KEY POINTS

  • The ONE featherweight kickboxing king names Conor McGregor as his dream opponent in a mixed rules fight
  • McGregor kicked off the trend of crossover fights when he fought Floyd Mayweather in 2017
  • Rodtang and Johnson will fight in a special hybrid MMA-Muay Thai fight on December 5

The newly-crowned ONE featherweight kickboxing king Superbon Banchamek believes he can easily beat UFC star Conor McGregor in a hybrid MMA-Muay Thai fight.

Superbon was asked who he would consider fighting in the same setup that former UFC flyweight titleholder Demetrious Johnson and Muay Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon find themselves in for their December 5 mix-up.

“It’s very difficult to answer this question because I have never tried MMA yet, but if you [asked] me I would say, probably, Conor McGregor because I think I can beat him down very easily,” replied the Thai fighter.

Superbon is coming off a spectacular head-kick knockout of the man widely regarded as the greatest kickboxer of all time in Giorgio Petrosyan last Friday, October 15 at ONE: First Strike.

The all-kickboxing card featured all but one fight finish in a knockout, creating major success for the Singapore-based promotion who plans to step into uncharted territory with the Johnson-Rodtang fight.

ONE Championship announced that the pair will be facing off against each other on December 5 to celebrate the promotion's tenth anniversary at ONE X.

The hybrid MMA-Muay Thai fight will be the very first of its kind to be organized under a major combat sports promotion.

“It’s quite a new thing for me because I never saw this kind of mixed rule before. Rodtang is good in Muay Thai while DJ [Demetrious Johnson] is quite great in MMA. They got the things that they needed to do. If I have a chance like that, I would also be interested in it, but I don’t know when, but I would love to do that,” Superbon remarked.

McGregor arguably kicked off this whole trend after he agreed to face boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather in August 2017.

Billed as “The Money Fight,” Showtime announced in December of that year that the total revenue of the fight clocked in at around $600 million, showing that there is serious money to be made in such a spectacle.

Superbon facing McGregor in an MMA-Muay Thai fight would be the first sign of cooperation between ONE Championship and the UFC, hopefully opening the door towards more of the promotion’s best fighters squaring off against each other in more dream fights coming to reality.

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