On Saturday night, in Bangkok Thailand, WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai made his ONE FC debut, as he battered the very tough Iran Diaz pillar to post for twelve rounds on his way to a one-sided decision win.
Sor Rungvisai (47-4-1, 41 KO) effectively went to the body early, and it was apparent that his power was probably going to be a little too much. Although we must note that Diaz (14-3-3, 6 KO) was war ready and came to fight, he simply didn’t have the firepower on this night. Ultimately, Sor Rungvisai won by scores of 120-108 and 119-109 twice.
This match served as Sor Rungvisai’s third match of the year. If you remember correctly, he defeated his mandatory challenger, former champion Juan Francisco Estrada, by a razor thin majority-decision inside of The Forum in Inglewood, California in February in one of the year’s best fights. The Thai power puncher returned in July, as he stopped Young Gil Bae in the first round of a non-title fight at Workpoint Studio in Bang Phun.
Diaz was no slouch, as he has scored victories over former champions Tyson Marquez and Luis Concepcion, yet this wasn’t meant to be his night in the face of one of the sport’s most devastating fighters.
What is next for Sor Rungvisai, however? There are those who would love to see him possibly face off with some of the bantamweight champions, such as IBF champion Jerwin Anjacas, but it remains to be seen where the 31-year old goes from here.
One thing is for sure is that Sor Rungvisai has really stormed onto the scene in recent years. His record of 47 wins, four losses, and one draw, with 41 knockouts, speaks well to a fighter who has been around the game for several years. Sor Rungvisai turned professional in 2009 and it’s hard to believe that through his first five fights he had a record of just 1-3-1.
His only defeat to a notable name came against former champion Carlos Cuadras in may of 2014 and he has reeled off 20 straight victories since then. Sor Rungvisai made a huge statement in 2017, however, as he was able to deliver pound for pound stalwart Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez with a pair of defeats. The first contest between him and Gonzalez saw the two men go the distance in Madison Square Garden, as Srisaket grabbed a majority decision.
But the rematch was much more emphatic, as we saw Sor Rungvisai storm through Gonzalez and deliver a crushing fourth round knockout inside of the StubHub Center in California. Both fights aired on HBO’s networks and, just like that, a new entrant in the pound for pound race was born.
It remains to be seen how high Sor Rungvisai can go, and it he can really compete at 118 pounds. But If he were to move up to that weight class, he definitely can make some noise and deliver some great fights.
