He went into their first fight riding a nine-fight winning streak with an unblemished ONE record. He left it having been dropped, outscored, and forced to confront the limits of his own overconfidence.
Songchainoi Kiatsongrit meets Numsurin Chor Ketwina in the main event of ONE Friday Fights 160, live in Asia primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, June 26. Both men have since challenged Nadaka for the ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Title and come up short. Whoever wins on Friday puts themselves first in line for another shot at gold.
Songchainoi carried a nine-fight winning streak and a perfect ONE record into their first meeting at ONE Friday Fights 122. A Numsurin counter left hook dropped him in round two and turned the fight irreversibly. The majority decision loss ended his streak and opened a period of honest self-assessment that has since sharpened him considerably.
He is not interested in excuses for what happened.
“I’m stoked to get this rematch with Numsurin. It was a shame losing that first fight because I got careless. I let my guard down, and he caught me with a solid right hook that dropped me for a count. That completely flipped the momentum,” he said.
“After losing to Numsurin, I was pretty devastated. I’d never lost to anyone in ONE before, so I might have been a bit too overconfident. When things went sideways, my mental state took a pretty hard hit. But I got so much support from my family, my girlfriend, and everyone at the gym. They really helped me get through that tough time.”
Songchainoi Kiatsongrit hunts a title shot
Songchainoi Kiatsongrit rebuilt after the Numsurin loss with a win, then pushed ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka across five gruelling rounds at ONE SAMURAI 1 in April before losing on the scorecards. That challenge sharpened his understanding of what it takes to compete at the highest level in this division.
He has done his share of scouting on Numsurin and believes the physical edges belong to him in the rematch. The first fight proved anyone can be caught. It did not change his assessment of the matchup.
“When people say Numsurin got a fluke win, I don’t really look at it that way. It was on me — I was the one who got careless. Mistakes happen in this sport,” he said.
“I’m confident I’ve got the better chin and the greater durability. It definitely won’t be easy for him to knock me out. Words are cheap, we’ll have to see about that once we’re in the ring. But I’m confident I’m getting my revenge.”