‘I’m Giving This Everything I’ve Got’ – Nong-O Fired Up To Seize Vacant Flyweight Throne At ONE Friday Fights 147
Some fighters talk about legacy. Multi-time Muay Thai World Champion Nong-O Hama lives it, and he intends to write another chapter in his legendary career this Friday, March 20.
The 39-year-old icon steps into the main event of ONE Friday Fights 147 inside Bangkok’s iconic Lumpinee Stadium, live in Asia primetime, to square off against undefeated Russian dynamo Asadula “The Dagestan Ninja” Imangazaliev for the vacant ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Championship.
The world has watched Nong-O conquer it all throughout his legendary career. He owns a 267-win slate, which features a record seven consecutive ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title defenses and multiple Stadium World Championships across Thailand.
He has faced the very best across multiple generations and emerged, time and again, as the man to beat.
But the Evolve MMA and Superbon Training Camp pride refuses to let age be the final word on his story. If anything, the enormity of what Friday night represents has sharpened everything:
“I’m giving this everything I’ve got. I want to give my fans something to cheer about again. Winning this World Title again would prove that age is just a number.
“It’s all about how you train, how you rest, and how you take care of your body. If you do those things right, you can succeed at any age.”
Those words were forged in the furnace of a career that has outlasted trends, rivals, and the doubts of everyone who ever dared to count him out.
Walking the talk, however, demands more than inspiration. It demands a plan that can neutralize a 22-year-old destroyer with a perfect 11-0 record, who vows to make things uncomfortable for the veteran.
Nong-O has studied every frame of his opponent’s skill set, and he is under no illusions about the scale of the challenge ahead:
“Asadula is dangerous because he has a deep arsenal. His biggest advantage is his length — it makes him hard to reach. He’s a top-tier fighter with a great build — tall, long, and has the youth advantage.
“However, my edge in this fight will be my ring experience. I have far more experience, and I’ve studied his game thoroughly.”
Experience, though, is only currency if you spend it wisely.
Nong-O knows that standing on the outside and trading at range is exactly where Imangazaliev’s length and firepower become most dangerous. The answer isn’t to meet the Russian on his terms. It’s to deny him those terms entirely.
The 39-year-old living legend told onefc.com:
“The plan is to close the distance. I have to get inside and stay on him. I’m confident I can make that happen. I’ve worked incredibly hard, and I believe I can do it. My hunger for that belt is what’s going to drive me to victory.
“I know he’s on a massive knockout streak, so I have to be very careful with my defense. But I’m confident I can take his power and make this an exciting fight. I’m not going down easily.”
Nong-O Talks Brotherhood At Superbon Training Camp
Behind every great performance is an even greater camp, and Nong-O Hama has had exactly that.
Superbon Training Camp has become one of the most formidable collective forces in ONE Championship, where world-class warriors sharpen each other daily and where no one walks into a fight unprepared.
For this camp, the training has been personal in the most precise way possible:
“The World Champions in our gym are like a family. Whenever one of us fights, we help each other out with game plans. Superbon has been helping me a lot.
“His build is similar to Asadula’s, so he’s been training and sparring with me to get me used to that reach. Petchtanong, who is a master with his hands, has been coaching me on my punching, defense, and head movement.”
With undisputed ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion Superbon replicating the reach problem and former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Petchtanong Petchfergus sharpening the tools to solve it, Nong-O has assembled the most complete preparation of his flyweight campaign.
And the ambitions of the Bangkok-based gym don’t stop at the main event.
Teammate Rambolek Chor Ajalaboon steps into his own moment of glory in the same venue to challenge ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Champion Nabil Anane.
These are two warriors from the same gym, on the same stage, with World Championships within reach.
The bond forged inside their gym walls runs deeper than shared training sessions. It is the kind of brotherhood that turns individual fights into collective missions.
On Friday, that brotherhood goes to war on two fronts simultaneously, and as far as Nong-O is concerned, both warriors are coming home with gold:
“We’re both going to win. We’ve been working so hard for this, and we’re going to bring those wins back to the gym to celebrate with everyone.”
