Closer To 'The Iron Man' Rodtang Determined To Extend His Dominance At ONE

Rodtang Jitmuangnon (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The name Rodtang Jitmuangnon is so fragrant in the world of fighting sports thanks to his expertise in bringing down opponents. The owner of the 268-42-10 record is the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai world champion who has become an icon on the global ONE Championship scene.

During his time at ONE since 2018, the Thai fighter is unbeaten in both Muay Thai and kickboxing. He managed to make 11 wins and only lost once to Demetrious Johnson in a Muay Thai-MMA hybrid match, last March.

As quoted by Antara from the old ONE Championship on Monday, Rodtang will return to the Circle to face Michael Savvas in the semifinals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix tournament. Actually, this tournament was created to find the next challenger for Rodtang's gold belt.

With an unyielding fighting style, this fighter nicknamed The Iron Man deserves to be called an iron man. When receiving an opponent's blow, Rodtang can only dance and challenge his opponent to launch a harder attack.

"I want to express my gratitude to Muay Thai. Without Muay Thai, I would not be where I am now," Rodtang wrote in a post on Facebook.

Rodtang's achievement, who comes from a poor family at this time, cannot be separated from his struggles when he was not yet famous. Through muay thai, he built a name to a much better life for the sake of his family.

The 25-year-old man who once lived in this modest house started fighting at the age of 8 years. Since making his debut in a tournament organized by the local temple, almost every week Rodtang has been fighting to collect saweran money.

Rodtang's career has continued to grow until ONE Championship has his eye on it. Who was originally a poor boy, now his name is increasingly known to the world. However, sad news began to arrive after in 2018, Huan, one of his coaches, died of a heart attack. A year later, his father was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer.

In 2020, ahead of the match against Jonathan Haggerty, Rodtang invited his parents to witness the match directly in order to give them a glimmer of happiness and an overview of the struggle he was going through.

The father is slowly recovering, and despite having to undergo various treatments, now his condition has improved. In June, Rodtang managed to give his parents a new home after previously receiving a bonus worth US $ 50,000 (Rp 733 million) for his performance against Jacob Smith at ONE 157.

"From a poor child, now I can buy a house for both parents, buy a house for myself and have money for the family," Rodtang wrote in a post on Facebook.