Flyweight nice Demetrious Johnson spent a while coaching with Muay Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon in Thailand.
Forward of his extremely anticipated return to the Circle on Sunday, March 23, Rodtang spent a while sparring with the previous UFC and ONE flyweight world champion. ‘Mighty Mouse’ shared a clip of the latest coaching session on social media with the complete video out there by way of his YouTube channel.
Johnson and ‘The Iron Man’ beforehand met underneath the ONE Championship banner on the promotion’s Tenth-anniversary showcase ONE X in March 2022. Competing within the firm’s first-ever mixed-rules bout, ‘DJ’ and Rodtang went toe-to-toe in a contest by which the rule set modified with every spherical. The opening spherical was contested underneath Muay Thai guidelines whereas the second spherical would swap to the International Combined Martial Arts rule set.
Johnson survived an opening-round onslaught from the previous ONE flyweight Muay Thai world titleholder and ultimately secured a submission victory by way of rear-naked choke within the second stanza. It was Rodtang’s first loss in ONE.
Rodtang vs. Takeru headlines ONE Championship’s return to Japan
Rodtang’s subsequent outing will see him head to the legendary Saitama Tremendous Area in Japan when ONE Championship presents considered one of its most stacked playing cards of 2025, ONE 172.
In the primary occasion of the night, ‘The Iron Man’ will sq. off with former three-division Okay-1 kickboxing champion Takeru Segawa in a superfight that has been years within the making.
Takeru signed with ONE in April 2023 however didn’t make his promotional debut till the next January at ONE 165 in Tokyo. The Pure Born Crusher’ suffered a crushing defeat in opposition to reigning two-sport king Superlek Kiatmoo9. Nonetheless, he later bounced again with a powerful come-from-behind KO in opposition to Thant Zin at ONE Friday Fights 81 in September.
