- Striking maestro
Rodtang Jitmuangnon fights April 7 at aOne Championship event on TNT. - The 23-year-old is one of the best
Muay Thai fighters on the planet but has ambitions inMMA , too. - "He's still young and he's told me he wants to do MMA," One boss
Chatri Sityodtong told Insider.
Muay Thai sensation Rodtang Jitmuangnon wants to compete in MMA in the future, One Championship founder and CEO Chatri Sityodtong has told Insider.
Rodtang fights the Australian flyweight Daniel Williams on April 7 in a Muay Thai match on One Championship's debut on the US cable TV network TNT.
For Sityodtong, the 23-year-old is already "the hottest striker on the planet."
Speaking to Insider on Monday, Sityodtong said: "In the striking world - Muay Thai, kickboxing - he is the hottest pound-for-pound striker because he's so aggressive, hits like a ton of bricks, and throws with reckless abandon.
"He's got punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and has a granite chin. He loves trading blow-to-blow with an old school, Rocky-style. He's super entertaining. You punch him, he punches you, and he just walks forward."
-ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) April 5, 2021
When Insider asked Sityodtong if Rodtang had a desire to transition from Muay Thai to MMA, he said: "He's still very young and he's told me before he wants to do MMA."
Rodtang is not the only Muay Thai expert who will showcase the art of eight limbs on the TNT network this month. The Australian striker John Wayne Parr, nicknamed "The Gunslinger," fights Nieky Holzken on Wednesday, April 21.
Sityodtong said: "One Championship is the home of martial arts. Obviously, we have MMA, but we also have Muay Thai, kickboxing, submission grappling, and we have boxing.
"American fans will not have seen anything like this before. In America, MMA is popular, but we showcase all of the martial arts."
One Championship's events on TNT take place at 10 p.m. EST on April 7, April 14, April 21, and April 28.