Kongchai Fights For Ailing Father At The Inner Circle On June 5: “Bring This Victory Back To Him”
Kongchai Chanaidonmueang is chasing a US$100,000 ONE Championship contract. He also has a father in a hospital bed in Bangkok who has spent the last two to three months fighting a brain abscess. On Friday night, both of those things drive him into the main event at Lumpinee Stadium.
The former Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai World Champion faces Moldova’s Valerii Strungari in the strawweight Muay Thai main event of The Inner Circle on Friday, June 5, live in Asia primetime from Bangkok, Thailand.
Three consecutive wins, a 78-16 career record, and 17 appearances in ONE’s weekly series — more than any other fighter in the history of the series — have carried Kongchai to the closest he has ever been to a permanent roster spot.
The contract is within reach. The finish is what seals it.
“If I can execute a flawless performance and put Valerii away, it puts me right back into the ONE main contract conversation,” Kongchai said. “I want to secure it this year. The strawweight division is packed with elite talent right now. If I pass this test, I want to start matching up against guys who already are on a ONE contract so I can prove I belong on that next tier.”
Strungari is not a soft route to that destination. The Moldovan’s comeback knockout of Sanit Aekmuangnon at ONE Friday Fights 133 — absorbing two rounds of punishment before closing the show with a third-round finish that snapped Sanit’s four-fight winning streak — established him as a threat capable of hurting anyone who switches off for a single moment. Kongchai has studied both of his ONE appearances and arrived at a read that combines respect with clear-eyed tactical calculation.
“Valerii is incredibly durable and can take a shot. He’s tough as nails. His chin is solid, and he throws heavy punches. Even in his last loss, he looked decent,” Kongchai said. “I honestly think the only thing he lacks is good fight IQ and ring experience. I’ll need to rely on my power to break him down. I absolutely cannot afford to be complacent.”
Of Kongchai’s 11 promotional victories, only two have come inside the distance. He has identified that ratio as the gap that stands between him and the contract he wants, and the left kick he has been loading across camp is the instrument he plans to use to change it on Friday.
“The biggest issue I want to fix is that lack of a killer instinct. My finishing sequences just aren’t clinical enough,” he said. “If I step on the gas, throw heavy volume, and pressure him continuously, I don’t think he’ll be able to take it. My left kick is fully loaded, and I’m highly confident it will dismantle his durability.”
The bonus that a finish would deliver sits behind everything else Kongchai is carrying into the ring this week. His father’s recovery has been the weight underneath every session in camp, and the possibility of bringing something home from Lumpinee on Friday that materially changes the family’s situation gives the fight a dimension that no contract or record can fully capture.
“This fight will show whether I’ve improved on seizing the finish,” he said. “Besides, I want a knockout and that bonus so badly this time because it will significantly help me take care of my dad. He’s been in the hospital for the last two to three months dealing with a brain abscess. All I want right now is to bring this victory back to him to boost his spirits so he can recover quickly.”
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