ONE Championship: Mohammad Siasarani finally gets coveted contract – now he wants the belt
After knocking out Jo Nattawut to secure his deal, Iranian says belief and self-discipline have carried him to brink of featherweight gold
Mohammad Siasarani was speaking with the calm certainty of a fighter who feels aligned with his moment. Days after knocking out “Smokin’” Jo Nattawut to secure a US$100,000 ONE Championship contract, the 23-year-old Iranian sounded less relieved than resolved.
“For a long time, my goal was just the contract,” Siasarani told the Post. “Now it is finished. My goal now is the belt.”
The finish itself at ONE Friday Fights 137 in Bangkok on December 19 was emphatic: a clean second-round stoppage that ended a bout many expected to become a drawn-out contest. For Siasarani, however, the result felt inevitable.
“I was seeing that knockout before the fight,” he said. “Ten days before, every day, I was writing it down. I was talking to myself and believing it would happen.”
That belief, he explained, was rooted in discipline rather than optimism alone. After a frustrating period of postponed bouts and missed opportunities, Siasarani extended his training camp, stripped away bad habits and became more intentional in his daily routines.
“I trained longer than usual and harder than ever,” he said. “I stopped things that were not good for me and made my good habits stronger. Every day I reminded myself what was going to happen.”