ONE Championship boss Chatri Sityodtong is interested in booking a rematch between Nong-O Hama and Kongthoranee Sor Sommai.
The chairman and CEO believes the legendary Nong-O did enough to get the nod from the judges at ONE Fight Night 28 last weekend.
Kongthoranee instead took a split decision inside Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium, which drew some criticism on social media from fans.
“I disagree with the judges for the fight between Kongthoranee and Nong-O,” Chatri told the Bangkok Post on Monday.
“I respect the judges as they are the best in the world, but I thought Nong-O won two of the three rounds.
“It was a super close fight between two champions who represent the best of the best. But from my eyes, I think Nong-O beat Kongthoranee by a narrow margin.”
Ringside judge Shane Byrne had it 29-28 for Nong-O, ONE’s former bantamweight Muay Thai champion who was making his debut at flyweight.
Ricky Sewell had the same score but for Kongthoranee, who also picked up a 30-27 from Abby Nelson after a close fight.
“To be clear though, I believe both Nong-O and Kongthoranee have the potential to be a world champion in ONE in the future,” Chatri added.
Going into the fight, there had been talk of a potential shot at the vacant ONE flyweight Muay Thai title for the winner.
But Chatri confirmed he would rather see a “rematch” when asked by the Bangkok Post if Kongthoranee had done enough to fight for the belt.
Kongthoranee had told the Bangkok Post in a post-fight interview he had no doubt he would be declared the winner when ring announcer Dom Lau was reading out the judges’ scores.
“I wasn’t worried, because I believe that all my striking and my weapons were more accurate,” Kongthoranee said sitting backstage, with an ice pack on a lead leg that had been battered by a barrage of Nong-O’s trademark low kicks.
Despite privately expressing disappointment over the decision, Nong-O publicly declared on social media he would accept it.
The 38-year-old Thai veteran also insisted “flyweight is fun”, suggesting he will be sticking around at 135lbs after an impressive performance against the division’s No 4-ranked fighter.