- Muay Thai fighter Rungnarai Kiatmuu9 lost via DQ after hitting his opponent Mikel Fernandez with an illegal kick
- Fernandez forgave Rungnarai and wants a rematch
A Muay Thai fighter at ONE Championship was disqualified after landing an illegal soccer kick on his opponent.
A DQ loss due to illegal kick
Up-and-coming Muay Thai fighter Rungnarai Kiatmuu9 suffered a rare disqualification loss at ONE Fight Night 83 after knocking Mikel Fernandez out with a soccer kick late in the opening round. The said strike is banned under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts and with that said, Rungnarai lost to Fernandez via DQ.
The ending was unfortunate as Rungnarai was in control of the fight was close to finishing Fernandez. However, he threw a soccer kick that landed on the head of his grounded opponent, who ended up being motionless on the mat.
In the replay, it appears that Rungnarai did not intend to hit Fernandez on the ground but the referee has deemed it as an illegal kick, declaring Fernandez as the winner via disqualification.
Check out the kick below:
https://x.com/ONEChampionship/status/1847277815433163229
Fernandez wants a rematch
Despite the win, Fernandez is unsurprisingly “sad” about how the fight played out. Though he already forgave Rungnarai, Fernandez is eager to run it back with his for at ONE Championship once again.
“I’m sure that it was not intentional,” Fernandez told Bangkok Post of Rungnarai’s soccer kick. “I’m just sad because I want to be a big name in my weight class in ONE Championship. Rungnarai isn’t a bad guy. I think he kicked my face because he was nervous about the fight. If we get a rematch or continue fighting for ONE it would be great.”
The win over Rungnarai was Fernandez’s first victory as a pro Muay Thai fighter. On the other hand, the DQ saw Rungnarai suffering his second loss as a pro.
