Rodtang Jitmuangnon‘s celebrations following his shocking 80-second demolition of Takeru Segawa at ONE 172 may be short-lived, as ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong has already mapped out “The Iron Man’s” next marquee matchup.
At the post-event press conference in Japan, Sityodtong revealed that a long-awaited trilogy bout between Rodtang and ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion Jonathan Haggerty is now in the works.
“For Rodtang, I think Rodtang is going to fight Haggerty next in Muay Thai,” Sityodtong said. “We’re doing Haggerty versus Rodtang [for the] next one.”
The potential third clash between these striking superstars would reignite one of ONE’s most compelling rivalries. Rodtang currently holds a 2-0 advantage over “The General.” He earned a unanimous decision in 2019 before securing a TKO victory in their 2020 rematch.
It’s worth noting that these two fights happened at flyweight. Haggerty has since moved up to bantamweight. So, there’s no telling which weight division this trilogy fight would happen in.
Despite setting up Rodtang’s next battle, Sityodtong wasn’t ready to close the book on the Thai star’s rivalry with Takeru following Sunday’s flyweight kickboxing super-fight at Saitama Super Arena.
“I don’t know why I always thought that Rodtang and Takeru were gonna fight more than one time. I spoke to Takeru, he wants to come back and fight Rodtang. He still wants the World Title in ONE,” Sityodtong said.
The Japanese K-1 legend will need time to regroup after suffering such a decisive defeat on home soil. Rodtang’s flawless performance stunned the combat sports world, as he needed just 80 seconds to finish the three-division K-1 Champion.
“Rodtang delivered an outstanding, flawless performance,” Sityodtong said. “So I have to sit down with my team to figure out what’s going to happen next for Takeru.”
With multiple high-profile matchups now on the horizon, including the potential Haggerty trilogy and an eventual rematch with Takeru, 2025 is shaping up to be a career-defining year for Rodtang.
“Rodtang has many fights for him now. You know, he can call his shots now, he’ll fight anybody,” Sityodtong said, suggesting that these upcoming bouts could ultimately lead Rodtang back to the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Title he lost on the scales at ONE 169 last November.