Strawweight stars Danial Williams and Thongpoon PK Saenchai are gearing up for what they know will be a fast-paced Muay Thai showdown at ONE Fight Night 26 on Friday, Dec. 6.
Both men spoke to ONE Championship about their upcoming match, which will kickstart the event in Bangkok, Thailand, in perfect style.
For Thongpoon, he hopes to stem the tide and get back in the win column, after a couple of losses slowed him down from what was a rapid ascent up the ranks.
“For this fight, I am hungry for victory because if I lose again, it will affect my future in ONE. In other words, my back is against the wall right now,” Thongpoon commented to ONE.
“I have to push myself, be more determined, train harder, and be more sharp-witted in the fight. I have to change my mindset completely to regain my faith.”
The Thai athlete will still push the pace, but after being caught up in firefights recently, he hopes to be a little more cautious. That said, the PK Saenchai athlete still wants to put Williams on the backfoot.
“For this fight, I will still use my aggressive style but fight smarter. I’ve learned from the mistakes I made last time, and I’m dialed in for this fight. Especially when solving problems in the heat of the moment, I have to think faster,” the Thai striker remarked.
Williams has competed against the pound-for-pound best in the world, including Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Superlek Kiatmoo9. With that experience under his belt, Thongpoon is not taking the Aussie-Thai lightly.
“Needless to say, [Williams] has experience in all disciplines, whether it’s MMA, kickboxing, Muay Thai. He’s fast. He has kickboxing footwork. If I was fighting him with my old style, I wouldn’t have a chance. I had to change my fighting style. I’m going to try to force him into the corner and hurt him,” Thongpoon stated.
Williams was on an extended losing streak until recently, but all of his loss came against elite competition. After finally returning to the win column in his MMA clash with Banma Duoji at ONE Fight Night 25, he wants to use this performance to build his momentum.
And the 31-year-old believes this stylistic matchup will give him that opportunity.
“I’m a fan of [Thongpoon]. I like his style. I think we’ll make a good fight because we’re both risk-takers. So it’s gonna be a lot of entertainment for this fight,” Williams said.
Thongpoon’s aggressive nature will be matched by Williams on Dec. 6. Admitting that either man could connect first, “Mini T” predicts a short outing that will electrify the Lumpinee Stadium crowd.
“When he does throw, he takes quite a few risks with some big, big punching strikes. So he’s got some advantage there if we go into a dogfight. It becomes a 50-50, you know, first person to land,” Williams professed.
“I’m well aware of that, and I feel like one of us is getting put away because we both meet in the middle.”
Even though Williams predicts a firefight that will end in a knockout, he doesn’t want to engage in too many.
He hopes to limit damage and come away with a huge victory, so that he can be ready for another clash with a top strawweight Muay Thai contender.
“The ideal way would be finishing him in the first round. I don’t want take too much damage, but I know my style. I do want to stand in the middle, and I feel that’s how I’ve trained so, yeah, I just want to get it done as quick as possible. If I can get it done in the first 10 seconds, that’ll be awesome,” the Aussie said.
ONE Fight Night 26 airs live on Prime Video at 8 p.m. EST/5 p.m. PST on Friday, Dec. 6, and is free for all Amazon Prime members in the U.S. and Canada.