‘Without Any Regrets’ – Takeru On The Decision To End His Legendary Career On His Own Terms
For more than a decade, Takeru “Natural Born Krusher” Segawa has proudly stood as the undisputed face of Japanese kickboxing. When a martial arts icon of his colossal stature finally decides it is time to walk away, the resulting announcement carries an emotional weight that completely transcends the sport itself.
The 34-year-old megastar will make his monumental farewell appearance in the main event of ONE SAMURAI 1. Broadcasting live from Tokyo’s historic Ariake Arena on Wednesday, April 29, this blockbuster card serves as the inaugural edition of ONE Championship’s highly anticipated monthly Japanese series.
Standing across the Circle will be his ultimate rival, Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon, with the ONE Interim Flyweight Kickboxing World Title hanging in the balance. It is a high-stakes rematch the Japanese hero has obsessively chased, and there is absolutely no more fitting stage on which to pen his final, violent chapter.
The agonizing decision to retire was something the former three-division K-1 Champion had been quietly turning over in his mind for years.
Continuously weighing the grueling physical demands of his battered body against the competitive fire that still raged inside him, Takeru desperately searched for the perfect time to draw the curtain without diminishing the towering legacy he had built.
Takeru told ONE:
“Well, regarding my retirement, actually, I didn’t have the feeling of retirement yet. But I had been thinking about when would be the right timing to retire for about three or four years. The condition of my body was my top consideration.
“So the moment when I thought that this would truly be the last time I could [fight at my] strongest condition was probably about a year ago.”
The harsh reality of elite combat sports is famously unforgiving. The razor-thin margins that separate World Champions from mere contenders are measured in microscopic fractions of a second in reaction time, fractions of a degree in power output, and fractions of a percentage in physical conditioning.
For Takeru, the acute awareness of those shifting margins is hard-earned wisdom built over years of absolute wars.
He possesses absolutely no interest in spending the twilight of his career giving the fans anything less than his absolute best. The immaculate legacy he has forged deserves a spectacular send-off that honors his prime, rather than a narrative defined by a gradual, painful decline against the sport’s elite.
‘Natural Born Krusher’ made it clear:
“If I wanted to continue, I think I probably still could. But I thought this might be the last time I can put myself in my strongest condition, so I decided to retire this time.”
The final curtain may be rapidly coming down, but Takeru’s electrifying levels of intensity haven’t shifted by a single degree. If anything, the sobering knowledge that this battle will serve as his career swan song has only sharpened his lethal focus.
ONE SAMURAI 1 provides the perfect stage for everything he wants to say with his world-class striking arsenal one final time. For an iconic athlete who has sacrificed his entire life to the sport and to the devoted fans who have followed his every step, there is nothing left to do but deliver one last, unforgettable spectacle.
The inevitable sadness that comes with closing a chapter this significant can wait until the stadium lights go dark. Right now, there is only the fight, and a legendary warrior who has never once done anything halfway:
“I still have demanding [training sessions despite my decision]. The fight is not over, so I don’t have sadness or similar feelings associated with retirement.
“Because the next [match] will be the last, I’m spending each day so that I can give everything I have and to retire without any regrets.”
The Reason He Came This Far
At ONE 172 in March 2025, Rodtang Jitmuangnon’s catastrophic left hook put Takeru Segawa flat on the canvas at the 1:20 mark of the opening round. That brief, utterly brutal encounter left the Japanese icon with a mountain of unfinished business.
The psychological wound hasn’t healed. Instead, it became pure, combustible fuel, and his insatiable desire for redemption has been burning like an inferno ever since. That fiery vengeance is exactly what makes this rematch so much more than a standard World Title fight.
Takeru’s entire fighting identity is proudly built on all-out, uncompromising violence. A toe-to-toe war is the exact fight he always wanted with Rodtang, and it is the exact experience those shocking 80 seconds stole from him. Stepping into the Circle at ONE SAMURAI 1, he comes to collect his debt:
“The essence of my fighting style is a slugfest, and I’ve always wanted to have that kind of fight with Rodtang. [During the] last fight, I couldn’t even reach that point and lost. So, this is why I [always] believed I must fight Rodtang one more time. That’s the reason I have come this far.”
The millions of fans who have passionately followed every single chapter of his legendary career deserve to see the real ‘Natural Born Krusher’ unleashed one final time — not the vulnerable version that was caught cold at Saitama Super Arena.
Takeru is aware of what his recent losses on the global stage have meant to those who unconditionally believed in him. He carries that heavy emotion with him, not as a crushing burden, but as one final, powerful reason to make April 29 count for something infinitely greater than the sport’s most coveted golden strap.
The 34-year-old icon concluded:
“I want to show a victory to those who have supported me, to everyone on my team, and my family. Since coming to ONE, I feel like I betrayed their feelings [by] losing fights. But this is my chance to let them see me retire as the strongest in the world.”
