Pongsiri Mitsatit Primed To Bounce Back Against Fujisawa
Pongsiri “The Smiling Assassin” Mitsatit may have experienced some tough luck over the past year, but he plans to reverse his fortunes on Friday, 14 August.
That night, the 24-year-old Chiang Mai native will collide with Akihiro “Superjap” Fujisawa at ONE: NO SURRENDER II in Bangkok, Thailand.
“This win is really important to me because it will help me climb the ladder to a championship,” Mitsatit says.
Mitsatit, a Northern Muay Thai Champion of Thailand, certainly has the talent to reach great heights in mixed martial arts.
The strawweight kicked off his mixed martial arts career with nine consecutive victories, with all but one of those ending via stoppage.
But “The Smiling Assassin” then fell on some hard times, and he lost his last three bouts to Chinese juggernaut Miao Li Tao, #5-ranked flyweight contender Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, and #2-ranked flyweight contender and former ONE Strawweight World Champion Yoshitaka “Nobita” Naito.
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Now, Mitsatit is determined to cut that string of bad luck, and he knows a victory at ONE: NO SURRENDER II would do the trick.
And though he wasn’t too familiar with his upcoming opponent, he has since reviewed the Japanese athlete’s footage and feels confident in his own skills.
“At first, when I knew that I had to fight Fujisawa, I didn’t know much about him. I heard his name, but I didn’t follow his fights before. So, I tried to search for his previous fights and study him as much as possible,” Mitsatit says.
“After I studied his fights, I can see that he has a good ground game, but not as good as some of the fighters I met before in ONE Championship. I think my striking is better than his, and that is my strong point.”
In addition to watching his opponent’s previous bouts, Mitsatit also returned to Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand, in June to begin his training camp.
While “The Smiling Assassin” is confident about his stand-up repertoire, he is paying close attention to his grappling with the hope of countering Fujisawa’s takedown and submission attempts.
“I prepared for this fight around a month ago with my coach George Hickman at Tiger Muay Thai,” Mitsatit says.
“I concentrated on attacking and defending by training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling, and also Muay Thai. I tried hard to develop my ground game together with my striking to make both stronger, especially my knee strikes and flying knees.”
Should “The Smiling Assassin” keep the bout upright and utilize his revered Muay Thai arsenal, then he might just turn his luck around and climb the strawweight ladder on 14 August.
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