’ Savvas Michael as part of the ongoing Muay Thai Flyweight World Grand Prix tournament.

Rodtang punched his ticket to the semifinal round with a demolition job of Jacob Smith at ONE 157 this past May, battering the Englishman over the course of three rounds to walk away with a lopsided unanimous decision.

On the same evening where Rodtang solidified his status as the tourney favorite, Michael—the current WBC Muay Thai lightweight titleholder—earned a semifinal spot at the expense of Amir Naseri in dominant fashion.

Courtesy of his near-flawless performance against Naseri, the Cypriot gained a fan in veteran kickboxer Liam Harrison, who made a bold declaration about the chances of “The Baby Face Killer” to score an upset versus Thailand’s “Iron Man.”

“I’m really looking forward to him and Rodtang because if there’s a foreigner who can beat him at that weight, it is Savvas,” Harrison said in an interview.

“God knows what’s going to happen in that fight, but as I said, if anyone can beat Rodtang, it’s him.”

While Harrison believes that Michael has what it takes to shock the world, it cannot be denied that Rodtang has been untouchable under Muay Thai rules since he joined the promotion in 2018.

Operating behind the puncher’s style known as “Muay Mat,” Rodtang holds victories over the likes of Sergio Wielzen, Hakim Hamech, Jonathan Haggerty and Petchdam Petchyindee.

The winner of the encounter between Rodtang and Michael will advance to the ONE Muay Thai Flyweight World Grand Prix finals opposite either Superlek Kiatmoo9 or Walter Goncalves.