Superlek Kiatmoo9 put a stamp on his first defense of the ONE flyweight kickboxing championship at ONE Fight Night 8 by finishing Danial Williams in the third round of their main-event matchup.
His win may have come relatively easily last Friday evening, but the flyweight kickbxing king had nothing but good things to say about his Aussie-Thai foe, who had stepped in to face him at short notice.
“I would like to thank him for accepting this fight last minute. I would like to say that he’s a very strong fighter. I respect his heart. I respect his courage. I have nothing to say except thank you very much,” Superlek said.
The ONE Championship star entered fight week expecting to defend the gold against Rodtang Jitmuangnon. But after the ONE flyweight Muay Thai champion dropped out of the bout due to an undisclosed injury, Williams answered the call to challenge him.
Despite the late change, Superlek stayed the course in his preparation. He made few changes to what he had readied for Rodtang and decided to lean on his world-class striking knowledge to get him through – an approach that worked perfectly.
“I am happy with my performance because I trained very hard. I trained intensely. And also, I prepared a lot of my game plan. I had a lot of determination to win against any opponent. I feel good about my performance today,” the ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion said.
“I did not make any adjustments before the fight. So, I was thinking that I trained very hard for this, and I’m just going to the cage, and I will see how he fights, and I will adjust to that.”
Having successfully defended his crown, Superlek was quick to call his next fight. In his post-match interview with Mitch Chilson, he made it clear that he wants to challenge Rodtang for the ONE flyweight Muay Thai championship.
The two Thai stars have been linked for some time, but the match has yet to materialize.
“The Kicking Machine” isn’t fazed by this, however, as he knows it will happen sooner than later – whether it be for Rodtang’s belt or his own.
“Of course, I think I deserve to challenge him for the title. Rodtang is the number one in Muay Thai, so I would like to try that,” Superlek said.
“I do not have anyone specific in mind to defend my title. If the next one is Rodtang, who will be challenging me for the belt in kickboxing, I am ready.”