Glory, Pain, And Redemption: Rodtang’s Road Back To The ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix
Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon lost the crown, but he never lost the fire, and the loaded ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix is his chance to prove it.
The former ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion steps back into the spotlight this Friday, November 13, when he squares off with fellow Thai icon Nong-O Hama in a seismic quarterfinal that headlines The Inner Circle 38 inside Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Subscribers can watch the entire Asia primetime card at live.onefc.com, where the two most experienced fighters of the stacked eight-man tournament begin their hunt for the prestigious silver strap and the divisional gold that comes with it.
Few have reached it through the highs and lows the #2-ranked Rodtang has endured. Here is his road to a Grand Prix already shaping up to be a modern classic.
Dominance Then Heartbreak
Rodtang took ONE by storm, and his rise to the top of the division was swift, loud, and impossible to ignore. Four straight wins after his 2018 debut earned him a shot at Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, and in 2019, he took the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title from the British star in a thrilling five-round showdown.
What followed was a reign built on relentless aggression and a refusal to take a step back. His forward pressure drowned opponents, his tough style turned every exchange into a test of will, and his iron chin meant few men could hurt him, let alone stop him.
He rarely looked in trouble. In fact, the Jitmuangnon Gym representative won every striking matchup in the promotion except one, a narrow loss to “The Kicking Machine” Superlek at ONE Friday Fights 34.
Then, in 2024, the crown slipped away. The 29-year-old was stripped of the title ahead of his scheduled defense at ONE 169, ending a run of more than five years. He answered the doubters in style, though.
In March 2025, he stopped former three-division K-1 Champion Takeru “Natural Born Krusher” Segawa in just 80 seconds in Saitama, Japan, in one of the most talked-about statements in recent memory. The rematch at ONE SAMURAI 1 this April brought heartbreak, however, with Takeru stopping the Thai megastar in the fifth round of their ONE Interim Flyweight Kickboxing World Title battle.
Then came a fresh chapter. After renegotiating, Rodtang inked a new deal with the world’s largest martial arts organization this past July, and he returns with iron resolve and a single driving mission – to take back what was once his.
New Chapter, Familiar Foe
That mission starts with unfinished business. Last November in Tokyo, his hotly anticipated showdown with Nong-O for the then-vacant ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title fell apart during fight week at ONE 173. A year later, it rises from the ashes in the one place it always belonged: Lumpinee Stadium.
Few matchups in the striking realm carry this much weight. Rodtang has been the biggest name in flyweight across every promotion for years, while Nong-O – the former longtime ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion – is the veteran whose name is spoken with reverence in every gym around the globe.
Put them together inside the stadium where Muay Thai legends are made, and this quarterfinal tiff starts to feel like the one everyone will remember.
On one side stands Rodtang, the relentless engine who walks through anything to get his hands on you. On the other stands a 40-year-old legend continuing to defy Father Time, a battle-tested veteran, who ran through seven straight challengers with sharp timing and a right kick that has crushed the very best in the business.
Pressure meets precision. Ranked second and third in the division, the two Thai legends have 665 fights between them – combining for 542 career victories – and neither is likely to waste a single second feeling the other out.
Brothers outside the ring and rivals inside it, they will fight for far more than a semifinal berth. The winner of this monumental firefight takes momentum that can swing a tournament and puts the six other men chasing the same prize on notice.
Beat Nong-O, Then Face The Gauntlet
Victory over Nong-O would send Rodtang’s confidence soaring, but it would only be the beginning. Easy nights do not exist in this bracket, which gathers the cream of the flyweight Muay Thai crop from around the world.
Next, in the semifinals, would come the winner of Shimon Yoshinari and Ramadan “The Scorpion” Ondash, either a former WBC Muay Thai World Champion who has yet to taste defeat in ONE or a 20-year-old with nothing to lose. Both hit hard, and both would test him in different ways.
On the other side of the bracket, the gauntlet gets even more dangerous. Reigning ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Asadula “The Dagestan Ninja” Imangazaliev, who is undefeated, runs it back with Aslamjon “El Pantera” Ortikov at The Inner Circle 39, while Ubaid “Bad” Hussain, a perfect 17-0, meets Black Panther, who has won six straight in ONE. The survivors collide in the other semifinal, and whoever comes out of it will be waiting in the final.
A trip to the final would test “The Iron Man” against the very best the other half of the bracket can offer, from an unbeaten champion to a perfect-record phenom. The danger comes in different shapes, but every one of them would make it the biggest night of his comeback.
The man who survives the final walks away as both the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion and the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix Champion on the same night, a rare double prize.
Rodtang’s road back to the throne begins this Friday at The Inner Circle 38.
