Superlek Kiatmoo9, winner of the ONE flyweight Muay Thai grand prix in 2022 and The Nation’s #3 pound-for-pound fighter in the sport, took his talents to kickboxing to challenge for the vacant ONE flyweight title to kick off 2023 at ONE Fight Night 6 in his homeland of Thailand.
His opponent, the Spanish-born Daniel Puertas, is a kickboxer through and through, which made for an interesting style matchup as a traditional nak muay faced off with a lifelong kickboxer. Superlek is one of the most talented nak muay in the world and has some of the most dangerous kicks in the sport, but is 1-1 in his only two kickboxing bouts with ONE Championship.
The first round began with a high pace as both men threw hands and Superlek landed one of his trademark body kicks. Superlek looked to chop the legs and landed the straight right hand consistently. Two big step-in knees slammed into Puertas’ body halfway through the round and Superlek started to gain momentum. Puertas was moving forward most of the time and running right into knees over and over again, with no answer for them. By the end of the round a welt was already visible on the lead leg of the Spaniard though he did land a few good punches in the closing seconds of the round.
Superlek used teep kicks to start round two in order to keep the pressure of Puertas off him. The knees from Superlek came every time Daniel stepped into the pocket, most landing on the side or stomach. Puertas would just not go away though, fighting through everything that came his way to walk down the Thai and throw his own offense, though he appeared to be getting out-landed. Again at the very end of the round Puertas landed one massive right hand clean on the chin. When the bell rang Superlek appeared to be tiring.
Round three began with more of the same except early on Superlek was able to turn Puertas’ pressure around on him and start swarming him against the fence. A big right hand hurt Puertas badly and he barely stayed on his feet. Still, he was wobbled and did not appear to be all there for quite a while. Superlek’s barrage went on for a good thirty seconds before it slowed. Superlek then switched to targeting the body more. The toughness of Daniel Puertas was next level as he even began to return fire finally with a minute left in the round. Superlek spent much of the rest of the round entering the clinch, perhaps to preserve his energy for the championship rounds.
Puertas got back to his pressuring offense in round four while Superlek got back to his offense of mainly leg kicks and step-in knees. The occasional body kick and head kick came from the Thai, but he was avoiding trading punches with Puetas as much as possible. Meanwhile, Puertas’ goal was still to get past those kicks and get in closer where his punches would be more effective. Superlek received a stern warning halfway through the round, seemingly for landing strikes while clinching, which is one of the big differences between his usual sport and kickboxing. It was the pressure of Puertas forcing him to clinch up most of the time. Once again Superlek seemed tired at the end of the fourth, but he had been fighting at a high pace while seeming to be tired for a while. Still, the pressure of Puertas had to be taking a toll.
The final round of the fight for the vacant flyweight kickboxing championship was more of the same at first. However, soon a yellow card was issued to Superlek for clinching, docking 10% of his pay. When the fight resumed he slammed head kicks at Puertas but the Spaniard blocked them, though they cannot have felt good on his arms this late in a hard fight. Superlek’s offense for the rest of the round consisted mainly of body kicks. Meanwhile, Puertas was pressuring effectively but had trouble landing clean on the Thai though from time to time a good right hand snapped back Superlek’s head. Superlek finally got on the front foot himself in the final thirty seconds and landed some solid knees before the bell sounded.
The fight was close heading into the judge’s scorecards. Superlek’s volume was higher and he had the big flurry in round three, but Puertas had the effective pressure throughout most of the rounds. When Dom Lau read the scorecards it was Superlek Kiatmoo9 who received the belt from Chatri Sityodtong, claiming his first ever major kickboxing title. Superlek can now consider himself among the elite of the elite in two major combat sports, which is not something many can say.
Official Result: Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Daniel Puertas by Unanimous Decision
