ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon has recently changed his religion. “The Iron Man” was born in Phattalung, Thailand, to a Buddhist family before moving to Bangkok at age 14 to pursue his Muay Thai career at Jitmuangnon Gym.
In fact, the 26-year-old even ordained as a Buddhist monk – a common practice for Buddhist men in Thailand – for two weeks in January after his dominant win over Jiduo Yibu earlier that month.
His ordainment fulfilled the wishes of his family before he got married the following month and adopted a new religion.
Rodtang Jitmuangnon confirms commitment to new religion on Instagram live
Rodtang Jitmuangnon is married to fellow Muay Thai fighter Aida Looksaikongdin. The pair regularly appear on social media in playful videos sparring and training together.
Aida is Muslim and, in recent times, Rodtang has adopted his wife’s faith. The pair tied the knot in a traditional Islamic ceremony in which the flyweight Muay Thai superstar took a sacred Islamic oath to make the switch official.
In an Instagram live video in which he answered questions from fans via an interpreter, Rodtang confirmed the news to his 1.4 million followers.
“Also, just to clarify, he is Muslim now, he is full Muslim,” his interpreter said. “He took a Shahadah and became Muslim,” he added, referring to the Islamic oath.
View this post on Instagram
Rodtang can now be seen wearing a traditional Muslim headdress to the ring before his fights, and he often engages in prayer in the middle of the ring before commencing his wai kru, the pre-fight dance in traditional Muay Thai.
The flyweight Muay Thai divisional king met Aida back in 2020 and the pair soon began dating and bonded over their mutual love of “the art of eight limbs.” Aida comes from a fighting family and is a veteran of more than 65 Muay Thai fights herself. She has competed extensively throughout the Thai stadium circuit.