Born November 10th, 1986 and hailing from Sakon Nakhon, Thailand, Nong-O Hama, formally known as Nong-O Gaiyanghadao, grew up with a family of farmers and emerged from extreme poverty to become a living legend in the world of Muay Thai.
After witnessing his neighbour hitting a heavy bag, Nong-O was inspired to take up the sport of Muay Thai, beginning his career at the age of nine just after one month of training. At the age of fourteen, Nong-O moved to Bangkok to train full-time, leaving his parents to live at his camp.
A year later, Nong-O made his first appearance at the famed Rajadamnern Stadium where he earned a unanimous decision victory in the undercard.
And that’s what sparked an incredible career with over 300 fights, winning two Thailand National Muay Thai Championships, four Lumpinee Stadium Muay Thai World Championships and the Rajadamnern Stadium Muay Thai World Championship.
In April 2018, Nong-O made the next big jump, joining Evolve MMA where he also became an instructor and signed with ONE Championship where he claimed the inaugural Bantamweight Muay Thai World Title.
He successfully defended his championship a consecutive seven times with five straight wins coming by way of knockout, making him the longest reigning Muay Thai champion in ONE Championship history, until losing the title to Jonathan Haggerty on April 22nd, 2023.
Despite his recent title loss, the journey of this legend is not over yet. With his sharp technical striking abilities and multiple world championships to his name, Nong-O will forever be regarded as one of the most accomplished Muay Thai fighters in recent memory.
With all that covered, let’s countdown Nong-O Hama’s Top 5 Muay Thai Finishes! (in descending order)
5. Vs. Liam Harrison – ONE on Prime Video 1 (Aug. 27, 2022)
After defeating Muangthai P.K. Saenchai with a first round TKO, a Muay Thai veteran from England, named Liam “The Hitman” Harrison earned his first title shot at ONE Championship against the Bantamweight champion, Nong-O.
In round one, Nong-O started things off, targeting the legs, measuring his distance, and sneaking in a right hand.
In less than two minutes into round one, the champion landed a solid kick to the left leg that stumbled Harrison.
The challenger tried to maintain control by treasuring Nong-O, but another leg kick by the champion sent “The Hitman” to the canvas, and the visible pain was enough for the referee to stop the fight.
At 2:10 of round 1, Nong-O retained the championship in the quickest title defence of his career.
4. Vs. Felipe Lobo – ONE: X (Mar. 25, 2022)
After a year of absence, the thirty-five year old Nong-O stepped back into the octagon to defend his crown against Brazilian fighter, Felipe Lobo.
In round 1, the reigning champion kept his composure and maintained the distance with round kicks to the body and the leg.
Nong-O made several attempts to aim for the head, but Lobo kept a solid guard. The first offence the challenger managed to connect was a right hand, knee strike combo. Before the end of the round Lobo snuck in a jab-cross combo to the head and body.
Nong-O continued to land more round kicks in round 2, even catching Lobo’s attempted body kick. The challenger however, countered the head kick with multiple body strikes, proving that he wasn’t going down so easily.
Nong-O went in for the kill with a combo of his own, but the bell rang before he could finish him off, ending round 2.
Pressuring the challenger in round 3, Nong-O finally connected with the head kick and stunned Lobo with an uppercut. Lobo remained on his feet, but a second uppercut from the champion finally dropped him to the canvas.
At 2:15 of round 3, the referee put an end to the contest and awarded Nong-O the victory.
3. Vs. Rodlek P.K. Saenchai – ONE: Collision Course (Dec. 18, 2020)
After winning the 2020 ONE Bantamweight Muay Thai Tournament, Rodlek P.K. Saenchai was granted a title shot against Nong-O in December that same year for the first time in his career.
With a sign of respect shared between the two warriors, round 1 was underway. Both Thai fighters started off cautiously, exchanging single kicks and punches. Rodlek then changed the record, firing a combo and Nong-O changed stance to strike the body.
