“The Iron Man” meets the British brawler for a second time at the Saturday, 9th November, event, having scored a unanimous decision win over him at ONE 157 in May 2022.
In the two years since their first encounter, Smith has impressed fans with a highlight reel knockout over Walter Goncalves last December as well as a close-knit brawl with Denis Puric this past April. But despite his evolution, Rodtang sees no progression in his foe’s abilities.
“He’s still the same in terms of his style. It’s like his engine is slow to heat up. He thinks and acts a bit slow,” Rodtang said.
“I will do my best to knock him out. I wanted to knock him out because I wanted the bonus. But I can’t underestimate my opponent because Jacob Smith is tough and durable. With his strong physique, I can’t underestimate him.”
In his last outing at ONE 167 in June, “The Iron Man” collided with Bosnian brawler Puric in kickboxing action. Their battle was scheduled to go down at flyweight, but Rodtang missed the limit, which meant it had to go down at catchweight instead.
Should the same thing happen before ONE 169, the flyweight Muay Thai king will be stripped of the World Title he has held since August 2019.
But Rodtang insists those mistakes are behind him, and he’ll set a champion’s example next month in order to defend his gold for the sixth time.
“I will do anything to make sure that I don’t make the same mistake again,” he said.
“Because if I make another mistake, the belt will slip out of my hands.”
