Danial Williams, a former contender for the ONE championship world title, made a recent appearance on the Fighters of Perth podcast. During his time there, he discussed the unconventional path that led him to the largest martial arts organization in the world. Williams claimed that he began his trip to ONE Championship after he got intoxicated in a bar and then emailed the organization. Williams is a professional mixed martial artist.
The Australian-Thai athlete also related the story of how a joke of his turned out to be a reality when he declared that ONE Championship might provide him a fight against the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon in a battle that was not for the title if he called them. When he did so, he joked that the match would not be for the title. This aspirational phrase came true in April 2021, when he made his promotional debut at ONE on TNT I card, which took place within the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
That barnburner of a bout between ‘Mini T’ and ‘The Iron Man’ will go down in history as one of the highlights of the card and is sure to be enjoyed by all in attendance. The entirety of the fight was also uploaded on ONE Championship’s YouTube page in advance of the battles that are scheduled to take place between Rodtang and Williams in the near future.
They added captions to the video as follows:
Relive their back-and-forth thriller in 2021, before Rodtang defends his ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title against Superlek at ONE Friday Fights 34 and before Aussie-Thai slugger Danial Williams challenges Jonathan Di Bella for the ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title at ONE Fight Night 15 on Prime Video!
The majority of spectators were unfamiliar with Williams as a boxer prior to the bout, and they were taken aback by the fact that he would be facing off against someone of Rodtang’s standing. However, after the opening bell rang, the tides soon turned as the now 30-year-old fighter landed the majority of the clean punches in the opening round. It was in this round that he struck the sweet spot for his right-hand punch.
Rodtang suddenly grew more aggressive and injected a sense of urgency to his attack as the first round appeared to go against him ostensibly in his advantage. Williams was knocked down by the thunderous left hook delivered by the Thai superstar. He kept up his assault with punches and elbows, which caused Williams’ face to become more open, allowing him to win the round and take the lead in the bout.
After the first two rounds, it appeared as though the battle was going to slow down because of the hard blows that were being traded; yet, the two warriors continued to swing for the fences until the final bell to present a Muay Thai spectacle. In the end, a unanimous judgment awarded Rodtang the victory, allowing him to keep his perfect striking record in ONE Championship.
Williams, on the other hand, was victorious in the hearts of fans with his equally spectacular and entertaining performance, as well as the tremendous effort he put in against one of the finest fighters available today, despite the fact that he was defeated in his ONE debut bout. Williams was awarded the title of Fight of the Year for their matchup in 2021 after their bout with Rodtang. This is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark cloud for Williams.
