5. Superlek Kiatmuu9 vs Kongthoranee Sor.Sommai (One Friday Fights 68)
After already putting on one of the best fights and earning one of the biggest wins of the year back in January against Takeru Segawa, Superlek Kiatmuu9 is back for a “tune-up.” Except, Superlek’s tune-ups are not like others, because between fighting Takeru and Haggerty and Rodtang he is still fighting Kongthoranee Sor.Sommai, a two-weight Rajadamnern Stadium champion on a seven-fight winning streak.
Kongthoranee and Superlek are both cerebral, technical Thai fighters — a style known as Muay Femur — but they can also thrive in a brawl and shatter their foes piece by bloody piece if they must. That is why they thrive in ONE Championship. Theirs is the Muay Thai show that emphasizes wanton violence with four-ounce gloves and reduced clinching. Superlek took some time to grow into the violent champion that ONE wants, but now in each of his last five fights he has been the model of beautiful carnage, navigating warzones with what can almost be called an elaborate dance. ‘Lek thrives in the pocket where his elbows and top-of-the-line clinch game can go to work, and he obviously dominates at range — his nickname is ‘the Kicking Machine,’ after all.
Kongthoranee will seek to match him blow-for-blow, has the intelligence to avoid the worst spots and the athleticism to hold his own against the explosive shots of the champ. His durability is excellent, has been knocked down multiple times on ONE Friday Fights and got back up to win all but the one time. As iron-chinned as Superlek is, having never been knocked out, Kongthoranee has only been stopped the one time, eight years ago. He will be there with Superlek for five full rounds, trying his darndest to match a generational talent.
But although Kongthoranee is excellent and the fight should be artful violence, Superlek is a different level of fighter, one of the best pound-for-pound strikers of a generation and should keep the challenger out of the winner’s circle comfortably. A competitive fight? Absolutely. Close? Not if the ‘Kicking Machine,’ one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in two separate sports, is on his A-game on Friday.
-Val Dewar
