There’s been a massive change to the main event of ONE Fight Night 8 on Prime Video this Friday, March 24. ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang “The Iron Man” Jitmuangnon suffered an undisclosed injury that has ruled him out of the headliner event against ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion Superlek “The Kicking Machine” Kiatmoo9 inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium. 

Stepping in to fill his shoes is “Mini T” Danial Williams, the #5-ranked strawweight Muay Thai and strawweight MMA contender who was initially scheduled to face Rui Botelho on the bill.

Danial Williams had already proved his prowess in Muay Thai

Despite having an impressive run in the all-encompassing last year – with two knockout wins from four matches – Williams proved that he can hang with the best strikers on the planet when he participated in a Muay Thai slugfest against Rodtang in 2021.

Both men traded heavy shots at one another until the final bell. And while many knew exactly the kind of challenge Rodtang presented for the Australian-Thai, it was the latter who impressed the audience with his ability to absorb “The Iron Man’s” shots and reply with corkers of his own. The bout, which Williams took on short notice, was later named the 2021 Fight of the Year.

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Once again, “Mini T” will have to readjust his strategy to overcome a last-minute change and a different kind of intensity when he meets “The Kicking Machine” later this week. However, in a short interview with ONE Championship earlier today, the striking dynamo shared that he’s ready to rise to another big occasion.

Danial Williams wasn’t ready to listen that he lost to legends of the sport

Williams said, “This is a blessing in disguise for me because I’ve had a really good camp. I’m motivated to win because I don’t wanna be the guy where everyone says ‘yeah good on you Dan, you fought two legends but you lost.’ I don’t wanna live by the whole ‘you’re a good fighter, you got to fight the best in the world, but you never really won against them’.” 

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“Everything is kind of against me, because of the weight class. I think it’ll be an awesome story to tell for the rest of my life”. Meanwhile, Williams’ initial opponent, Botelho, will still feature on the card. The Portuguese striker goes toe-to-toe with Aslanbek Zikreev in a 128-pound catchweight Muay Thai contest.

As for “Mini T” a victory for him this Friday will see him accomplish one of his longtime ambitions at the promotion, to be crowned a ONE World Champion.