Tawanchai PK Saenchai revealed he apologised to Davit Kiria after breaking his arm with a thunderous kick at ONE Fight Night 13 in Bangkok.
The 35-year-old Georgian veteran Kiria executed an effective game plan in the first round of their kickboxing clash, where he wobbled Tawanchai a couple of times.
But the ONE Championship featherweight Muay Thai champion ended things early on in the second round, launching his left leg against Kiria’s right forearm.
“I went to apologise to him for the arm, but he said congratulations, that’s all,” the 24-year-old Thai told the Post at Lumpinee Stadium.
Kiria immediately pulled away and pointed at his limb following the injury. Tawanchai backed off him and referee Olivier Coste quickly waived things off.
“I was in such good shape, the only thing that was gonna stop me was a major injury or a knockout and sadly it happened!” Kiria wrote in an Instagram post, where he shared an X-ray of his broken arm.
It was the second time in as many fights that Tawanchai had mangled one of the limbs of his opponents with a kick.
ONE Fight Night 13 results: Chingiz retains, Tawanchai breaks Kiria’s arm
ONE Fight Night 13 results: Chingiz retains, Tawanchai breaks Kiria’s arm
Next up is a title defence against Superbon Singha Mawynn on October 7. Tawanchai suggested in his post-fight interview in the ring he would do the same to the former kickboxing champ after his win over Kiria, but was a bit more diplomatic backstage.
“I just want to say that I don’t want to lose, that’s all,” he said. “I don’t want to be disappointed in myself, so let’s see what happens.”
Tawanchai was “impressed” with himself after making his kickboxing debut in the martial arts promotion, and showed he also has the hands to compete in the sport.
“It’s been four to five years since my last kickboxing match, so I’m very happy with the result,” he said.
“My opponent is a heavy hitter, so I’ve been training my punches as well. This was a good opportunity to try something new.”
Tawanchai’s victory is likely to propel him into the top five of the divisional rankings, and could ultimately lead to a fight against Chingiz Allazov, who retained his title in Saturday’s main event with a decision over Marat Grigorian.
“I can’t say for sure if I will face Chingiz in the near future, but I respect Chingiz, he is the best kickboxer, and if I get to face him it would be an honour. But I would like to focus on the October 7 match first,” said Tawanchai, who paused his media duties to sit down and watch Allazov’s fight backstage with reporters.
“It was hard to say and it’s also kickboxing rules so it’s a little bit hard for me to score the fight, but according to what I was watching, Chingiz had more striking.”
