Kongthoranee says he will be Naito's nightmare

Kongthoranee Sor Sommai says he will be Taiki Naito’s nightmare. He told ONE.

The rematch is flyweight kickboxing, and it is the co-main of ONE Fight Night 49 on Prime Video at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, which ONE dates Friday, November 6, in U.S. primetime. Lucas Gabriel meets Magomed Magomedov in the main event, which the Gabriel story covers. Kongthoranee is 29, from Thailand, and trains at Sor Sommai, and he is a three-time Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai world champion. Naito is 30, from Japan, and his nickname is Silent Sniper, and he trains at Bell Wood Fight Team. Kongthoranee is 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) and 134.7 pounds (61 kg), and Naito is 5 feet 8 inches (173 cm) and 134 pounds (61 kg).

Kongthoranee won the first meeting after nine minutes at ONE Friday Fights 37 in October 2023, and he told Naito the rules do not matter, Muay Thai or kickboxing. Kongthoranee said kickboxing looks scarier than that meeting, that he still believes he can get the job done, and that he wants more fluid combinations, a killer instinct to finish, and more room to grow.

Naito has won three in a row and is hunting a fourth. He beat previously undefeated Hyu, Mister Pepper, by unanimous decision at 3:00 of the third round at ONE SAMURAI 1, knocked Nakrob Fairtex out at 2:27 of the first round at ONE Fight Night 37, and beat Johan Estupinan by majority decision at 3:00 of the third round at ONE Fight Night 32. Kongthoranee said that run left Naito faster and heavier, and that the striking arsenal, with more continuous combinations, is the dangerous part.

Kongthoranee beat Yuan Pengjie by unanimous decision at 3:00 of the third round at The Inner Circle 32, on the card with ONE Friday Fights 172, in his kickboxing debut. Naito watched that fight, said Kongthoranee adapted, and expects more punches to cross than they threw that night. He holds the edge in kickboxing experience and in the precision of the punches, he wants a clean finish, and he has prepared a right punch and a left punch that can put Kongthoranee down, leaving the shot to the flow of the fight.

The ONE flyweight kickboxing title is vacant, a 26-pound (12 kg) belt, and both men called a win the step toward it. Kongthoranee pointed to a seven-fight Muay Thai streak on the global stage, and Naito wants that belt before he goes back to Muay Thai, after 11 fights under those rules.

ONE lists Kongthoranee at 12-6 across 18 bouts, with three finishes and a 25 percent finish rate, an average bout of 8 minutes and 2 seconds, and the wins are three knockouts, seven unanimous decisions, one split decision, and one majority decision. After a split decision over Nong-O Hama at 3:00 of the third round at ONE Fight Night 28, Kongthoranee lost unanimous decisions to Nong-O at ONE Fight Night 31 and to Aslamjon Ortikov at ONE Fight Night 36, both at 3:00 of the third round, then a knockout to Asadula Imangazaliev at 1:06 of the second round at ONE Fight Night 39, and a unanimous decision to Nong-O at 3:00 of the third round at The Inner Circle 20, on the card with ONE Friday Fights 160. Kongthoranee knocked Gingsanglek Tor Laksong out in his ONE debut in February 2023, won eight of nine ONE Friday Fights outings, and earned a six-figure contract after beating Jaosuayai Mor Krungthepthonburi in April 2024.

ONE lists Naito at 10-6 across 16 bouts, with two finishes and a 20 percent finish rate, an average bout of 8 minutes and 41 seconds, and he is 39-14. Before the streak he lost a knockout to Elias Mahmoudi at 2:56 of the third round at ONE Fight Night 24, lost a unanimous decision to Dedduanglek Torfunfarm at 3:00 of the third round at ONE Fight Night 21, and beat Sherzod Kabutov by unanimous decision at 3:00 of the third round at ONE Friday Fights 55. Naito’s mother enrolled him in karate in preschool so he would learn discipline, and she would allow a pro career only after a national karate title. Naito won that title a year later, joined a kickboxing gym in Toyohashi at 14, made his pro debut the next year as a first-year high school student, and at 18 won the Shoot Boxing Japan super bantamweight title. Hiroaki Suzuki, a former ONE bantamweight Muay Thai title challenger, trains beside him, and the biography says Naito will not be satisfied until he is a ONE world champion.