Yuan Pengjie Arrives At The Inner Circle With A Message For Jaosuayai And His Eyes On Superlek’s Belt
Yuan Pengjie made his ONE Championship debut with doubters in every corner. He left with a unanimous decision win and a point firmly made. Now the 23-year-old Chinese kickboxer is back, and the target in his sights has grown considerably larger.
The Sitsongpeenong product faces contracted Thai star Jaosuayai Mor Krungthepthonburi in the flyweight kickboxing co-main event of The Inner Circle on Friday, June 5, live in Asia primetime from Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Yuan’s March debut win over Lamnamoonlek Torfunfarm did more than start a promotional record. It validated the belief his team had carried into the building despite the outside scepticism, and that vindication has sharpened his confidence for the step up in opposition that Jaosuayai represents.
“A lot of people didn’t believe in me before the fight, but my team and I trusted ourselves,” Yuan said. “We were full of confidence to get the win.”
Jaosuayai carries 60 career wins and eight promotional victories into this co-main event, built on a five-fight winning streak that once made him one of the most dangerous names on the roster. Three consecutive losses since have complicated that narrative, and the return to kickboxing, a rule set he has not fought under in ONE Championship, adds another variable to Friday night. Yuan has studied those variables carefully and arrived at a precise read on both the opportunity and the risk.
“Jaosuayai had a five-fight winning streak in ONE, so I am really excited to compete against someone like him. Even though this is his ONE kickboxing debut, he has fought in kickboxing events in Japan before,” he said. “I don’t think it affects me at all. It only makes me more motivated to fight him.”
The physical matchup favours Yuan on paper. At 5-foot-8 with a reach advantage built into every exchange, he intends to control distance and use his length to manufacture the kind of openings that have produced knockdowns throughout his career.
“My height, reach, and my experience in kickboxing matches. He’s one of the more agile fighters among Thai fighters,” Yuan said. “If it goes as I expected, knockdowns will appear.”
Jaosuayai’s tendency to fight on emotion rather than structure when the exchanges tighten is the tactical weakness Yuan has identified from the footage, and the one he plans to exploit with the pointed message he has already sent his opponent.
“His weakness is he tends to get emotional during the fight,” Yuan said. “I heard you don’t want four losses in a row. Well, I’m gonna make you feel what four straight losses are like.”
Beyond the result on Friday, Yuan’s destination is already clear. ONE Flyweight Kickboxing World Champion “The Kicking Machine” Superlek holds the belt Yuan has been building toward since long before his ONE debut.
“They’re all top-level, world-class fighters. The one I want to face most is Superlek for sure,” he said. “I want to challenge for his belt.”
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