After Knocking Out His Idol, Jeremy Miado Wants More

Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado always had confidence in his abilities, but last weekend at ONE: IRON WILL in Bangkok, Thailand, he managed to surprise everyone in the Impact Arena.

In fact, he even surprised himself.

On Saturday, 24 March, the Filipino striker had the difficult task of challenging Muay Thai legend and former ONE Strawweight World Champion Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke in front of his opponent’s hometown crowd.

Miado, a Muay Thai practitioner with an extensive amateur boxing background, allowed his prolific adversary to take the center of the cage. He demonstrated his speed by springing forward with combinations, and then backing away from Amnuaysirichoke’s dangerous strikes.

The strategy was effective, as he tagged the Thai with a pair of hooks, and then followed up with a wild exchange which resulted in the living legend crashing to the canvas.

Although “The Jaguar” expected to win, he did not anticipate knocking out his personal hero. Quite frankly, he was stunned.

“The game plan was to counter his aggressiveness, and throw out combinations,” the 25-year-old Filipino says.

“The plan was to defeat Dejdamrong, but the knockout was unexpected. I felt really shocked because I defeated my idol.”

Perhaps even more shocking was Miado became the first person to knock out Amnuaysirichoke in his cage career, and he did so in just 89 seconds, which makes him the owner of the second-fastest KO in ONE strawweight history.

It was a much needed win for “The Jaguar,” who has experienced a rough start to his tenure in the organization. He lost his first two bouts in ONE, dropping a close split decision to Robin Catalan in his promotional debut back in April 2017, and then falling to Pongsiri Mitsatit later that November.

Miado admits he previously had difficulty adjusting to ONE’s weigh-in system which bans dehydration, but now, he appears to have finally mastered it. By defeating his idol, the result speaks for itself, and now he intends to better control his out-of-competition weight.

“I learned to maintain my conditioning for any upcoming matches, so I will always be ready,” he promises.

Following a brief vacation in the Philippines’ Albay province, Miado will resume training. “The Jaguar” would like to have three more bouts in 2018, starting as early as July, which is just in time for ONE: REIGN OF KINGS in Manila, Philippines. However, he would also love to appear on one of the promotion’s Singapore cards.

Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. Still, he already has a few opponents in mind.

“Roy Doliguez,” he says, immediately. “Or, if given a chance, I would like to have a rematch with Pongsiri.”

Both of those contests would undoubtedly produce fireworks, especially since both competitors are strikers who love going for the knockout, just like Miado.

Nonetheless, Miado is more than happy to face whomever ONE Championship requests of him.

The way he sees things is that if he continues to win, it will inevitably lead to his dream of becoming the ONE Strawweight World Champion, and perhaps, a global icon like his inspiration, Manny Pacquiao.

“I want people to know that I am a simple guy with a big dream,” Miado says. “And I have the goal of becoming a world champion in my division.”