A highly anticipated rematch between ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 and interim king Nabil Anane at ONE 172 is just one of many marquee bouts hitting Saitama Super Arena in Japan on Sunday, March 23.
Only this time, it will be contested at bantamweight for the undisputed ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship.
“The Kicking Machine” knows this will be a much different affair given Anane’s rapid evolution since their initial meeting in 2023.
“The first fight was in the flyweight division and now it's in the bantamweight division. It's not much different because we've all moved up to fight in this division. No one has an advantage or disadvantage,” Superlek said.
“After defeating many top-level fighters, I am confident that Nabil will not give in to me easily this time, and it will be a more difficult task for me. It will be interesting to see if I can handle him or not.”
Perhaps more than anything, Superlek credits his foe’s length as his primary weapon. It has left a myriad of opponents wondering how to break through the distance to touch the towering Algerian-Thai athlete.
Having already done it once before, the two-sport, two-division ONE World Champion is confident he can do it again. But he is keeping the secret of how until fight night, when he plans to reveal his magic to the masses.
“I don't want to predict much. Let's just say that I think the odds that this fight will not go the distance is high,” Superlek said.
“And I want to show a surprise trick that everyone wouldn’t expect which I’ve prepared for. But I really can't reveal it yet. I want you to wait and get the answer in the ring. I guarantee that this fight will be explosive.”
ONE 172: Rodtang vs. Takeru airs live on Sunday, March 23, from Japan on global pay-per-view via watch.onefc.com.
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