Takeru has officially signed with ONE Championship. The news broke on Friday and the promotion’s current kickboxing and Muay Thai stars have wasted no time calling him out.
Leading the way is Rodtang Jitmuangnon who has taken to Instagram to make it clear that he wants a shot at Takeru. The Thai superstar faces Edgar Tabares at ONE Fight Night 10 this weekend.
But after that he has made it clear he wants Takeru,
May 5 Tabares goes down. Next, I eat Takeru.
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Which division?
Takeru has a fight of his own booked. He is set to face Bailey Sugden in Paris on June 24th in a bout that won’t be promoted by ONE Championship.
So we will have to wait a while to see the Japanese superstar make his promotional debut. The fight with Sugden is set for 135lbs, if Takeru is walking around at that weight he would be able to compete in ONE Championship’s flyweight division.
But if Takeru needs to dehydrate himself in order to make 135lbs, which is common practice, he might not be able to make ONE Championship’s flyweight limit. So it will be interesting to see which weight class the Japanese star decides to compete in.
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Which ruleset?
In February video footage emerged of Takeru training in ONE Championship gloves. These are always used for the promotion’s Muay Thai fights while kickboxers wear the traditional 8oz boxing gloves.
Takeru has been competing under kickboxing rules for virtually his entire career. By contrast Rodtang is primarily a Muay Thai fighter although we have seen him switching between the two codes since he signed for ONE Championship.
So there are questions over which ruleset Takeru will compete under as well as which division he will be fighting in. If the 31 year old decides to make bantamweight his home then potential opponents include Jonathan Haggerty and Petchtanong Petchfergus.
Takeru’s decision to sign with ONE Championship has sent shockwaves through the sport. Everyone wants a piece of the former K-1 champion and Rodtang is hoping to get the first bite!
