ONE Championship’s Rodang ‘speechless’ after Lionel Messi gave him signed jersey

Rodtang Jitmuangnon is known to be an avid football fan and now he has received the ultimate collectible.

Argentinian World Cup-winning superstar Lionel Messi has presented the ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai king with a signed jersey from his club team Inter Miami.

“I’ve been waiting for this jersey for a long time,” Rotang said in a video posted on his official Facebook account.

“Iron Man” added that the jersey was given to Messi by his bodyguard in the United States because he is an avid Muay Thai fan.

“This is what I have been waiting for. Today you are here. Feeling speechless and so happy,” the 26-year-old added in a post on Instagram.

Luo Tang admitted that he played football to stay healthy rather than fight constantly in fight camps. He was promised the jersey last month and shared a photo of it on social media.

“I was an ordinary kid and I didn’t think he would give me this,” Luo Tang wrote. “I hope you enjoy my fight. We will meet one day. Thank you brother for helping me.”

MMA is “back in full force” on the 2024 ONE Championship schedule

Since signing with ONE Champions in 2018, Rodtang’s star has certainly been on the rise.

“An interesting statistic is that a few years ago he had 14,000 followers, even though he was truly one of the most feared strikers in the world at the time,” CEO and Chairman Chatri Sityudong Sityodtong recently told The Washington Post.

“Today, he has over 4 million followers on social media platforms, which is what happens when you combine a world championship talent like Rodtang with a massive platform like ONE, it creates a huge fan base.

“That’s why I’m so proud to be building this platform where he can share his story, his achievements and his values ​​globally and all fans can enjoy and be inspired by him. That’s why we created this The ultimate reason for being a company, it’s our North Star.”

Luo Tang is currently out of action after losing a unanimous decision to friend and soccer enthusiast Superlek Kiatmookao in September.

However, a rematch is still a possibility, as is a blockbuster showdown with Japanese kickboxing star Ken Segawa.

“The team at Rodtang and I talk regularly,” Chatri added. “He wants to be a legend, that’s his first thing. He wants to get all the eye-catching art clean up before he goes to MMA.

“He’s still very young, only 26. He has a whole world ahead of him and obviously a huge platform like ONE.”