Aiming to gain control in round 2, Rodlek pressured the fellow Thai fighter against the cage, attempting to gain the clinch, but failed to deliver significant damage.
The champion was backed into a corner and made several attempts to attack, but was caught by clean blows from the challenger. Every time Nong-O went for the kicks, Rodlek had an answer for it. All Nong-O could do was to hold on until the bell rang.
Wasting no time in round 3, Nong-O went straight on the offence, tagging Rodlek with several clean shots and pushing him back against the cage.
The challenger pushed back with several strikes of his own. It’s at that point where caution was thrown out the window. Something had to give however, and it was a destructive right hand from Nong-O that sweetened the deal.
At 1:12 of round 3, Rodlek was counted out, and Nong-O remained the top dog of the Bantamweight division.
2. Vs. Saemapetch Fairtex – ONE: Edge Of Greatness (Nov. 22, 2019)
With two successful title defences to his name, Nong-O put his belt on the line against fellow Thai fighter, Saemapetch Fairtex who was coming off a majority decision victory over Ognjen Topic.
Although both Thai warriors remained cautious in the first minute of round 1, Nong-O showcased his potential power with attempted body kicks.
Fairtex showed off his flexible skills by evading Nong-O’s offence, but he wasn’t fast enough to defend against a right hand from the champion.
In round 2, Fairtex negated many of Nong-O’s round kicks, but struggled to land any damaging blows of his own, with the exception of a solid leg kick, to which the champion responded with a smile.
Less than a minute left into round 2, Nong-O pressured the challenger into the corner, where he planted a barrage of uppercuts and succeeded in knocking him down for the first time of the fight.
Fairtex managed to get back up as Nong-O forced him back into the corner and connected with a flurry of punches, knocking Fairtex down for a second time before the bell rang.
Things got a lot more competitive in round 3 with the challenger firing back with a rapid combo, pushing Nong-O back with body kicks and applied a perfectly-timed counter.
Nong-O however, put a stop to Fairtex’s flurry moments with a sharp elbow. Fairtex connected once again with a knee strike to the body from the clinch as the Bantamweight champion made great progress by delivering solid right hands and swift counters before the end of round 3.
In less than twenty seconds into round 4, Nong-O connected with a perfectly timed leg sweep, planting Fairtex to the ground.
Nong-O continued to tear into the challenger with kicks to the body and the leg, but it was a sudden right hand to the jaw that dropped Fairtex to the canvas.
At 1:46 of round four, Fairtex’s world champion dreams came to an end.
1. Vs. Alaverdi Ramazanov – ONE Friday Fights 1 (Jan. 20, 2023)
On the first ONE Friday Fights event in Bangkok, Nong-O was set to defend his title against former ONE Bantamweight Kickboxing World Champion, Alaverdi “Babyface Killer” Ramazanov from Russia who had his sights set on the title.
The Bantamweight champion began the fight targeting the body with round kicks and landing effective leg kicks.
In less than one minute into the first round however, Ramazanov intercepted the champion’s round kick, caught it and swept him onto the ground, twice! The challenger even managed to stun Nong-O with the jab as an effective weapon.
In round 2, Ramazanov continued to make good use of the reach advantage as Nong-O resumed attacking the body and leg.
The challenger then connects with a knee strike to the body and countered a leg kick by push kicking his adversary to the ground. Before the bell rang, the Russian kickboxer attempted a spinning elbow.
Nong-O entered round 3 with blood all over his face, yet a burning determination was ignited within him as he landed a sharp elbow to Ramazanov’s jaw, pressuring the challenger against the ropes with leg kicks and a flurry of power punches and uppercuts.
The champion would not stop, until Ramazanov finally went down. The Russian kickboxer failed to get back up as the referee counted him out.
At 2:12 of round 3, Nong-O successfully earned his seventh consecutive title defence and the Performance of the Night bonus.
