Prajanchai Becomes Two-Sport ONE Champion With Decision Win Over Jonathan Di Bella

July 1, 2024
5 months

Prajanchai PK Saenchai showed he could properly navigate the nuances of competing in Muay Thai and kickboxing. While the two sports share similarities, online boxing news shows that anyone who does both must have slightly different strategies for navigating through and raising their hands. Prajanchai had to adjust throughout his ONE Strawweight Kickboxing World Title fight at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.

What made life difficult for Prajanchai was dealing with his opponent, Jonathan Di Bella, having a five-inch reach advantage. Di Bella leaned on that early in the fight. He could strike at range and stay away from the power that Prajanchai could employ.

But that didn’t last throughout the entire five-round contest. As the fight wore on, Prajanchai was able to find his openings. Prajanchai could fire out consistent pressure by winging punches and kicks that accumulated damage to Di Bella.

Neither fighter could find the knockout blow. However, Prajanchai was able to impress the judges enough to claim the title. He is also the Muay Thai strawweight champion. Prajanchai, who has 353 career victories, may be able to count on seeing Di Bella again soon after how close their first fight was.

Prajanchai’s win headlined a ONE Fight Night card that featured the most championship-level talent in some time. A lot of fighters picked up important wins for their career.

Superlek Continues to Stack Up Victories

Thanks largely to the frequency of fights, the world of Muay Thai and kickboxing doesn’t produce many lengthy winning streaks when athletes reach the top of the sport. But Superlek Kiatmoo9 has been defying the expectations of typical fighters.

Superlek, the ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion, collected his 10th straight win over Kongthoranee Sor Sommai in a flyweight Muay Thai fight. This was a risky fight for Superlek to take.

Superlek is set to fight Jonathan Haggerty for the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title at ONE 168 on Sept. 6 in Denver. Had he suffered an injury, there could have been the possibility that Superlek could have missed out on that fight.

But Superlek avoided worries of taking too much damage by inflicting a lot of his own. Superlek could use heavy knees and high elbows to wear down Kongthoranee. While Kongthoranee won seven consecutive fights before losing this one in a unanimous decision, he seemed hesitant to pull the trigger and had a lower output of volume.

Superlek protected his top ranking in Muay Thai and will be ready for his championship fight in a few months.

Second Verse, Same as the First

Rematches provide fighters with an opportunity to undo past wrongs. But Suablack Tor Pran49 didn’t gain much insight between his first and second fight with Kiamran Nabati. When the two men met in 2023, in an organization outside of ONE, Nabati knocked out Suablack in the first round.

During the second fight, things played out similarly. Nabati stalked Suablack around the ring before landing a left hook that ended the fight near the 2-minute mark of the first round. Nabati was awarded a $100,000 contract. He is 3-0 in ONE and 21-0 overall in his career, according to MMAfighting latest news.

Petchtanong Feels Good Being Back

One of the oldest arguments in combat sports revolves around ring rust. Can fighters afford to be away from the sport for too long before their skills diminish? Petchtanong Petchfergus returned after 18 months away from the sport to fight former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Alaverdi Ramazanov.

Petchtanong, a former bantamweight kickboxing champion, was returning following a year’s suspension for failed drug tests. When Petchanong claimed the belt in 2022, he never got the opportunity to defend it because of the suspension.

Petchtanong, 38, knew he had to impress in this fight to get back in the title picture. He could do so by applying immediate and constant pressure. Petchtanong overwhelmed Ramazanov, who couldn’t keep up with the forward movement.

Petchtanong earned a second-round TKO win to improve his career record to 359-56.

Former Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai Champion Crashes Rankings

By Muay Thai standards, Shadow Singha Mawynn isn’t a young fighter. But the 24-year-old Thai fighter announced his intentions to climb to the highest levels of ONE with his impressive performance against five-time Muay Thai world champion Jimmy Vienot.

Mawynn overwhelmed Vienot with his pressure. He did a good job of mixing up all his strikes. Vienot couldn’t land accurately and spent most of his time on his back heel. Mawynn ended up being awarded a unanimous decision by the judges and will hope to break through into the rankings.

Pakorn Lays Out Bohic

Pakorn PK Saenchai was a fighter who fight fans who were excited to see debut in ONE Championship. Pakorn didn’t make anyone wait long to see what explosive skills he brings to the ring. Boxing news latest headlines show that Rafi Bohic wasn’t much of a match for Pakorn.

Pakron shot out to the center of the ring once the bell rang and peppered Bohic with heavy strikes. Seeming overwhelmed, Bohic retreated to the ropes in hopes of finding solace. However, Bohic wouldn’t find any peace there.

Pakorn followed him to the edge of the ring and landed a right hand that put Bohic down. While this was Pakorn’s first win in ONE, Muay Thai fans have long known about Pakorn. He has 196 victories during his career.

Here’s a look at the rest of the fights on the card not listed above:

  • Bantamweight Muay Thai, Tyson Harrison win by split decision over Sibmuen
  • Catchweight Muay Thai (140 pounds), Yodlekpet Or Atchariya win by decision over Komawut FA Group
  • Catchweight Kickboxing (132 pounds), Kaito Sakaguchi win by decision over Lan Shanteng
  • Strawweight MMA, Kohei Wakabayashi win by split decision over Sanlang Gexi
  • Catchweight Muay Thai (143 pounds), Ryota Hashimoto win by knockout over Yuto Ueno, Round 1 2:05
  • Catchweight Muay Thai (132 LBS), Suriyanlek Por Yenying win by knockout over Pompet PK Saenchai, Round 1 2:50

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By Dean McHugh.

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