Flyweight great Demetrious Johnson spent some time training with Muay Thai icon Rodtang Jitmuangnon in Thailand.
Ahead of his highly anticipated return to the Circle on Sunday, March 23, Rodtang spent some time sparring with the former UFC and ONE flyweight world champion. ‘Mighty Mouse’ shared a clip of the recent training session on social media with the full video available via his YouTube channel.
Johnson and ‘The Iron Man’ previously met under the ONE Championship banner at the promotion’s 10th-anniversary showcase ONE X in March 2022. Competing in the company’s first-ever mixed-rules bout, ‘DJ’ and Rodtang went toe-to-toe in a contest in which the rule set changed with each round. The opening round was contested under Muay Thai rules while the second round would switch to the Global Mixed Martial Arts rule set.
Johnson survived an opening-round onslaught from the former ONE flyweight Muay Thai world titleholder and eventually secured a submission victory via rear-naked choke in the second stanza. It was Rodtang’s first loss in ONE.
Rodtang vs. Takeru headlines ONE Championship’s return to Japan
Rodtang’s next outing will see him head to the legendary Saitama Super Arena in Japan when ONE Championship presents one of its most stacked cards of 2025, ONE 172.
In the main event of the evening, ‘The Iron Man’ will square off with former three-division K-1 kickboxing champion Takeru Segawa in a superfight that has been years in the making.
Takeru signed with ONE in April 2023 but did not make his promotional debut until the following January at ONE 165 in Tokyo. The Natural Born Crusher’ suffered a crushing defeat against reigning two-sport king Superlek Kiatmoo9. However, he later bounced back with an impressive come-from-behind KO against Thant Zin at ONE Friday Fights 81 in September.
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