ONE 168: Denver was a momentous night for newly minted two-sport, two-weight ONE World Champion Superlek Kiatmoo9.
The Thai megastar entered rarified air when he added the bantamweight Muay Thai crown to his flyweight kickboxing strap just 49 seconds into his main event battle with former king Jonathan Haggerty last Saturday, 7th September, inside Denver, Colorado’s Ball Arena.
Superlek scored the win via a cutting elbow that sent “The General” to the mats in the opening exchanges. It’s a tool that’s brought him plenty of success in his career thus far, so he knew how to utilize it.
“I thought that if I fought with a slow, methodical style, there would be no way I could beat him. So I switched to a more aggressive, fast style, and I ended it quickly,” the two-sport titleholder said.
“The elbow was something I trained for. I know that when you use an elbow, the elbow will get there before the cross, so I was just waiting for the opportunity to hit him with it because I knew Haggerty had a very strong cross.”
ONE 168 was only ONE Championship’s second venture to the United States, and having a Muay Thai fight top the bill was a statement of intent for the Asia-based organization.
The sport’s popularity is only increasing around the world year on year, and ONE’s unique rule set has undoubtedly helped with that growth.
Last weekend was Superlek’s first time competing in the U.S., and he announced himself in style.
Getting to showcase the “art of eight limbs” at such a significant show was a great honour for the pound-for-pound striking great, and he hopes many more fans will be exposed to it going forward.
“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity that I had here,” Superlek said.
“I want everybody all over America and the world to see how incredible Muay Thai is – the danger, the excitement, everything about Muay Thai.”
