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Rungnarai Kiatmoo9 has apologised to Mikel Fernandez after an illegal soccer kick ended their Muay Thai clash prematurely last weekend at ONE Friday Fights 83.
The 29-year-old Thai knocked the Spaniard down in the first round, but then hit him with a brutal kick to the face when his opponent was grounded with both arms on the canvas at Bangkok’s famed Lumpinee Stadium
Fernandez was out cold, but later told the Bangkok Post he was feeling fine and would “forgive” Rungnarai, hoping they could have a rematch soon.
“Firstly I would like to apologise. I’m very sorry for what happened. I didn’t mean it,” Rungnarai said backstage at Lumpinee Stadium.
“This was my debut. I was nervous. It really wasn’t intentional.”
Former Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Stadium champion Rungnarai was returning from a four-year retirement, which has seen him transition to a coaching role at Singapore’s Evolve MMA gym.
Asked if he had any problem with the judges’ decision to disqualify him for the soccer kick last Friday, Rungnarai shook his head.
“Nothing. I accept it,” he said. “I’ll do better next time. This won’t happen again.”
Rungnarai is also a former stablemate of ONE Championship superstar Superlek Kiatmoo9, and the two-sport champion was in attendance to cheer him on.
Speaking backstage after the fight alongside Rungnarai, Superlek playfully pretended to hit his friend on the head for the mistake.
“For me, it’s fighting instinct,” the ONE flyweight kickboxing king and bantamweight Muay Thai champion said.
“He didn’t mean to do that. He’s made a mistake, which needs to be improved.”
Superlek was also seen speaking to Fernandez, who told the Bangkok Post he had no lingering injuries from the kick.
“Apologies to the opponent [Mikel], I ran into him just now. I apologised to him,” Superlek added.
“I know he [Rungnarai] didn’t mean to kick him. I’m a fighter too. Just bad timing.”
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