Flyweight Muay Thai king Rodtang Jitmuangnon will be returning to U.S. soil before the end of the year. He is the latest addition to ONE Championship’s third North American show at ONE 169: Atlanta.

The already packed card for the event, which takes place on Friday, November 8th, gets even stronger this week with the announcement that “The Iron Man” will defend his World Championship title against division 3 contender Jacob Smith at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

Rodtang Jitmuangnon and Jacob Smith: Rematch of the gold quest

This will be the second bout between the two fighters, having previously clashed in the quarterfinals of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Grand Prix at ONE 157 in May 2022. That evening, the Thai superstar was looking to add more hardware to his collection as Smith made his debut at the world’s biggest martial arts event.

The meeting was fiercely contested from start to finish, with neither man willing to back down, but in the end, Rodtang’s aggression won out on the judges’ scoreboard.

Smith bounced back with a first-round knockout win over the always tough Walter Goncalves at ONE Fight Night 17 last December. However, he lost by unanimous decision to Denis “The Bosnian Menace” Puric in his last bout at ONE Fight Night 21 last April.

Now the British bruiser will have a chance to redeem himself against his old enemy, and the ultimate prize of ONE gold will be even more motivational.

Rodtang is ready to reassert his dominance in Muay Thai. The Jitmuangnon Gym athlete suffered his first defeat in ONE’s kicking rankings when he faced “The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9 in a welterweight bout at ONE Friday Fights 34 last September.

Four world championship games to be played in Atlanta

Having enjoyed a good recovery with a kickboxing win over Puric at ONE 167 last month, the Muay Thai flyweight champion will feel he has something to prove when he returns to his speciality.

Fans in the United States have been fascinated by Rodtang’s fighting style since they first saw him compete live at ONE Fight Night 10 last May. At ONE’s first show in North America, he knocked out Mexican star Edgar Tabares in the second round of their bout — to the great delight of the crowd.

With this latest addition, ONE 169: Atlanta will now feature four World Title bouts. It was previously announced that three-weight World Champion Anatoly Malykhin will be putting 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 for the second time against Atlanta resident “Smokin” Jo Nattawut. And finally, two-weight World Champion Christian “The Warrior” Lee will make his long-awaited return as the Singaporean-American looks to quell an incoming challenge from Alibeg Rasulov for the lightweight MMA crown.

More matches are expected to be announced in the coming weeks and fans can follow this link to purchase tickets to the event.