ONE Championship

A razor-thin defeat still needs an answer, and this Friday is when it finally comes for one of the sport’s most respected veterans.

Superlek meets Abdulla Dayakaev in a bantamweight Muay Thai rematch at The Inner Circle 25 this Friday, August 7, inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium.

Their first meeting at The Inner Circle 14 this past May ended in a hotly debated split decision for Dayakaev. He dropped Superlek with a first-round right hand before absorbing a furious two-round comeback built on low kicks and clinch work. Two of the three judges sided with the Russian. However, the result left plenty of room for disagreement across the sport.

“My plan went out the window early when I got caught by a solid punch,” Superlek said. “Once I took that hit, I was forced to chase the fight and make up ground, but I barely remember most of what happened after that.

“I was planning to pace myself and fight calculated, not expecting to get caught like that, but I made a mistake and took the hit.”

Superlek needs a statement in bantamweight rematch

Superlek now carries an uncharacteristic three-fight losing skid into Friday. He lost his bantamweight Muay Thai title for missing weight and dropped a loss to Yuki Yoza in kickboxing. His ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Title remains the only gold he still holds. It’s a rare stretch of adversity for a fighter with more than 170 professional bouts to his name.

A win over Dayakaev would go a long way toward restoring his place in the bantamweight title conversation. He built his training camp around correcting the tactical lapses that opened the door for Dayakaev the first time around.

“This fight will definitely not end the same way,” he said. “I am 100 percent confident that I will avenge my loss and beat Abdulla this time.

“Our first fight was great, but this one will be completely different. You said your goal is to knock me out, but I have the weapons to knock you out too, and I promise you, I’m not going down!”

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