‘The Kicking Machine’ Superlek Kiatmoo9 is gearing up for a monumental challenge in his next fight in ONE Championship, and he has tapped everyone he can to help him achieve his goal. In the main event of ONE 168: Denver on Friday, September 6 inside Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, the flyweight kickboxing king is aiming for two-sport and two-division glory when he challenges Jonathan ‘The General’ Haggerty for the ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai World Championship live on U.S. Primetime.

With Superlek needing to move up in weight to challenge the British Muay Thai champion, he enlisted the services of a sports science expert nicknamed Hook. In an interview with ONE, he shared the interesting story of how they met.

Superlek going into Haggerty fight with an added weapon in his arsenal

Far from soliciting his services or anything like that, Superlek revealed that the sports science expert was a fan, whom he met by chance, and quickly developed a relationship with. “He was a fan. We met last year, and he got selfies and autographs of course. It’s great to have someone who’s into the sport itself to be part of the team. I’m happy that he joined. I believe we bond over our goals and passion for Muay Thai,” he shared.

ONE 168 will not be Superlek’s first attempt at climbing to the top of the Muay Thai mountain in the world’s largest martial arts organization. In December 2022, he was slated to fight in the final of the ONE Flyweight Muay Thai Grand Prix tournament.

But when he and his rival, Panpayak Jitmuangnon, failed ONE’s official weight and hydration tests, they fought at catchweight instead. Superlek’s weight troubles continued in his next fight, and even robbed him of a title!

‘The Kicking Machine’ is glad to have a fan who is also a sports science expert in camp

The Thai superstar was then scheduled to challenge ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Rodtang ‘The Iron Man’ Jitmuangnon for the divisional throne at ONE Friday Fights 34 last September. Once again, Superlek missed weight, so he couldn’t take the crown despite defeating his compatriot via unanimous decision.

Perhaps those twin setbacks are what drove the 28-year-old to seek help from an expert who could help him hit the mark on the scales.

Whether that be the case or not, Superlek and Hook have formed a tight bond, and the flyweight kickboxing titleholder insists his scientist partner has maintained his fandom, even after spending extended time together as they prepare for Haggerty at ONE 168.

“We basically live together at the gym, so he is still getting lots of pictures with me,” Superlek said. And with the Thai going into one of the most important fights of his career so far, he will undoubtedly take any help he can get, especially if it comes from someone who’s such a huge fan. What are your predictions for Superlek vs. Haggerty?