Australian Sensation Danial Williams Sets His Eye on the ONE Strawweight Muay Thai World Title – “That’s Mine…”

Danial Williams’ main goals inside the ONE Circle for 2022 were to stay active, rack up more wins, and attain a US$50,000 performance bonus. And the Australian slugger achieved all those goals and more in what was a record-breaking year for the Singapore-based promotion.

The Perth native competed on four occasions, earned his fastest MMA victory, knocked out one of his idols, and, above all, displayed the fan-winning charisma and heart he always has to cement his status as one of the rising stars on ONE’s roster.

Looking back at the last 12 months, “Mini T” sees it filled with positive and negative.

Danial Williams was unconquerable in the first half of 2022

“It was busy, man. A big learning year. I impressed some by my performances and disappointed some with my last one. It was good to be active. That was what I wanted. I’m very blessed to be active and get fights,” he said. After participating in a Fight Of The Year matchup against Rodtang Jitmuangnon in his debut outing last year, Williams kicked off his 2022 campaign as many expected him to do – with a bang.

He finished his idol, and former ONE Strawweight World Champion, Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke with a picture-perfect body shot at 1:35 of the second round of their bout at ONE: BAD BLOOD in February to begin his winning run in the Circle.

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It was business as usual for “Mini T” just a couple of months later at ONE 156, where he earned a unanimous decision win over Japanese star Namiki Kawahara. Then, at ONE 159 in July, the Muay Thai specialist’s attacking skills were on display once again when he knocked out Zelang “Small Gun” Zhaxi at 4:20 of the opening stanza – his fastest victory in the all-encompassing sport.

Danial Williams revealed the bouts which he would be looking for in 2023

Unfortunately, that run of three consecutive triumphs came to a crushing end when he was knocked out by Jeremy “The Jaguar” Miado at ONE on Prime Video 3 this past October. But Williams views that defeat as a learning curve that will spur him on to greater success in the future. 

His goal to become a three-sport divisional king in the strawweight ranks remains unchanged, and he promises to return to the Circle with as much fire as he did over the past 12 months.

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“I always had a three-year plan coming into ONE. Got two years now. My three-year plan was the MMA title. And in between was a striking title. I think everything is still going to plan. I’m confident with how everything has gone. Didn’t finish the year like I planned, but I learned from it as well,” Williams said.

“I definitely want the [ONE Strawweight] Muay Thai [World Title] belt. I feel that’s mine for the taking this year. In a perfect world, it would be a Muay Thai World Title fight, then a champion-versus-champion fight with kickboxing, and then the Miado rematch. That would be the ultimate 2023.”