Only three weeks after starching hot prospect Nabil Anane, the arguable pound-for-pound best nak muay in the world, Superlek Kiatmoo9, got back into the ring at Lumpinee Stadium, saving the ONE Fight Night 12 main event by stepping up on short notice.
The original main event, a light-heavyweight kickboxing title fight between champion Roman Kryklia and Francesco Xhaja, was canceled. Additionally, Tagir Khalilov’s opponent, Elias Mahmoudi, withdrew at late notice. So in stepped Superlek.
Unfortunately the ONE flyweight kickboxing champion missed weight for this Muay Thai bout, presumably due to having to make weight twice in three weeks. However the bout went on as scheduled and Superlek took on the former Muay Thai flyweight title challenger on Amazon Prime Video.
The fought started with a checked low kick from Superlek, who then landed a leg kick of his own and an elbow that threw Khalilov off-balance. Superlek ran forward and partially landed a flying knee against the ropes one minute in. Khalilov had trouble getting his offence off as the Thai just walked him down. A monstrous elbow staggered Khalilov halfway through round one but the clinch kept him on his feet. A large cut appeared on the forehead of Khalilov from a series of elbows. The Russian’s face quickly became masked in blood. When the first round ended he had still barely been able to touch Superlek.
Superlek picked up right where he left off when round two started. Khalilov got hurt in the clinch by a series of elbows and knees and was then dumped to the mat in the opening minute, which the referee called a knockdown to the surprise of the commentary. Khalilov protested had no choice but to accept the decision and try to make the best of the rest of the fight. On replay, after the fight, it was clear that it was in fact an elbow which had knocked Tagir down, and not just a dump. He continued to eat chopping elbows from Superlek and was almost entirely on the defensive.
As Superlek charged forward relentlessly, referee Olivier Coste must have seen something in the eyes of the retreating Khalilov because he stepped in while Khalilov was on his feet still. The Russian was intelligently defending and was not on the verge of going out, but he was not firing back offense of his own whatsoever. Fans will surely debate this stoppage for a while.
Superlek did not receive a bonus to the missed weight, despite the virtuoso performance. In his post-fight interview, through a translator, he expressed his desire to face off with Rodtang and Jonathan Haggerty in Muay Thai, rather than going back to defend his kickboxing belt.
Superlek Kiatmoo9 def. Tagir Khalilov by TKO (knees, punches, elbows) Round 2, 1:42
