After weeks of uncertainty, legal drama and questions over whether “The Iron Man” would even travel to Japan, the main event is officially on, reports the Bangkok Post.
Rodtang passed his checks yesterday morning at the Villa Fontaine Grand Tokyo Ariake hotel, ensuring today’s headline bout at Ariake Arena survived what had become one of the most scrutinised weigh-ins of his career.
Takeru also made weight without issue for the final fight of his career, which has been overshadowed in recent weeks by the turmoil surrounding his opponent.
The 34-year-old Japanese icon will now get his last chance to leave the sport with ONE Championship gold, after confirming this week that his body has only “one fight left”.
For ONE officials, yesterday morning will have brought a significant sigh of relief.
The debut of the new monthly ONE Samurai series had already been hit by turbulence around the main event, with lawsuits filed on both sides and a fragile truce reached just 10 days before fight night.
Rodtang is still attempting to negotiate his way into free agency from a 12-month matching period clause in his ONE contract, but he has played his part in Tokyo.
Only two fighters failed hydration on Tuesday morning – Ritu Phogat and Taimu Hisai – with the other 28 fighters on the card passing.
All four title fights – set to be broadcast nationally in Japan on Fuji TV – were kept intact, making it one of the calmer official weigh-ins in recent memory for a major ONE Championship event.
“I’m tired, it’s been a busy morning,” Rodtang’s nutritionist Peter Miller, of Condition Nutrition, told the Bangkok Post.
“But a successful day. Obviously there’s been a lot of media attention on Rodtang – whether he was going to make weight, ‘Are they gonna do it?’ It hasn’t been easy trying to manage everything.
“But we got it done. He’s been professional, he’s made it easy. I’m just really happy. All we need to do now is refuel. The fight is on, we go again.
“Really excited now – I’m gonna go have a beer and relax.”
Miller had five fighters on the card, with Rodtang, Jonathan Haggerty, Avazbek Kholmirzaev, Marat Grigorian and Ricardo Bravo all making weight and passing hydration.
Rodtang was always likely to attract the most attention.
The 28-year-old Thai superstar has had several high-profile issues on the scale in recent years, including a dramatic withdrawal from his scheduled flyweight Muay Thai title fight against Nong-O Hama in Tokyo last November.
Rodtang narrowly made weight that week, but was taken to hospital soon after because of the severity of the cut, forcing the fight to be cancelled.
There was no repeat this time.
Yuki Yoza was first up to the scales yesterday, making weight and passing hydration for his bantamweight kickboxing world title fight with Haggerty.
Haggerty also sailed through, keeping intact one of the most anticipated bouts on the card.
The flyweight MMA title fight is also official, with Japanese champion Yuya Wakamatsu and Uzbek challenger Kholmirzaev both clearing their checks.
So too is the atomweight Muay Thai title fight between champion Nadaka Yoshinari and Thai challenger Songchainoi.
The other major bouts also held together, including Marat Grigorian’s long-delayed featherweight kickboxing matchup with Kaito Ono.
Grigorian missed weight ahead of their scheduled fight at ONE 172 in Saitama last year, sparking a dramatic late withdrawal from Kaito after the bout was offered at catchweight.
The fallout continued after the event, with ONE chairman and CEO Chatri Sityodtong criticising Kaito at the post-fight press conference before later retracting his comments following a demand for an apology from the KNOCK OUT champion.
One year on, both men made weight without issue.
Grigorian told the Bangkok Post this week he is only taking the fight “for the fans”, and insisted Kaito does not deserve the opportunity after refusing to face him at catchweight in Saitama.
Phogat was one of two fighters who failed hydration yesterday.
“The Indian Tigress” failed three attempts and was also over the atomweight limit at 115.6lbs for her MMA bout against Itsuki Hirata, whose own previous weigh-in issues appear firmly behind her.
Japan’s Hisai also failed three attempts at hydration for his bantamweight kickboxing bout against former champion Hiroki Akimoto.