Rodtang Jitmuangnon will be back on U.S. soil before the end of the year, as the flyweight Muay Thai king has become the latest addition to ONE 169: Atlanta – ONE Championship’s third show in North America.

The already-stacked card at the Friday, November 8, event got a further boost this week when it was announced that “The Iron Man” would defend his World Title against #3-ranked divisional contender Jacob Smith inside State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon vs. Jacob Smith: The rematch for the quest for gold

This will be the second meeting between the two fighters. They previously squared off in the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix quarterfinals at ONE 157 in May 2022. That evening, the Thai megastar was looking to add more hardware to his collection while Smith was making his debut in the world’s largest martial arts organization.

The meeting proved to be a hard-hitting affair from start to finish, with neither man willing to back down. In the end, though, Rodtang’s aggression won out on the judges’ scorecard.

Smith bounced back with a first-round knockout victory over the always-tough Walter Goncalves at ONE Fight Night 17 last December. But he fell to a unanimous decision loss to Denis “The Bosnian Menace” Puric in his last outing at ONE Fight Night 21 this past April.

Now, the British bruise will get a chance to redeem himself against his old foe – and the ultimate prize of ONE gold will serve as further motivation.

For his part, Rodtang is ready to re-establish his dominance in Muay Thai. The Jitmuangnon Gym athlete suffered his first loss in ONE’s striking ranks when he faced “The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9 in a catchweight bout at ONE Friday Fights 34 last September.

Atlanta set to feature four world title fights

While he rebounded well with a kickboxing win over Puric at ONE 167 last month, the flyweight Muay Thai titleholder will certainly feel he has something to prove when he returns to his realm of expertise.

Fans in the United States have been fascinated with Rodtang’s fighting style ever since they got to watch him compete live for the first time at ONE Fight Night 10 last May. He knocked out Mexican star Edgar Tabares in the second round of their match at ONE’s debut show in North America – much to the delight of the crowd.

With this latest addition, ONE 169: Atlanta will now host four World Title fights. It was previously announced that three-division World Champion Anatoly Malykhin will put his ONE Heavyweight MMA World Title on the line against Senegalese monster “Reug Reug” Oumar Kane.

Tawanchai PK Saenchai is also set to defend his ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title against Atlanta resident “Smokin” Jo Nattawut for a second time. And finally, two-division World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee will make his long-awaited return when he attempts to put down the challenge of Alibeg Rasulov, who will come for the Singaporean-American’s lightweight MMA crown.

More matches are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, and fans can buy tickets to the event by following this link.