Rodtang Jitmuangnon, also known as “The Iron Man,” is the current holder of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world championship as well as the undisputed champion. He has a large fan base in Thailand as well as the rest of Asia, and he is considered to be one of the most entertaining fighters on the entire planet.
Despite this, the Bangkok native, who is now 26 years old, was completely taken aback by the level of support he received from American fans when he made his on-ground debut in the United States in May of this past year.
In the main event of ONE Fight Night 10: Johnson vs. Moraes III, which was broadcast on Prime Video, Rodtang successfully defended his ONE Championship crown against Edgar Tabares, the champion of Mexico. On May 5, the event was televised live in front of a crowd at the 1stBank Center in Denver, Colorado that was completely sold out.
The fight was stopped in the first round due to a knockout delivered by ‘The Iron Man,’ who was awarded a cool $100,000 bonus for his efforts. After the fight, Rodtang charged into the throng, where he took selfies with supporters and was high-fived to death by the audience.
In an interview that was conducted exclusively for Sportskeeda, Rodtang discussed the event and expressed his desire to go through it all again in the future.
The Iron Man had this to say:
“It was a wonderful opportunity, and I took pleasure in it. To tell you the truth, it was quite overwhelming to hear the audience roaring for me, even though I wasn’t actually in Thailand at the time. I have no doubt that I will compete there once more.”
Will Rodtang be returning to the soil of the United States in the not too distant future? We won’t have to wait long to find out.
In the meantime, Rodtang is training for what will be the most important match of his brief professional career. Rodtang is scheduled to defend the ONE flyweight Muay Thai world title against Superlek Kiatmoo9, who is also from Thailand and is the ONE flyweight kickboxing world champion.
The two will square off in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 34, which will be broadcast live from the famous Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Bangkok on September 22, during the primetime hours of Asia.
Fans in the United States and Canada are able to watch all of the action live and for free on the ONE Super App, the official YouTube channel for ONE Championship, and other digital platforms.