ONE Championship: Demetrious Johnson thinks Rodtang beat Superlek – ‘I’m speechless’
- ONE flyweight MMA champ says Rodtang controlled the distance, ‘pressured Superlek the whole time’, and had most damaging shot in Bangkok
- ‘I love DJ but he’s way off the mark here,’ former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai title challenger Liam Harrison says
Demetrious Johnson thinks the judges got it wrong in Superlek’s blockbuster ONE Friday Fights 34 victory over Rodtang Jitmuangnon last weekend.
But ONE Championship’s flyweight MMA king Johnson – who submitted Rodtang by rear-naked choke in a special mixed rules fight in March 2022 – saw things differently.
“What the flying f***? What? I am speechless. But I’m not a Muay Thai guy. I’m not a Muay Thai specialist. I just specialise in hand-to-hand combat,” the 37-year-old American Johnson said in a reaction video on his YouTube channel, Mighty Gaming.
“I thought Rodtang won the fight. I just saw Rodtang walking him down the whole entire time and bullying Superlek.
“The middle of the second round to the third, I saw Superlek trying to hold him with that clinch over and over. I didn’t see somebody who was winning the fight.”
The fight seemed to hinge on a controversial second-round knockdown for Superlek, with some fans thinking Rodtang slipped.
Rodtang protested but was given a standing count by the referee, which automatically gave Superlek a 10-8 round under Muay Thai rules.
Superlek was then adjudged to have won the third round, with Rodtang having been the clear winner of the first after splitting Superlek’s head open with an elbow.
“I’m not going to lie, I’m absolutely shocked that Superlek won that fight,” Johnson added. “I felt Rodtang came forward a lot more. They both landed shots back and forth, left and right, a lot of beautiful elbows. The Superlek leg kicks.
“But I feel the one shot that made a difference in the fight was Rodtang’s elbow which cut Superlek over his head. That was probably the most damaging shot in the whole fight because it made him bleed.
“Rodtang ate all those shots, he controlled the distance, basically pressured Superlek the whole time. And Superlek won the fight. I don’t know how they score Muay Thai but by my criteria, I would have given it to Rodtang.”
Johnson was criticised by some fans and fighters for his breakdown of the fight.
“I love DJ but he’s way off the mark here,” former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai title challenger Liam Harrison said.
“He knows MMA better than anyone … he doesn’t know Muay Thai better than pretty much every Muay Thai judge and high level fighter I know, who all think the result was fair.”
