The featherweight Muay Thai title fight between champion Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym and challenger Superbon Banchamek has been rebooked for ONE Fight Night 17. The two will finally face off at Lumpinee Stadium on December 9th.
The fight had originally been booked for ONE Fight Night 15 earlier this month. Superbon pulled out after tearing his calf muscle but appears to have made a rapid recovery and was back in training this week.
Tawanchai ended up facing Jo Nattawut in a kickboxing fight instead. He won but it wasn’t a particularly impressive performance from the reigning featherweight Muay Thai champion.
Switching codes
His opponent had been in the process of establishing himself as the best kickboxer in the world at the weight. Superbon went on an incredible run that saw him beat Sittichai Sitsongpeenong, Giorgio Petrosyan and Marat Grigorian.
He lost his title and his momentum after getting knocked out by Chingiz Allazov at ONE Fight Night 6 earlier this year. Superbon bounced back to stop Tayfun Ozcan in the second round so it is something of a surprise to see the 32 year old switching codes.
He has been focused on kickboxing in recent years and Superbon will be looking to win a Muay Thai title for the first time since 2018.
What. A. KNOCKOUT! Superbon 🇹🇭 SLEEPS Giorgio Petrosyan with a second-round head kick to become the first-ever ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Champion! 😱 #ONEFirstStrike #WeAreONE #ONEChampionship pic.twitter.com/rQzZqEswSx
— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) October 15, 2021
Winning streak
While Superbon has been focused on kickboxing for the past seven years Tawanchai is one of the top pound for pound Muay Thai fighters in the world. He has beaten some of the biggest names in the division and been on a particularly impressive run of his own with ONE Championship.
Tawanchai’s winning streak currently stands at five and he has finished three of those fights within the distance. At ONE 161 he beat Petchmorrakot Petchyindeegym by decision to win the featherweight Muay Thai title.
Tawanchai followed that up with a knockout win over Jamal Yusupov at ONE Fight Night 7 in February. Since then he has secured an impressive stoppage win over Davit Kiria and a narrow decision victory against Jo Nattawut.
LEG KICK KO 🤯 Tawanchai PK.Saenchai 🇹🇭 chops Jamal Yusupov down just 49 SECONDS into their fight to defend his ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title!
Tune in to Amazon Prime Video now to catch the rest of the ONE Fight Night 7 card LIVE!#ONEFightNight7
🇺🇸🇨🇦 FREE with a… pic.twitter.com/iosJo8V6Ld— ONE Championship (@ONEChampionship) February 25, 2023
Only fight
This is currently the only fight on the card which will be broadcast live by Prime Video in the US. There had been some speculation that ONE Championship might head to Qatar or Tokyo in December but the promotion seems set to continue using Bangkok as a base.
ONE Fight Night 17, Bangkok, December 9th
Muay Thai: Tawanchai PKSaenchaigym (c) vs. Superbon Banchamek (For featherweight title)
