Former ONE Championship featherweight king Superbon Singha Mawynn is ready to bounce back after losing his gold. Filled with the desire to redeem himself, he’ll return on June 9th. The first man on his road back to the top will be #5-ranked contender Tayfun Ozcan at ONE Fight Night 11.
Superbon ahead of ONE FN11: “It’s a point of no return”
Superbon stood atop the kickboxing world and looked like he could be at the top of that mountain for a while. However, Chingiz Allazov quickly changed that with a stunning knockout of the Thai king. But that defeat has allowed Superbon to see the silver lining about rising after the fall.
“Athletes can lose. But when you lose, you must recover yourself and get back to fighting as quickly as possible. And, it is an important responsibility to prove that you can do better next time,” Superbon told ONE.
Superbon has learned the hard way that every factor must be considered ahead of an important event. For the match against Allazov, Superbon would not compete at his usual time. ONE Fight Night would be broadcast in U.S. primetime, meaning he would have to compete early in the morning in Bangkok.
But adjusting to the time of competition was not the only factor, according to the former titleholder. The 32-year-old admitted to not giving his opponent as much credit as he deserved. Those mistakes are something Superbon promises he has addressed ahead of his return at ONE Fight Night 11.
“Another factor is that I might have underestimated my opponent a bit. His game plan was better than expected. I must give credit to his good preparation. And, you know, I haven’t lost in the past [five] years. It made me overlook my own weaknesses. But when I lost, I watched the replay, and I could really see my weaknesses. That was my mistake,” Superbon recalled.
Fueled with the motivation to get a shot at the gold, Superbon is excited about meeting Ozcan. He is the lone member of the current ONE rankings that Superbon has not faced and defeated. It gives him reason to believe a win could net him a return bout for the prize he covets the most.
“Tayfun Ozcan is the only contender in the rankings who I have never fought. And I must beat him if I want to clean out everyone in the rankings and get a rematch with Chingiz Allazov,” Superbon said.
While Superbon is supremely confident in his incredible skill set, it is the motivation following the knockout loss that he believes gives him the edge. The Thai superstar is aching to right the wrongs of his previous performance. His hunger to reclaim the ONE Featherweight Kickboxing World Championship supersedes everything else.
“I think I’m hungrier than Ozcan because I lost more painfully. I lost on my turf and got KO’ed before I had a chance to show what I practiced. I have more motivation than him this time. I want to take back the belt and defeat everyone in the rankings. And the most important thing is that I can’t lose again. It’s a point of no return for me. If I lose, everything I’ve done until now will fall apart in the blink of an eye,” Superbon said.
ONE Fight Night 11 airs live on Prime Video on Friday, June 9th. The action begins at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. The event is free for all U.S. and Canadian Amazon Prime members.
