ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai king Rodtang Jitmuangnon has admitted he only “trains a little” for some fights – and instead plays football to stay in shape.
The 26-year-old Thai is set to defend his title in a blockbuster main event against his friend and biggest threat Superlek Kiatmookao at ONE Friday Fights 34 on September 22 in Bangkok.
He has also been preparing for Friday’s bout at his wife’s family’s gym, instead of his usual Fairtex base in Pattaya, while Superlek is known to train day in, day out, whether he has a fight booked or not.
“Well, sometimes I get so tired. Life was hard since childhood. I practised with tears in my eyes. One day, it was not burnout, but I got a bit bored of all that, and so I trained a bit less. Not a bit, a lot less,” Rodtang said in a recent interview with former Muay Thai fighter Antoine Pinto.
“I worked so hard for this, going through things. All of the pressure, been through all that. Every insult, as I trained hard all my life. And one day, when I fought, and since I took care of many people, I got tired.
“I train for important bouts, very hard. Even if I train a little, I run, I play football and sports I love. You get strength from football, and I don’t really let myself go. I don’t party around. I do eat good food. That’s it.”
Rodtang ‘motivated’ for Superlek, ‘widely known he doesn’t train hard’: Chatri
Rodtang ‘motivated’ for Superlek, ‘widely known he doesn’t train hard’: Chatri
Rodtang also had well-documented issues on the scales in 2022, missing weight once and even withdrawing from one fight before giving a hydration sample.
There were fears he would miss weight for his fight with Tabares, which served as the co-main event for ONE’s on-ground US debut in Denver, Colorado. Superlek was even flown in from Thailand to weigh in as a backup fighter with Rodtang in danger of being stripped of his title had he missed the mark.
But he had no issues after getting taught a new technique by ONE flyweight submission grappling champion Mikey Musumeci, who was on the same card.
“To be honest I’ve been doing this weight class for four-to-five years, a long time. I’m growing up, I’m like 70kg now. But if you ask if I can slim down, yes. I shed around 10kg before each bout,” he said.
“I can keep doing it. I have my own weight technique. Not from my experience, from a world champion, from Mikey, the jiu-jitsu champion. You would have to ask him first [for the technique] or he would demand a patent fee. He lost 10kg and told me I could go to a lower weight class.
“For Thais, we run. Run 10 or whatever laps to shed the weight. He doesn’t, he sleeps. He sheds weight by sleeping.
“Yeah, I have to give it to him. All my life, I had never seen this before. I’d give him my title. Seriously, that day [when he made weight in Denver], I didn’t know if I’d win or lose, but I already won. I was so confused by this new technique. I want to share that in Thailand, but later.”
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