ONE Fight Night 24: Brooks vs. Balart will feature a highly anticipated flyweight kickboxing clash between Taiki “Silent Sniper” Naito and Elias “The Sniper” Mahmoudi. The fight is set for August 2nd at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, and will air live on Prime Video during US primetime.

Just a few weeks before the fight, Taiki Naito sat down with EssentiallySports to discuss his upcoming opponent Elias Mahmoudi’s skills.

Taiki Naito on Elias Mahmoudi’s skills 

Taiki Naito, who began his career in 2011, made his promotional debut with a knockout victory over Alexi Serepisos in a flyweight Muay Thai bout at ONE: Dawn of Valor. He then built a three-fight winning streak, which was snapped by current ONE two-sport Bantamweight World Champion Jonathan Haggerty. Naito then lost two subsequent fights. He most recently fell to Kongthoranee Sor Sommai at ONE Friday Fights 37 last October and now looks to prove himself against Elias Mahmoudi.

Taiki Naito recently appeared in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports, hosted by Raj Sarkar. During the interview, Sarkar asked Naito about his thoughts on his opponents. Naito’s response, translated from Japanese to English, conveyed a positive sentiment. He said, “First of all, I think that Mahmoudi is a great fighter with an excellent Muay Thai Technique.”

Naito emphasized his opponent’s skills because Elias Mahmoudi was originally scheduled to face Superlek Kiatmoo9 in January at ONE 165 in Tokyo. However, Mahmoudi was unable to compete due to injury, which led to Superlek stepping in for the injured Rodtang Jitmuangnon to face Takeru Segawa. Naito explained, “Mahmoudi was supposed to fight Superlek in January, but that was postponed due to injury. So, yes he has a strong guard and great skills, making this fight a very tough and challenging one for me.”

All bout Taiki Naito

Taiki Naito’s martial arts journey began with Karate. His mother enrolled him in classes when he was young to instill discipline. Growing up, he became fascinated by Japanese kickboxing fights on TV and dreamed of becoming a professional kickboxer himself.

However, his mother set a condition: he first had to win a national karate championship. He achieved this goal within a year and then, at the age of 14, transitioned to kickboxing training at a newly opened gym in his hometown. Later that year, he made his professional debut. By the time he turned 18, he was the Shooto Boxing Japan Super Bantamweight Champion.

Now, all eyes are on the upcoming ONE Fight Night 24; Brooks vs. Balart. It will be intriguing to see if Taiki Naito can bounce back from his recent lackluster form against Elias Mahmoudi, who himself emerged victorious in his last fight at ONE Fight Night 13 back in August. Stay tuned for further updates.