The Family Behind the Fighter: Songchainoi's Road to ONE Championship
“Mini-Hulk” Songchainoi Kiatsongrit has opened up about the family support and chance encounter that set him on the path to professional Muay Thai.
The 25-year-old faces Banluelok Sitwatcharachai in an atomweight Muay Thai main event at The Inner Circle 27 on Friday, August 21. It streams exclusively on live.onefc.com from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Songchainoi, a recent ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Title challenger, carries a 60-21 pro record and a 10-3 ONE mark into the fight, going through a difficult stretch that has tested the resolve behind a career built on years of early morning runs and family sacrifice.
Behind Songchainoi's career is a story shaped as much by the people around him as by the hours he put into training.
Songchainoi's Family Disapproved at First Because They Had Money
The beginning of Songchainoi's combat sports journey was not met with universal enthusiasm at home. His family's initial resistance came from a place of love and security rather than indifference.
"I started boxing when I was young. It helped me build discipline from an early age, but it was very hard. My family didn't really approve at first. They said, 'We have money. You don't need to do this. Don't get hurt,'" Songchainoi explained.
The tension between a family comfortable enough to offer their son a safer life and a young athlete drawn to the physical demands of combat sports is a dynamic that eventually resolved itself in the gym's favor.
A Boxing Gym Owner Spotted Songchainoi's Potential
The catalyst for Songchainoi's formal entry into the sport came not from a famous training facility or a celebrated coach, but from an auntie who ran a boxing gym and trusted her eye for talent. That single encounter shifted everything.
"There was an auntie who approached us. She was a boxing gym owner. She asked, 'Do you want to try boxing? Let me see how you look.' She had me stretch like boxers do, and then she said, 'You can be a boxer. Your body is a good fit,'" he explained.
His opponent at The Inner Circle 27, Banluelok, is riding a two-fight winning streak since his only promotional defeat, a loss to reigning ONE Atomweight Muay Thai World Champion Nadaka in 2025, and his 90-22 career record, including five ONE Championship wins, makes him a dangerous main event opponent.
Songchainoi's Parents Provided Him Tremendous Support
When the family's initial resistance gave way to support, they went all in. Songchainoi's account of how his parents backed his training routine in those early years reflects a level of commitment that goes well beyond showing up to fights and cheering from the crowd.
"My family supported me a lot, especially in the beginning. My parents would wake me up at 5:00 a.m. so I could go jogging. My dad would take me running. I would run to the gym, train, and run back, about 10 kilometers every day," he said.
Ten kilometers of daily running, a father by his side, and parents willing to set an alarm before sunrise for their son's training is the foundation Songchainoi's professional career was built on. As he works through a difficult stretch in his ONE Championship tenure, that foundation remains the same.
Watch The Inner Circle 27 exclusively on live.onefc.com beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET/4:30 a.m. PT.
