ONE on Prime Video 8 Main Event Breakdown

After Cage Warriors wraps up its second “Unplugged” show in London on Friday evening, the combat sports world’s focus shifts to Singapore, the home base of ONE Championship. Your weekend of action continues when the promotion presents ONE on Prime Video 8 from Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Live coverage begins with the lead card at 7 pm ET/ 4 pm PT on the ONE Championship YouTube channel and Facebook page. Main card action follows at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on Amazon Prime Video. As usual, this ONE on Prime Video card is only available to subscribers of the service inside the United States and Canada.

Viewers outside of North America can watch Friday’s card as a pay-per-view through ONE’s official Website under the alternative title ONE Fight Night 8.

A Late Change to ONE on Prime Video 8 Main Event

However, unlike ONE on Prime Video 7, MMA will not be the focus of the ONE on Prime Video 8 main event of the evening, although it was initially slated to be the case. At first, the ONE Heavyweight MMA Championship had been booked as the main event of Friday’s card.

Last week, the promotion announced that the bout will have to wait for another evening, but it isn’t due to an injury for either Arjan Bhullar (11-1 MMA, 2-0 ONE Championship) or Anatoly Malykhin (12-0 MMA, 4-0 ONE Championship.) ONE moved the fight to another card amid a change in media rights.

Featherweight Kickboxing Championship in New ONE on Prime Video 8 Main Event

In that heavyweight championship fight’s stead, the focus will shift to kickboxing, where featherweight (135 lbs.) supremacy is on the line in the new ONE on Prime Video 8 main event. Incumbent champion Superlek Kiatmoo9 (131-29-4 combat sports, 8-1 ONE Championship) meets challenger (and ONE Muay-Thai Flyweight Champion) Rodtang Jitmuangnon (270-42-10 combat sports, 11-0 ONE Championship).

Note: The three-knockdown rule will be in effect again this weekend in the ONE on Prime Video 8 main event. Should a fighter knock the opposition down three times in one round or four times in one match, that fighter is declared the champion by TKO.

As with all kickboxing world championship bouts, the ONE on Prime Video 8 main event will be an advertised maximum of five rounds at three minutes per round to close the show, a show that finds the promotion, and its fans, with heavy hearts for the second time in under three months.

Monday, ONE Championship announced the death of Iuri Lapicus from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident at age 27. Lapicus challenged for the promotion’s lightweight championship in 2020, but lost to Christian Lee by second-round knockout. All of us offer condolences to Lapicus’ family and those who knew him.

ONE on Prime Video 8 Main Event Fighter Comparison

Heading into the main event of the evening on Friday, Superlek Kiatmoo9 stands as the taller contender at 5-foot-7, compared to the 5-foot-6 frame of Rodtang Jitmuangnon. In addition, Superlek owns a four-inch reach advantage (69 inches to 65 inches) over Rodtang.

Ordinarily, we’d mention who has the advantage on the betting lines at this point in the breakdown, but no odds were released as of Tuesday afternoon. As always, if you plan on betting on this or any other fight happening this weekend, please wager responsibly.

Superlek Has Sights Set on Muay-Thai Rematch After ONE on Prime Video 8 Main Event

Superlek Kiatmoo9 has posted a perfect 5-0 record across kickboxing and Muay-Thai in his last five ONE Championship appearances. Most recently, he scored a unanimous decision in a kickboxing bout on Jan. 13 during ONE on Prime Video 6 against Daniel Puertas (32-9 kickboxing, 1-2 ONE Championship) after five rounds to defend his title.

While Superlek and Rodtang are scheduled to meet on Friday night, the former hopes that the two are booked to fight again at a later date, in Muay-Thai. Recently, Superlek was interviewed on the Yokkao YouTube channel. He discussed his future aspirations with Rodtang.

“Muay-Thai is my job,” Superlek began, through subtitles. “I do it well and I want my family to have a good life because of my fights. After I protect my championship title, I want to meet Rodtang again to become the new Muay Thai World Champion.”

Superlek has to take this journey one fight at a time and one round at a time, and it starts with winning the ONE on Prime Video 8 main event this Friday. After, contract talks can begin for a Muay-Thai rematch.

A Busy Spring For Rodtang Jitmuangnon Begins Friday

In the other corner, Rodtang Jitmuangnon has gone 4-1 across kickboxing, Muay-Thai and custom rules fights over his last five contests. At present, he owns a three-fight winning streak, extended back in January against Jiduo Yibu (0-2 ONE Championship) in the aforementioned ONE on Prime Video 6.

Friday’s contest is the first of two championship fights that Rodtang will compete in this spring. In a little over a month and a half, ONE will trek to Denver, CO for its United States debut in ONE on Prime Video 10.

That night, Rodtang is currently scheduled to fight Edgar Tabares in a defense of the ONE Flyweight Muay-Thai Championship during a card that’s headlined by a trilogy bout for the flyweight championship in MMA between titlist Demetrious Johnson (24-4-1 MMA, 4-1 ONE Championship) and Adriano Moraes (20-4 MMA, 11-4 ONE Championship.) Thus, it goes without saying that this is a packed spring for the challenger.

If this fight goes the full five rounds and Rodtang loses, how much will the loss and the quick turnaround affect him going into the Muay-Thai bout? Much like Superlek, Rodtang has to take this journey one round at a time and he won’t be able to think too far ahead.

Analysis, Film Study, and Prediction

Stylistically, the ONE on Prime Video 8 main event is a dead heat. Both contenders are Muay-Thai fighters by trade, so expect a stand-up battle for as long as this one lasts.

Superlek Has Nasty Elbows

If there’s one thing about Superlek Kiatmoo9’s fights that’s shown up on video, it’s that his opponents are best served to not get caught with an elbow strike. It might spell the end of the fight. Walter Goncalves found this out the hard way in ONE on Prime Video 1 last August in a Muay-Thai contest. Upon breaking free from the clinch in round one, Superlek landed a left-handed punch to wobble Goncalves.

Even though Goncalves popped right back up, Superlek smelled blood in the water, landing a crisp elbow shot to knock him down. The referee administered the eight-count, but it was all over.

All Superlek needs to do is to score the elbows with regularity. If he does, he’ll be on easy street.

Watch For Rodtang’s Body Shots

In the other corner, Rodtang Jitmuangnon is just equally as vicious with punches to the body, something that Jonathan Haggerty knows all too well. Throughout the first round of their 2020 bout, Rodtang frequently teed off with shots to Haggerty’s midsection, including a strike to the liver that knocked the latter down.

Once Rodtang found success with shots to the liver, it became his bread and butter down the stretch, so look for him to try and accumulate damage with such strikes. All it takes is one shot in that area to land on-target to shut the body down, but also look for him to mix up his attacks to try to spread the damage out further.

Final Thoughts

As someone who watched the last ONE on Prime Video card headlined by a kickboxing bout and someone who regularly carved out the time to watch GLORY Kickboxing when it was on Fight Pass a few years back, it’s an entertaining combat discipline. The ONE on Prime Video 8 main event shouldn’t be any different.

Prediction: Rodtang Jitmuangnon by Unanimous Decision.

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