“Smokin” Jo Nattawut brought Muay Thai with him when he moved to the U.S. over a decade ago, and he hopes a win in his upcoming ONE Championship outing will earn him a chance to fight in front of family and friends in his adopted nation.

The Thai star will challenge Tawanchai for the ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Title in the main event of ONE 167 inside the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, June 7, and he’ll have supporters from North America watching him when the show goes live on Prime Video.

Jo Nattawut wants Muay Thai to be as big as boxing

The promotion of Muay Thai is high on Nattawut’s priorities, and with ONE set to bring ONE 170 to his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, in late 2024, he wants to impress next weekend to make a case for it appearing on the card. 

“It’s going to make a huge impact, people getting to see it live. Of course, if it gets more views, more people will know about Muay Thai. Of course, then Muay Thai will keep growing,” he said.

“The future, the dream for everyone, is for it to be as big as boxing, as big as [MMA]. If we keep going like this, it’s going to get there.” 

ONE arrived in the U.S. last May with ONE Fight Night 10 in Colorado. The sold-out show was such a rousing success that the promotion is planning to follow it up with at least two events in the country this year.

The first, ONE 168: Denver, is set to go down on Friday, September 6, and it’s already close to selling out. Multiple World Champions have been confirmed to be part of the event, including Jonathan “The General” Haggerty, “The Kicking Machine” Superlek Kiatmoo9, Mikey “Darth Rigatoni” Musumeci, and Kade Ruotolo. 

Meanwhile, ONE 170 is scheduled to take place on Friday, November 8, according to ONE’s official website. No bouts have been announced for the card just yet, but it is expected to be another stacked card.

“Smokin” wishes to fight at ONE 170

Nattawut wants to be among the stars featured at the event, especially since he would likely have a lot of people from the city come to the event to support him. 

“It would be fun to compete at the Atlanta event. It’s really for my friends here, too. They would get to watch me live at least one time. I’ve lived here for 10 years, but never had a chance to fight at home,” he said. 

However, before he thinks about that, “Smokin” has to focus on his ONE Featherweight Muay Thai World Championship battle with Tawanchai at ONE 167. It will be the second time the two have met, having put on a barnburner kickboxing matchup last year. 

If Nattawut can score redemption for the loss he suffered that time out, he’ll get the gold and put himself into contention for the ONE 170 card in Atlanta.