At ONE Fight Night 15, Tawanchai PK Saenchai has been forced to adjust to a late change in the opponent he will be fighting as well as the rule set that he will be competing under.
Just a few weeks before the event, the ONE featherweight Muay Thai world champion was scheduled to take part in a fight that would have been considered to be among the most important of the entire year. Superbon Singha Mawynn was compelled to withdraw from his title fight in the days leading up to October 6, which resulted in the current Muay Thai champion not having an opponent.
Because of this, the Thai striker will now engage in a kickboxing match against Jo Nattawut, a fellow Thai, and as a result, he will be need to entirely alter his strategy in preparation for this date. While this may come as a surprise to some, the fact that the 24-year-old striking prodigy will be fighting in kickboxing is not entirely out of the ordinary.
After reaching the pinnacle of success in Muay Thai, he now has his sights set on achieving the same level of success in kickboxing by working his way up through the ranks of one of the most competitive categories the sport has to offer.
The last time he competed, he opened his account by defeating Davit Kiria in the featherweight kickboxing division. This victory allowed him to begin working toward his goal of being a world champion in two different sports.
Despite the fact that he may no longer be competing in a significant matchup for fans of ONE Championship, he will want to achieve back-to-back wins in order to move up the ladder.
During an interview with ONE Championship, Tawanchai discussed the change in his opponent and how he won’t have any trouble adjusting to the new rule established on October 6:
“You’re right, it’s not the same. The boxing ability that Jo possesses is his greatest asset, while Superbon’s greatest asset is his leg kicks.
He continued:
“It’s okay for me to switch from Muay Thai to kickboxing because it is also my intention to conquer the kickboxing division in ONE,” he said. “It’s okay for me to switch from Muay Thai to kickboxing.”
ONE Fight Night 15 will be broadcast live and for free during primetime in the United States for viewers in North America who have a current membership to Amazon Prime Video.