Rodtang Jitmuangnon has said he has converted to Islam after marrying his fiancée in a nikah ceremony in Thailand.
The ONE Championship flyweight Muay Thai king married his fellow fighter Aida Looksaikongdin in a traditional Muslim wedding last weekend.
Having been ordained as a Buddhist monk last month ahead of the ceremony, the 25-year-old Thai has now confirmed he had chosen to follow his wife’s religion.
“Also just to clarify, he is Muslim now, he is full Muslim,” an interpreter for Rodtang said alongside him during an Instagram live video, where he answered questions from fans – many of whom were asking about his faith.
“He took a Shahadah and became Muslim, the interpreter added, referring to the sacred Islamic oath.
When one fan asked him “are you Muslim?” following his marriage to Aida – who also appeared on camera in the Instagram video – Rodtang replied “yeah, Alhamdulillah [praise be to God]”.
“We make it brother, he is Muslim now,” his interpreter added.
Other fans – many of them from Malaysia – congratulated him on his wedding and his religious conversion, with one saying “welcome to Islam”.
Rodtang has certainly been a busy man in recent months, most recently racking up a kickboxing win over China’s Jiduo Yibu last month.
“The Iron Man” also has not one but two title fights coming up on the horizon.
The first is a highly-anticipated clash with flyweight kickboxing champion Superlek next month in Singapore, before he heads to Denver, Colorado, for ONE’s on-ground US debut, where he will defend his Muay Thai title against Mexico’s Edgar Tabares.
Sadly for some of his fans in the US, however, Rodtang will no longer be going on his planned seminar tour from February 18 to March 4.
“The seminar tour to the USA, we have some updates about it and would like you guys to know,” he said through the interpreter.
“I’m very sorry that we need to postpone it, because I have two upcoming fights, with Superlek for the kickboxing title, and the Muay Thai title defence in America.
“To focus on that I need to rest well and do my training. In order to make that happen I need to postpone the seminar tour.
“I’m very sorry to every gym we made contact with. We will make it happen for sure but we will just postpone it until after these fights.”
Rodtang’s star has been growing Stateside, and he is clearly one of ONE’s biggest attractions in the market – hence his sudden inclusion on the ONE Fight Night 10 card in Denver despite already being booked against Superlek.
“It’s something we didn’t expect and we are very sorry to every gym and person in the USA we have talked with,” he added.
